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Today, we continue to rank the careers of all of the 67 basketball players ever to suit up for Jamie Dixon. As a reminder, here's the drill. Editor Anson Whaley, contributor Jim Hammett, and myself ranked each player and our composite results are displayed.
Before we get started, we employed a few main rules here:
1. Only the Pitt portion of a player's career counted - Khem Birch played less than a season with Pitt. While he was a productive college player elsewhere, the fact that he spent so little time with the Panthers showed in our rankings.
2. Only the time a player spent under Dixon counted - A player like Julius Page, for example, would rank higher, but he spent only his senior year under Dixon.
3. Best career, not best player - This isn't about determining the best player under Dixon. It's more about who had the best career at Pitt under Dixon. Steven Adams may be a better basketball player than several of the guys on the list but he only played at Pitt for a year and has certainly developed more in the NBA since then.
As we go through this list, we want to hear from you about players slotted too high, too low, or even the ones you think we got right. I've organized the rankings and would love to hear from you on Twitter as well @AronMinkoff.
| No. 11 Gilbert Brown |
Position: Forward Games Played: 129 Year(s) under Dixon: 2006-2011 MPG: 22.8 PPG: 8.1 RPG: 3.4 APG: 1.8
Cardiac Hill Rankings Aron Minkoff: 10 Jim Hammett: 11 Anson Whaley: 13 Average Ranking: 11.3 Brown was often a picture of frustration (i.e. see the Butler NCAA Tournament game) but his impact on the team during his time with the Panthers can't be denied.
He averaged just over 11 points per game in his final two seasons, highlighted by a junior year where he shot nearly 50% from the field. Brown played well both years, but could never put it all together as a senior and didn't take the step forward many expected. He was capable of leading the team in scoring then dropping off the face of the earth in his next game. He had a pretty infamous string in his junior year, scoring 25, 0, 23, 6, 16, 5, 16, 3, 13, 0, 19, 3, and then 17 points in as weird of a 13-game stretch you'll ever see.
Known for his athleticism and dunking ability, however, he was always capable of pulling off incredible buckets. He also developed into one of the team's better free throw shooters and averaging 4.4 rebounds and nearly three assists per game in his senior year, was one of the more-rounded players on the team.
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| No. 10 Chris Taft |
Position: Forward Games Played: 65 Year(s) under Dixon: 2003-2005 MPG: 26 PPG: 12 RPG: 7.5 APG: 1.1
Cardiac Hill Rankings Aron Minkoff: 11 Jim Hammett: 10 Anson Whaley: 9 Average Ranking: 10 That Chris Taft made our Top 10 with only two years at Pitt is a testament to how good he was with the team. He was one of the best rim-protectors to ever grace the Petersen Events Center Floor, averaging 1.7 blocks per game in his two years with the program and was named Big East Rookie of the Year as a freshman.
After that strong freshman campaign, he got even better as a sophomore despite only playing about as much as he did in that first year. His 13.3 points were a career-best as was the 58% he shot from the field. For the second consecutive year, he averaged 7.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. His 58% shooting led the Big East that year and he finished in the top ten in the conference in field goal percentage, blocks, and rebounds in each season he played. Following his sophomore season, he declared for the NBA Draft and was selected with the 12th pick in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2005 draft by the Golden State Warriors. However, Taft would only play 17 games in the NBA after being sidelined by back issues.
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| No. 9 Chevon Troutman |
Position: Forward Games Played: 60 Year(s) under Dixon: 2003-2005 MPG: 31.9 PPG: 10.3 RPG: 5.7 APG: 1.3
Cardiac Hill Rankings Aron Minkoff: 9 Jim Hammett: 5 Anson Whaley: 12 Average Ranking: 8.6 Despite only two years under Dixon, Troutman still slid into the Top Ten. He was a force to be reckoned with and while he wasn’t the most skilled player to ever play for Pitt, he was one of the best in the Dixon-Howland era.
"Chevy" averaged just over ten points per game over his career, including 15.0 ppg in his senior season under Dixon. He was also a quality defender, averaging just over a steal and a block per contest in his final two years.
Troutman was also one of the most accurate Pitt shooters of all time in the Howland-Dixon era, making 63% of his shots over a four-year career, including an astounding 72% as a sophomore. That year, he led the entire NCAA in 2-point field goal percentage (74%). We didn't take that into account of course, but in the Dixon era, his 2-point field goal percentage (69%) led the entire Big East. |