Pittsburgh Panthers

About Pittsburgh Basketball

“Send it in, Jerome.”

Those are the immortal words of television analyst Bill Raftery as he described Jerome Lane’s backboard-shattering dunk against Providence in 1988. It’s a play that epitomized Pitt basketball during its heyday in the old Big East.

The Panthers were tough, physical and relentless while winning back-to-back regular-season league championships in 1987 and 1988 under Paul Evans, then 3 straight from 2002-04 under Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon. 

In 2008-09, Pitt earned its first-ever No. 1 national ranking, holding onto the top spot for 3 weeks. The Panthers tied a school record with 31 wins while advancing to the Elite Eight that season. It was part of a run that saw them post 13 consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins between 2002-14.

Although that success continued through the transition to the ACC in 2016, the program dropped off considerably upon Dixon’s departure and has only begun to recover under current coach Jeff Capel.