ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 12, 2022

Jeff Capel

Nelly Cummings

Jamarius Burton

Pittsburgh Panthers

Press Conference

Q. Something that stands out on your roster is a lot of experience in the backcourt. You have multiple thousand-point scorers, a lot of games played between everyone who's transferred in or just been around. How hard is it to build chemistry with the guys who have been there compared to guys who are coming in and who have played with others throughout their different times in college, collegiate basketball careers?

JEFF CAPEL: Well, we're excited about the guys that we were able to bring in and then adding them to Jamarius and to Nike. Two new guys, Nelly and then also Greg Elliott, guys who are experienced, have been a part of winning, that have been an integral part of winning, and that have had really good college careers on top of J.B., who's won, and then Nike, who's a guy that's very, very talented.

I feel really good. I think their relationships have happened organically. It's been a really cool thing to watch.

Our backcourt is older, so we're excited about that. We're excited about the experience that they bring, both individually and collectively as far as leadership, as far as being good players individually, but most importantly, helping their teams be really good, and we feel like these two guys, along with Greg and Nike, will help our team be good this year.

JAMARIUS BURTON: Yeah, to piggy-back on what Coach said, I think the experience that we've been able to add to this team is big. Having multiple guys on the same page as far as knowing how hard and smart you have to play to win games is going to be pivotal this year.

NELLY CUMMINGS: And I think just the organic relationship we've been able to form, it's real. Like it's not fake. So I think that's a huge thing when you have guys that you actually care about, actually share real relationships with. It makes it much easier to play with those people.

Q. Coach, as a follow-up to that, you have three six-year player; you're kind of old. It's got to be comforting, right?

JEFF CAPEL: Yeah, we are old, and I'm grateful for that. These guys have a lot of experience. They're older. They've won. They want to be a part of winning. They want to win at our place, at the University of Pittsburgh in our program.

They've been through a lot. They've been through adversity. They've had success. We want them to bring all of those experiences to our program and help us be at our best.

I think they are all really good players, but I think all of them also have really good leadership qualities, and as a coach, I'm really excited about that.

Q. Nelly, I'm curious, being a grad transfer, and this is sort of a loaded question, why do you think Coach selected you to come here to Charlotte?

NELLY CUMMINGS: I just think I can be a great representative of what we do here, of what the program is about. I'm the type of guy who can speak in front of this and be comfortable because I'm secure in myself and Coach knows that about me, so I think that's something that he definitely values and something I can bring to the team and to the program.

Q. Coach, with so many new faces but with so much experience, is there a certain goal that you're trying to reach within the first month of the season, two months, when it comes to that cohesiveness, the rhythm of practice, the opening first couple of games?

JEFF CAPEL: We're just trying to get better each day. Our summer was a little bit different. Normally we have our whole team there in the summer second session. We didn't have that this summer.

We had some guys that had to fulfil some academic requirements. We had one kid that was playing on his national team, so he wasn't able to be there.

But the guys that were there were able to form relationships, form bonds through work, through getting to know each other.

One of the things Nelly said that I think is really important, it's an organic, genuine relationship. Like they care about each other.

I think one of the things that's been really cool to see is that they are secure. You're not dealing with insecurity. You're dealing with guys that have accomplished.

Because of that, there's a sense of security in who they are as individuals that also comes with age and experience.

We have guys, older guys, that are able to talk to the younger guys, that are able to help the younger guys, that are able to cheer for them and to be genuinely happy for them, and there's not a sense of jealousy or anything like that.

We're just trying to get better each day. We're trying to grow. We're trying to learn each other, learn each other on the court, what the strengths are, what the weaknesses are, protect from the weaknesses, to accentuate the strengths, and to put all the pieces together.

I love the pieces that we have. I love how we've practiced. I love everything about this group, and I'm excited about what I think we can become.

Q. Coach, could you talk about recruiting these days; obviously you still recruit high school kids, but how much has that changed with the portal?

JEFF CAPEL: Yeah, I think recruiting is still recruiting. Recruiting is the lifeblood of your program. I think most programs are still going to try to recruit the best guys that they can get.

I think what this has done, the transfer portal, the one-time transfer when you're able to get guys to play right away, it just opens up more avenues than you had before.

I don't think it's a bad thing. I just think that it's new, and it opens up more avenues. There are more options.

We will continue -- I know at our program we're going to continue to recruit high school guys, but we're also going to look everywhere we possibly can, junior college, transfers, and things like that.

We tried to be intentional as we put together this class.

