PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Talk went from Pitt in the NCAA Tournament to ‘what has happened’ in the span of three games. It may have gotten worse, if not for the Panthers top three players getting together to stop it.
It was Monday before the game against Virginia Tech when junior Au’Diese Toney said he got himself, Xavier Johnson and Justin Champagnie together and they didn’t hold back.
“I just told them it was a lack of leadership,” Toney said. “I let that slip for the guys as a whole. I let them know everything was on me.”
“We were just talking with each other,” Johnson said. “And being real with each other. We just told each other what we didn’t like and what we do like. ‘Diese told us it was a lack of leadership and it’s on us.”
This was after head coach Jeff Capel laid out his issues with the team Monday morning, just a couple of days after an embarrassing loss to Notre Dame. The coaches called it a ‘line in the sand moment’. The players agreed something had to change and they had a ‘gritty’ practice on Monday.
“We know that we are a good team at first,” Johnson said. “Then we just let it go and let the selfish things come between us.”
Tuesday, Capel said it was their best practice of the year, intense and physical. Capel believed they regained their edge.
“We got it back in practice,” Toney said. “I got everybody back organized and we just focused and got back on the right path.”
As for what Toney then said to the team.
“I expressed to them it’s not a good feeling to lose,” Toney said. “I asked them the question, ‘it don’t feel good to lose right?’. They were like ‘yeah’. Everyone had their head down. That’s the feeling we had all freshmen year when we were losing. I don’t want to go back to that. They felt the pain that I was preaching to them. They just took it and ran with it.”
Capel was unaware of the meeting until he heard about it on his coach’s show on Thursday. He was pleased it happened and just another thing Toney has done for his team.
“I’ve said this all year,” Capel said. “He’s the heart and soul of our team. He’s a tough, competitive kid. He’s gotten so much better. He’s earned the right to be good. When he has been good, we have been good.”
The junior from Alabama is averaging 14.6 points a game (5 point better than his career-high), 2.5 assists (double his career-high) and 6 rebounds (also a career-high). The lefty also had a tip-in game-winner against Syracuse and a trio of 20 point games.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot,” Toney said. “I had to grow up faster than normal freshman would have. I had to have a senior mindset. I had that all three years.”
The mindset has paid off in this crazy basketball season as the Panthers play at first place Virginia Saturday at 4p. Panthers pregame begins at 3p on 93.7 The Fan.