2009–10 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team

This article is about 2009–10 Pitt men's basketball. For 2009–10 Pitt women's basketball, see 2009–10 Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball team.

The 2009–10 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Jamie Dixon, who was in his 7th year as head coach at Pittsburgh and 11th overall at the University. The team played its home games in the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and were members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 13–5 in Big East play and lost in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Big East men's basketball tournament. They received an at–large bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 3 seed in the West Region. They defeated 14 seed Oakland in the first round before losing to 6 seed and AP No. 25 Xavier in the second round.

2009–10 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 18
Record	25–9 (13–5 Big East)
Head coach	Jamie Dixon (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Tom Herrion (3rd season) Pat Sandle (9th season) Brandin Knight (2nd season)
Home arena	Petersen Events Center (Capacity: 12,508)
Seasons ← 2008–09 2010–11 →

2009–10 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Syracuse	15	–	3		.833			30	–	5		.857
No. 6 West Virginia †	13	–	5		.722			31	–	7		.816
No. 9 Villanova	13	–	5		.722			25	–	8		.758
No. 18 Pittsburgh	13	–	5		.722			25	–	9		.735
Marquette	11	–	7		.611			22	–	12		.647
Louisville	11	–	7		.611			20	–	13		.606
No. 14 Georgetown	10	–	8		.556			23	–	11		.676
Notre Dame	10	–	8		.556			23	–	12		.657
South Florida	9	–	9		.500			20	–	13		.606
Seton Hall	9	–	9		.500			19	–	13		.594
Cincinnati	7	–	11		.389			19	–	16		.543
Connecticut	7	–	11		.389			18	–	16		.529
St. John's	6	–	12		.333			17	–	16		.515
Rutgers	5	–	13		.278			15	–	17		.469
Providence	4	–	14		.222			12	–	19		.387
DePaul	1	–	17		.056			8	–	23		.258
† 2010 Big East tournament winner As of April 3, 2010[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Outlook

The Pittsburgh Panthers advanced to last season's NCAA Elite Eight. The team lost four starters, including NBA draft selections Sam Young and DeJuan Blair, along with point guard Levance Fields and forward/center Tyrell Biggs. Guard Jermaine Dixon was the only returning starter from last season's squad while projected starter Gilbert Brown was suspended for the fall semester for academic reasons, although he reenrolled and returned to the team in December.^[2] Four freshman joined the Panthers, including McDonald's High School All-American Dante Taylor. Also new to the team was senior guard Chase Adams, a transfer from Centenary College of Louisiana. The Panthers' roster was the most inexperienced in the Big East, with six freshmen, two sophomores and only two seniors, and when Dixon went down with a foot injury in the offseason, ruling him out until well into December, the remaining roster had a total of one career start.^[3]

The Panthers were selected to finish 9th in the Big East by the Big East coaches during their conference media day.^[4]

Coaching staff

Name[5]	Position	Year at Pittsburgh	Alma Mater (Year)
Jamie Dixon	Head coach	11th (7th as head coach)	TCU (1987)
Tom Herrion	Associate head coach	3rd	Merrimack (1989)
Pat Sandle	Assistant coach	9th	San Francisco State (1987)
Brandin Knight	Assistant coach	4th	University of Pittsburgh (2005)
Brian Regan	Director of Operations	3rd	Saint Vincent (1988)
Rasheen Davis	Video Coordinator	2nd	St. Thomas Aquinas (2005)

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Lamar Patterson small forward	Lancaster, Pennsylvania	St. Benedict's Prep/J.P. McCaskey H.S.	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Dec 28, 2007
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (91)
J. J. Richardson center/power forward	Missouri City, Texas	Fort Bend Hightower HS	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	232.5 lb (105.5 kg)	Sep 16, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (89)
Dante Taylor power forward	Greenburgh, New York	National Christian Academy, MD	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	222.5 lb (100.9 kg)	Jul 14, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (97)
Talib Zanna center/power forward	Kaduna, Nigeria	Bishop McNamara HS, MD	6 ft 8.5 in (2.04 m)	222.5 lb (100.9 kg)	Sep 29, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (90)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: 15    Rivals: 25
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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 Commit List for 2009". Rivals. Retrieved November 2, 2009. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout. Retrieved November 2, 2009. "Pittsburgh Basketball Recruiting 2009". ESPN. Retrieved November 2, 2009. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. Retrieved November 2, 2009. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved November 2, 2009.

