Ranking the Top-3 Players Per Position at the 'Pete'

A piece like this doesn't need a large introduction, it's pretty straightforward. Here are my top-3 players per position to have ever worn on Pittsburgh Panthers uniform at the Petersen Events Center.

Point Guard

1.) Brandin Knight
2.) Levance Fields
3.) Carl Krauser

This list seems pretty cut and dry. In a similar article, people argued Fields over Knight. One of their numbers hangs from the rafters, nuff said. There is no way Travon Woodall or James Robinson belongs here.

Shooting Guard

1.) Ashton Gibbs
2.) Brad Wanamaker
3.) Jaron Brown

Not everyone thinks Gibbs was the best off-guard to ever wear a Pitt uniform at the 'Pete'. Wanamaker is perhaps one of the most underappreciated players, but Gibbs was the go-to player and their careers overlapped for three years. My case for Brown over Julius Page is that Brown was the better player during their junior and senior seasons which completely overlapped.

Small Forward

1.) Sam Young
2.) Lamar Patterson
3.) Gilbert Brown

Young should be obvious; he's perhaps the best Panther since the turn of the century. Patterson should be fresh in the minds of all fans, and is a clearly second among small forwards. I initially had Mike Cook here, but the fact he only played for two years at Pitt and his senior year was cut short made Brown an easy choice.

Power Forward

1.) Chevon Troutman
2.) Chris Taft
3.) Talib Zanna

Taft probably is number one here if he would have stayed all four seasons. As it stands, Troutman enjoyed three really solid years as a Panther, and is one of my all-time favorites. Zanna had a really good senior year last season, but his two best years aren't as productive as Taft's two-year run. I know there are fans of Nasir Robinson out there, but I don't know if I've gotten over that foul against Matt Howard of the Butler Bulldogs in 2011.

Center

1.) DeJuan Blair
2.) Aaron Gray
3.) Steven Adams

Does anyone want to argue somebody over Blair? Didn't think so. Gray is an obvious pick here as well. Adams basically defaults here because there simply isn't a lot to choose from. Would sophomore forward Michael Young be here despite playing out of position for the last two seasons? What about Gary McGhee? If I could have found a YouTube clip of McGhee delivering a block followed by him running the court and drawing an offensive foul, I would have.

I didn't go into as much depth with each selection as I did in my previous article. That is mostly by design. The last piece garnered a lot of comments and I am hopeful this will do the same. So please, leave your comments and I'll do my best to respond. Whether you agree or disagree, let me know and we'll hash it out.

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