PITTSBURGH –Head coach Jeff Capel was named ACC Coach of the Year, while Nike Sibande garnered Sixth Man of the Year and Jamarius Burton (First Team) and Blake Hinson (Second Team) earned all-conference recognition as announced on ACC Network’s ACC PM show Monday evening. Capel and Sibande become Pitt’s first major award winners since joining the ACC with Burton and Hinson becoming the first set of teammates to earn All-ACC accolades in the same season.
Pitt finished the regular season 21-10 overall and 14-6 in the ACC. The Panthers finished tied for third in the ACC standings after being picked 14th by the league’s media in the preseason poll.
The 10-win improvement from a year ago is tied for the fourth best in program history, while the eight-game improvement in conference play is the best all-time at Pitt. Capel helped engineer the turnaround by adding three veteran transfers (Hinson, Nelly Cummings, and Greg Elliott) to a core of returnees that included Burton and Sibande. The revamped Panther roster has already set school records for three-point field goals and three-point attempts, and is also on pace to set a single-season free throw percentage record.
The Panthers have won 20 games since Nov. 20, including wins over ranked opponents North Carolina (No. 25), Virginia (No. 11), and Miami (No. 20). Pitt also has road wins over NCAA Tournament probables NC State and Northwestern. Capel received 57 of a possible 75 votes to become just the third Pitt coach to garner conference Coach of the Year honors. Jamie Dixon (2004) and Ben Howland (2002) earned Big East Coach of the Year honors during their careers in Oakland.
Burton, one of five players in the NCAA averaging better than 15.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game, while shooting 49 percent or better from the field, joins Justin Champagnie (2021) as Pitt’s only First Team All-ACC selections. He has scored in double figures in 26 of 29 games played with 15 or more points 12 times in conference play. Burton currently ranks among the league leaders in scoring (15.6 ppg. – 14th), field goal percentage (493 – 9th), free throw percentage (.829 – 9th), and assists (4.3 apg. – 10th).
Hinson is the seventh Pitt player to make an All-ACC team (1st, 2nd, or 3rd). He is averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game and has scored in double…
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