# 2020–21 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Pittsburgh during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers were led by third-year head coach Jeff Capel and played their home games at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Panthers finished the season 10–12, 6–10 in ACC play, to finish in twelfth place. They lost to Miami in the first round of the ACC tournament. They were not invited to either the NCAA tournament or NIT.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2019–20 season 16–17 overall and 6–14 in ACC play, finishing in a tie for thirteenth in the conference. The Panthers defeated Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament before losing to NC State in the second round. The tournament was cancelled before the Quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA tournament and NIT were also cancelled due to the pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Eric Hamilton | 0 | F | 6'9" | 230 | Graduate Student | Atlanta, GA | Graduated |
| Trey McGowens | 2 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Sophomore | Pendleton, SC | Transferred to Nebraska |
| KJ Marshall | 13 | G | 5'9" | 165 | Freshman | Reading, PA | Transferred to Garden City Community College |
| Kene Chukwuka | 15 | F | 6'9" | 225 | Senior | Stockholm, Sweden | Graduated |
| Anthony Starzynski | 22 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Pittsburgh, PA | Graduated |
| Samson George | 23 | F | 6'7" | 220 | Junior | Minna, Nigeria | Transferred to Central Arkansas |
| Ryan Murphy | 24 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Calabasas, CA | Transferred to Tulane |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Nike Sibande | 22 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Senior | Indianapolis, IN | Miami (OH) |

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Noah Collier SF | Mullica Hill, NJ | Westtown School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 23, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| John Hugley IV C | Lyndhurst, OH | Brush High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Oct 18, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Max Amadasun C | Bronx, NY | Our Savior Lutheran High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Oct 15, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Femi Odukale G | Brooklyn, NY | Springfield Commonwealth Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Apr 16, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| William Jeffress Jr. SF/SG | Erie, PA | McDowell | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Apr 28, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 27 Rivals: 22 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Pittsburgh Panthers". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020. ||||||

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference Regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | St. Francis | L 70–80 | 0–1 | 20 – Toney | 8 – Hugley | 10 – Johnson | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| November 28, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Drexel | W 83–74 | 1–1 | 27 – Johnson | 8 – Champagnie | 8 – Johnson | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| December 5, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Northern Illinois | W 89–59 | 2–1 | 22 – Champagnie | 10 – Champagnie | 7 – Johnson | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| December 9, 2020* 9:15 p.m., ESPN | | at Northwestern ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 71–70 | 3–1 | 21 – Johnson | 20 – Champagnie | 4 – Johnson | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| December 12, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | Gardner–Webb | W 67–50 | 4–1 | 24 – Champagnie | 21 – Champagnie | 5 – Champagnie | Petersen Events Center (0) Pittsburgh, PA |
| ACC Regular season |||||||||
| December 16, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Miami (FL) | W 70–55 | 5–1 (1–0) | 18 – Horton | 9 – Champagnie | 3 – Tied | Watsco Center (0) Coral Gables, FL |
| December 22, 2020 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | Louisville | L 54–64 | 5–2 (1–1) | 16 – Odukale | 7 – Hugley | 2 – Sibande | Petersen Events Center (0) Pittsburgh, PA |
| December 29, 2020 8:00 p.m., ACCN | | at No. 20 Duke | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| January 6, 2021 4:30 p.m., ACCN | | at Syracuse | W 63–60 | 6–2 (2–1) | 14 – Horton | 14 – Toney | 7 – Johnson | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| January 16, 2021 12:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | Syracuse | W 96–76 | 7–2 (3–1) | 24 – Champagnie | 16 – Champagnie | 7 – Johnson | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 19, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN | | Duke | W 79-73 | 8–2 (4–1) | 31 – Champagnie | 14 – Champagnie | 11 – Johnson | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 23, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Wake Forest | L 75–76 | 8–3 (4–2) | 17 – Champagnie | 8 – Champagnie | 8 – Johnson | LJVM Coliseum (79) Winston-Salem, NC |
| January 26, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCN | | North Carolina | L 65–75 | 8–4 (4–3) | 23 – Champagnie | 10 – Champagnie | 7 – Johnson | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 30, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN | | Notre Dame | L 58–84 | 8–5 (4–4) | 19 – Champagnie | 11 – Champagnie | 3 – Tied | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 3, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | No. 16 Virginia Tech | W 83–72 | 9–5 (5–4) | 32 – Johnson | 13 – Champagnie | 7 – Johnson | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 6, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN | | at No. 14 Virginia | L 66–73 | 9–6 (5–5) | 18 – Champagnie | 10 – Champagnie | 7 – Johnson | John Paul Jones Arena (0) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 10, 2021 9:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Louisville | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY |
| February 14, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Georgia Tech | L 65–71 | 9–7 (5–6) | 18 – Horton | 9 – Toney | 4 – Tied | McCamish Pavilion (1,200) Atlanta, GA |
| February 17, 2021 4:30 p.m., ACCN | | NC State | L 73–74 | 9–8 (5–7) | 18 – Champagnie | 10 – Champagnie | 5 – Horton | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 20, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | No. 16 Florida State | L 72–79 | 9–9 (5–8) | 21 – Champagnie | 10 – Champagnie | 3 – Tied | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 21, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | Clemson | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Petersen Events Center Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 28, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at NC State | L 62–65 | 9–10 (5–9) | 18 – Odukale | 12 – Champagnie | 5 – Odukale | PNC Arena (500) Raleigh, NC |
| March 2, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | Wake Forest | W 70–57 | 10–10 (6–9) | 23 – Sibande | 13 – Champagnie | 4 – Sibande | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| March 6, 2021 12:00 p.m., ACCRSN | | at Clemson | L 62–77 | 10–11 (6–10) | 13 – Champagnie | 5 – Brown | 3 – Odukale | Littlejohn Coliseum (1,876) Clemson, SC |
| ACC tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCN | (12) | vs. (13) Miami First round | L 73–79 | 10–12 | 28 – Odukale | 10 – Champagnie | 3 – Tied | Greensboro Coliseum (2,820) Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.