Roster

^[6]

Name	#	Position	Height	Weight (lb.)	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Chase Adams	3	Guard	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	190	2Senior	Baltimore, MD	Centenary/Mount Saint Joseph HS
Gilbert Brown*	5	Guard/Forward	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200	2Junior (RS)	Harrisburg, PA	South Kent School
Jermaine Dixon	24	Guard	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200	3Senior, Transfer	Baltimore, MD	Tallahassee CC/Maine Central Inst/Blake HS
Tim Frye	44	Guard	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205	2Junior	Mars, PA	Mars Area HS
Ashton Gibbs	12	Guard	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190	1Sophomore	Scotch Plains, NJ	Seton Hall Prep
Gary McGhee	52	Center	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	250	2Junior	Anderson, IN	Highland HS
Dwight Miller	25	Forward	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240	1Freshman (RS)	Nassau, Bahamas	St. Pius X HS
Lamar Patterson	21	Guard/Forward	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	220	1Freshman	Lancaster, PA	St. Benedict's Prep/J.P. McCaskey H.S.
J. J. Richardson	55	Forward	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	235	1Freshman	Missouri City, TX	Fort Bend Hightower HS
Nick Rivers	14	Guard	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	180	1Junior	Phoenix, AZ	Brophy College Prep
Nasir Robinson	35	Forward	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	220	1Sophomore	Chester, PA	Chester HS
Dante Taylor	11	Forward	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240	1Freshman	Greenburgh, NY	National Christian Academy (MD)
Brad Wanamaker	22	Guard	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	210	2Junior	Philadelphia, PA	Roman Catholic HS
Travon Woodall	1	Guard	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	190	1Freshman (RS)	Brooklyn, NY	St. Anthony HS
Talib Zanna	42	Forward	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225	1Freshman	Kaduna, Nigeria	Bishop McNamara HS (MD)

