Jamie Dixon has recently landed two transfers with senior eligibility and able to play for Pitt immediately next season. With all the turmoil over the last year for the Panthers, is this enough to start to see a little bit of a turn of fortune for Dixon?

With the decommits of top recruits and the transfer of Durand Johnson, Pitt basketball has been reeling a bit. Add to that, missing the NCAA Tournament this past year and it all seemed to be mounting up as evidence for the Dixon bashers on social media that he should be on the hot seat.

Over the past couple of weeks, Dixon has been armed with some extra scholarships and seems to be filling the needs Pitt has for next year. First up was the announcement of Sterling Smith transferring from Coppin State to the Panthers. The 6'4" guard gives Pitt some height at the position and some nice outside shooting at the two guard, which has long been a weakness of Dixon's teams. Smith should lessen the blow that Johnson gave Pitt when it was announced he was leaving the program.

That still left the Panthers with a couple of scholarships to give out and fill another major need. As any fan at The Pete will tell you, the basketball team was also in desperate need of a big body down low that can provide solid play. They really don't need a dominate force in the paint, but at least something would help. They have had some major swings and misses lately with the trio of Joseph Uchebo, Derrick Randall, and Tyrone Haughton, who combined to do about as much on the court as you and I did.

Enter Rafael Maia from Brown. Maia is 6'9" and 245 pounds and while he's not the man every school wanted, there is proof that he could provide Pitt with a level of play that could free up Mike Young to move to a more natural position. On top of that, giving Pitt more help on the boards, wouldn't exactly be a bad thing after watching their shortcomings there last season.

Is this enough to slow the free fall that Dixon and his staff seemed to be on or do they need something else, like say the big transfer Sterling Gibbs or Maverick Rowan changing his mind? Let us know in the Poll of the Week.

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