It's official: The PBC Pro-Am is going to be cancelled this summer, and it doesn't look like it will be returning. For the handful of the most dedicated Pittsburgh Panther fans, that's a real shame. Those fans will have to find another way to get a free glimpse of the incoming players set to don the blue and gold in the fall. But does the loss of this event really hurt Pitt in the immediate and long-term future?

On the one hand, it provided players the opportunity to showcase the full breadth of their skill set in a somewhat competitive environment. I am a big advocate of repetition, and the more games players can play, competitively, the more opportunities they'll have to gain some level of experience. With that said, the Panthers were easily the cream of the crop.

So, watching former center Joe Uchebo inhale rebounds at a staggering rate against opponents five to six inches shorter than him should have been taken with a pound of salt. In that light, it would be one thing if this was the entire ACC being split into different teams over the summer, which will never happen of course.

As it stands, this is a more a blow to the most faithful of fans and the fabulous folks behind the scenes that coordinated and hosted the event. Selfishly, this is also a personal loss of sorts as I had planned a series of articles on the Pro-Am which no longer will be published.

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