At the end of the season last year we talked about, as a staff, I talked about, we have to have a lot of wins from now until July, and I think we were able to do that.

We were intentional about what we were looking for. One of the things -- or a couple of qualities, number one, we wanted to add shooting. That was an area where we were really poor in as a basketball team last year.

Now, part of it was that two of our better guys, two of our best shooters and most experienced guards, Nike Sibande, tore his ACL the week before the first game. Then Ithiel Horton had his situation where he wasn't really with us the majority of the season.

So with this group, we were able to add shooting. We were able to add experience. We also wanted to get a little bit bigger and a little bit longer. We were able to add that along our front court.

I think we've added more quality depth. One of the things that really helped us was that last summer, not this past summer, but summer before that, I really fought to add a position to our staff.

I don't think we were equipped last year to handle the transfer portal as a staff, and that's on us. I thought we were more prepared for it this year, and I think that's why we were able to have success.

The other thing that was really important for us, from March of 2020 to June of 2021, we couldn't have guys on campus. We couldn't go out and recruit. For some people that may not have hurt them. For us, it did, because we're at a state in our program where we are right now, we don't have a lot of stuff we can sell on Zoom. People have to come to Pittsburgh. They have to feel it.

With everything opening back up, I thought that really helped us.

We're going to continue to try to recruit the best guys that we think can help our program and can help us be the best program and best team that we can be, whether it's high school, whether it's junior college, whether it's transfer.

Q. J.B., last year you were 12.4 points per game. We all learn, evolve, and mature. What is it about your season last year that has put you in a really good position for this year?

JAMARIUS BURTON: Yeah, for me, last year going into this year I really was able to develop more leadership skills, more qualities as far as communication and really being able to connect with my guys, and I've been able to really transfer that over this year, as well as playing in the ACC for the first time, seeing the competition, the level, just getting back into the lab this off-season and preparing myself for this season coming up.

JEFF CAPEL: To add on that, one of the things with J.B., I think he's healthier. He had surgery before the season last year. He missed the first couple of games. There were a lot of times during the season after that that J.B. wasn't able to practice.

So I think being healthy is a big thing that will help him and certainly will help us.

Q. J.B., how would you describe your leadership style?

JAMARIUS BURTON: Yeah, for me, I'm a vocal guy, but I try to lead by example, as well. For me, just trying to be consistent each and every day. That's what's most important.

Q. Nelly, would you agree with that in the short time you've been around him?

NELLY CUMMINGS: For sure, definitely agree with that. J.B. is an excellent leader.

Q. Regarding the situation around Dior, do you have any further comment on that? You talked about the depth at the guard position. How do you figure they can step up with the projected absence of him?

JEFF CAPEL: Yeah, I don't have any more. It's in the law now, so there's nothing else that we can say about that, any of us, any guy on the team, myself, anyone associated with our program.

We put out a statement, and that's the statement that we'll go with.

I feel for him, but we're good. As a program, we're good. We're in a good space. We're good.

Q. Jeff, big question for you. Big John, your best player, your most productive player I would say. What can you tell us about him and the off-season he's had? You've got a preseason All-ACC kind of guy, and I know you've changed your backcourt, but I think it's fair to say this season is going to be dictated upon how well John plays?

JEFF CAPEL: Well, John should be our anchor. John is a guy that last year was able to command a double-team. He was able to score at an efficient rate down there, especially when he was single coverage.

We felt like -- I felt like that we did him a disservice because we didn't have shooting around him. That's one of the reasons why as we looked at recruiting and even with our returning guys, we've really tried to work on shooting the basketball, because we think that could help open up things for John.

But then John helps open up things for these guys and gives them opportunities. It's important for him -- I thought John was a good player last year, at times a really good player. We want John to consistently be a really good player. We want John to cut down on his turnovers. We want John to be more of a presence defensively.

Last year was John's first year of really playing, of going through a whole year, just like J.B. here at this level. I thought he learned a lot, and it's something that I think will help him.

Now, he's dealing with his injury. He's been out. We're hopeful to have him back by the first game. I think that will help us because it will give the other guys opportunities -- we know what John can do. We know what John is going to do.

But for the rest of our front court, that's where a lot of inexperience is, and it gives those guys an opportunity to get a lot of reps and a lot of opportunities in practice.

Q. J.B., we've been debating this for the last couple of years. Who's the funnier Capel brother, Jason or Jeff?

JAMARIUS BURTON: Jason.

JEFF CAPEL: No question, absolutely.