*Suspended for the fall semester for academic reasons, but re-enrolled and returned to the team in December.^[2]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Sun. Nov. 1* 4:00 pm		Slippery Rock	W 75–64	—	Petersen Events Center (5,815) Pittsburgh, PA
Sun. Nov. 8* 4:00 pm		Coker	W 83–40	—	Petersen Events Center (6,103) Pittsburgh, PA
Regular season
Fri. Nov. 13* 8:10 pm		Wofford	W 63–60	1–0	Petersen Events Center (10,112) Pittsburgh, PA
Tue. Nov. 17* 5:30 pm, ESPN2		Binghamton CBE Classic	W 71–46	2–0	Petersen Events Center (7,677) Pittsburgh, PA
Thu. Nov. 19* 7:00 pm		Eastern Kentucky CBE Classic	W 71–60	3–0	Petersen Events Center (9,148) Pittsburgh, PA
Mon. Nov. 23* 7:37 pm, ESPN2		vs. Wichita State CBE Classic Semifinal	W 68–55	4–0	Sprint Center  Kansas City, MO
Tue. Nov. 24* 10:25 pm, ESPN2		vs. No. 3 Texas CBE Classic Championship	L 62–78	4–1	Sprint Center (8,076) Kansas City, MO
Sat. Nov. 28* 12:00 pm, ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh		Youngstown State	W 72–56	5–1	Petersen Events Center (10,135) Pittsburgh, PA
Wed. Dec. 2* 7:00 pm, CBS College Sports		vs. Duquesne The City Game	W 67–58	6–1	Mellon Arena (12,336) Pittsburgh, PA
Fri. Dec. 4* 7:00 pm		New Hampshire	W 47–32	7–1	Petersen Events Center (8,856) Pittsburgh, PA
Tue. Dec. 8* 9:00 pm, ESPN		vs. Indiana Jimmy V Classic	L 64–74	7–2	Madison Square Garden (8,975) New York, NY
Sat. Dec. 12* 2:00 pm, ESPNU		Kent State	W 71–59	8–2	Petersen Events Center (9,468) Pittsburgh, PA
Sat. Dec. 19* 4:00 pm		Mount St. Mary's	W 66–48	9–2	Petersen Events Center (7,039) Pittsburgh, PA
Tue. Dec. 22* 7:00 pm, ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh		Ohio	W 74–49	10–2	Petersen Events Center (9,261) Pittsburgh, PA
Mon. Dec. 28 7:00 pm, ESPNU		DePaul	W 65–52	11–2 (1–0)	Petersen Events Center (10,811) Pittsburgh, PA
Sat. Jan. 2 12:00 pm, ESPN Regional/WTAE-TV		at No. 5 Syracuse	W 82–72	12–2 (2–0)	Carrier Dome (24,969) Syracuse, NY
Mon. Jan. 4 7:00 pm, ESPN Big Monday	No. 23	at Cincinnati	W 74–71	13–2 (3–0)	Fifth Third Arena (8,699) Cincinnati, OH
Wed. Jan. 13 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 16	at No. 15 Connecticut	W 67–57	14–2 (4–0)	XL Center (15,290) Hartford, CT
Sat. Jan. 16 12:00 pm, ESPN Regional/WTAE-TV	No. 16	Louisville	W 82–77 OT	15–2 (5–0)	Petersen Events Center (12,781) Pittsburgh, PA
Wed. Jan. 20 7:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 9	No. 12 Georgetown	L 66–74	15–3 (5–1)	Petersen Events Center (12,677) Pittsburgh, PA
Sun. Jan. 24 2:00 pm, ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh	No. 9	at Seton Hall	L 61–64	15–4 (5–2)	Prudential Center (8,043) Newark, NJ
Thu. Jan. 28 7:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 17	St. John's	W 63–53	16–4 (6–2)	Petersen Events Center (12,511) Pittsburgh, PA
Sun. Jan. 31 1:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 17	at South Florida	L 61–70	16–5 (6–3)	USF Sun Dome (5,370) Tampa, FL
Wed. Feb. 3 7:00 pm, ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh	No. 22	at No. 6 West Virginia Backyard Brawl	L 51–70	16–6 (6–4)	WVU Coliseum (15,419) Morgantown, WV
Sat. Feb. 6 6:00 pm	No. 22	Seton Hall	W 83–58	17–6 (7–4)	Petersen Events Center (6,681) Pittsburgh, PA
Mon. Feb. 8* 8:00 pm, ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh	No. 25	Robert Morris	W 77–53	18–6	Petersen Events Center (7,211) Pittsburgh, PA
Fri. Feb. 12 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 25	No. 5 West Virginia Backyard Brawl	W 98–95 3OT	19–6 (8–4)	Petersen Events Center (12,902) Pittsburgh, PA
Thu. Feb. 18 9:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 19	at Marquette	W 58–51	20–6 (9–4)	Bradley Center (16,486) Milwaukee, WI
Sun. Feb. 21 12:00 pm, CBS	No. 19	No. 3 Villanova	W 70–65	21–6 (10–4)	Petersen Events Center (12,920) Pittsburgh, PA
Wed. Feb. 24 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 12	at Notre Dame	L 53–68	21–7 (10–5)	Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,581) Notre Dame, IN
Sat. Feb. 27 12:00 pm, ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh	No. 12	at St. John's	W 71–64	22–7 (11–5)	Madison Square Garden (6,892) New York, NY
Thu. Mar. 4 9:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 17	Providence	W 73–71	23–7 (12–5)	Petersen Events Center (12,511) Pittsburgh, PA
Sat. Mar. 6 4:30 pm, ESPN Regional/FSN Pittsburgh	No. 17	Rutgers	W 83–54	24–7 (13–5)	Petersen Events Center (12,508) Pittsburgh, PA
Big East tournament
Thu. Mar. 11 7:00 pm, ESPN	(2) No. 16	vs. (7) Notre Dame Big East Quarterfinals	L 45–50	24–8	Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY
NCAA tournament
Fri. Mar. 19 3:05 pm, CBS	(3 W) No. 18	vs. (14 W) Oakland NCAA First Round	W 89–66	25–8	Bradley Center (17,847) Milwaukee, WI
Sun. Mar. 21 4:50 pm, CBS	(3 W) No. 18	vs. (6 W) No. 25 Xavier NCAA Second Round	L 68–71	25–9	Bradley Center (18,031) Milwaukee, WI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=NCAA West Regional. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. rv=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	WK 17	Wk 18	Final
AP	rv	rv	rv	rv	rv	rv	rv	--	23	16	9	17	22	25	19	12	17	16	18	n/a
Coaches	rv	rv	rv	rv	--	--	--	--	rv	20	11	17	21	23	21	16	18	16	16	20

Accomplishments

• Pitt achieved a school record ninth straight 20-win season and a school record ninth straight season with 10 wins in the Big East Conference.
• Sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs was named Second-Team All-Big East.^[7]
• Ashton Gibbs was named the Big East's most improved player.^[8]
• Ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.