The Pitt Panthers lost their seventh game in a row last night, including their sixth straight loss to open the Big East part of the schedule, and are 11-8 and going nowhere fast. The loss wasn't too surprising since it came at the hands of top ranked Syracuse, but it doesn't help numb the sting of a catastrophic slide that few saw coming.
As I said before, sooner or later Jamie Dixon's basketball program was going to experience a down season or two--even the great programs have bad years--and Pitt certainly has strung enough good seasons together that it should be able to sustain a poor season every once in a while.
However, I'll bet Dixon and his staff wonder how much more his teams could have accomplished in recent years if they were able to develop (or keep) their All-Americans.
When Pitt landed forward Dante Taylor a few years ago, he was the first McDonald's All-American to commit to the program since the 1980's. The Panthers had already established a winning tradition in previous years with players such as Ontario Lett, Brandon Knight and Julius Page, and in the 2008/2009 season, the program looked better than ever after DeJuan Blair and Sam Young had such great careers at Pitt, they were selected in the NBA draft.
Now that the program was starting to land the occasional All-American, maybe the elusive Final Four would soon become a reality.
Taylor is now a junior at Pitt, and unfortunately, he hasn't even come close to having the kind of career that most people envision for an All-American. He barely even shows up on the stat sheet most nights and his spot in the starting line-up is shaky at best.
Khem Birch, a center from Notre Dame prep, was an even bigger feather in Dixon's cap when the big man committed to Pitt before this season. However, in a surprising twist shortly before the start of the team's current slide, Birch announced he was leaving the program and eventually transferred to UNLV.
So, unless Taylor suddenly has an epiphany and realizes his full potential, Dixon will be 0-2 in the All-American department.
Imagine how good Pitt could have been the past two seasons with Taylor as an inside force. As always, the Panthers were major players come tournament time in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, and just last season, led by shooting guard Ashton Gibbs, Pitt was a number 1 seed. You combine a talented inside threat with an outside sharpshooter, and Pitt may not have bowed out in the second round.
At one point early this season, the Panthers were ranked in the top 10, even without major contributions from Taylor and Birch. Had those two lived up to their hype, Pitt may not be in the middle of their worst losing-streak in nearly 15 seasons.
Right now, Dixon is discovering just how vital All-Americans can be to a program, and just like in the NFL with quarterbacks, if you miss on a blue chip prospect or or two, it may set your program back for quite a while.
Word is, Pitt has an outstanding recruiting class coming in next season. Maybe they can live up to their hype and do for the Pitt program what Taylor and Birch were unable to do.
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