3-17-15

KIESEL FUEL

Senior guard’s fouryear run ends in NCAA berth page 10 for profile page 14 for tournament preview

DON’T BLAME JAMIE

Why Jamie Dixion has earned the benefit of the doubt

page 14

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

MARCH MADNESS Table of Contents 4-5 News 6-7 Opinions 8-9 A&E 10 Kiesel profile 12 Diop profile 14 Nix profile 14 Dixon column 14 Women’s seeding 16 Men’s bracket 18 Men’s column 20 Women’s column 23 NIT Bracket

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

NEWS

Local heavyweights ally for health data research Dale Shoemaker Assistant News Editor The vision is simple, UPMC president and CEO Jeffrey Romoff said.

Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University and UPMC are teaming up to collect health data and improve health care through the Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance.

The goal of the alliance, the three said, is to use health data to provide more specific care to patients. Data collected could include patient genomes and other individual data to diagnose singular patients and find patterns and trends among millions of patients.

The three institutions — represented

by Romoff, CMU President Subra Suresh and Pitt’s Chancellor Patrick Gallagher — announced their partnership at a press conference Monday at the Hillman Cancer Center within UPMC Shadyside.

The alliance “will work to transform the explosion of health-related data into new technologies, products and services,” according to a release about the partnership.

Already, Pitt and CMU have started two new research and development centers, the Center for Machine Learning and Health and the Center for Commercial Applications of Healthcare Data . CMU will lead the CMLH project and Pitt will lead the CCA project. All three fund the alliance.

Gallagher called the alliance “a partnership in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” and said it “estab-

lishes the conditions for unprecedented collaboration and cooperation. We will speed the process of taking technology out of the lab and into the hands of doctors.”

Each institution plans to invest $1020 million each year for the next five or six years, Gallagher said, though Pitt will invest this amount “in addition to existing Pitt effort.”

Pittsburgh, education and medicine — led by Pitt, CMU and UPMC — have become staples of the local economy. The alliance, Suresh said, will further those two industries.

Though medicine now has “many tools for collecting health information,” Suresh said, medical professionals do not have a way to organize and understand the data

“This isn’t George Jetson. This is now. It’s here.”

Bill Peduto “Over the course of five or six years, we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.

The alliance will use the money to fund big projects that will put Pittsburgh on the cutting edge of medical research, Gallagher said.

“This is not incremental improvement and a few apps — this is really about revolutionizing how we think about medicine and how we deliver medicine and how we do medical research,” Gallagher said.

Since the steel industry collapsed in

easily. The CMLH will build machines and develop systems, he said, “to organize health care data in a meaningful way and to allow us to assess this information, as quickly and as easily as we now use an app on our smart phones.”

When Mayor Bill Peduto stood to speak around 11:30 a.m. yesterday, he announced that he had taken 835 steps that morning, as tracked by his smart phone.

“Now multiply that by millions and just think what we can do,” he said. “This isn’t George Jetson. This is now. It’s here. This is

ed-med 2.0 — this is ed-med on steroids.”

According to the release, CMU professor Eric Xing leads the CMLH, which will use data from electronic medical records, genomic sequencing, insurance records and wearable sensors to improve health care. The center will aim to analyze big health care data better, while still keeping patients’ personal information private. In cooperation with UPMC, the center will also aim to start new for-profit companies based off its research.

While stressing the need to collect big health data, the alliance also said patient privacy is important. In some projects, the alliance will plan to collect as much health care data as possible, but Gallagher said other projects will focus on ramping up security to protect the data they collect.

“To make this data useful, it has to be made available. The flip side of that same availability is that it can be misused. As we work with the alliance, we’ll bring to bear ... a data platform that’s even more secure that allows unique patient information to be protected,” he said.

Pitt professor Michael Becich will lead the CCA, which will research and invent new technology for individualized therapies and imaging systems, like fMRIs, for patients and doctors, the release said.

Pitt’s center will aim to understand cancer and several lung disorders, genomics and imaging data and, like the CMLH, turn its research into for-profit companies.

Data

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Pitt student passes away over spring vacation Harrison Kaminsky News Editor A Pitt student was found dead at home over the recent spring vacation.

Anita Valsa Thachet, an undergraduate who studied information science , passed away around 10:59 p.m. on

March 12. Alexander Balacki, chief medical investigator of Montgomery County, Pa., said on Monday that the cause of death was suicide.

Thachet was the current president of Sigma Delta Tau sorority at Pitt and a graduate of Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, Pa.

According to a post on Sigma Delta Tau’s national Facebook page, counselors are available to support chapter members.

Friends and family seeking counseling can contact the University Counseling Center at 412-648-7930.

Those who wish to honor Thachet’s

memory are encouraged to email newsdesk.tpn@gmail.com for a later tribute.

Editor’s Note: It is always difficult for a newspaper to report a student’s passing, but to prevent misinformation about this tragedy, The Pitt News feels obligated to do so.

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 4

DATA

Arthur Levine, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the school of medicine, said collecting big data is important for the future of health care and why the work of the alliance is important. He gave the drug Vioxx, marketed by Merck & Co., as an example.

When Merck released Vioxx, which the FDA approved in 1999, doctors prescribed it to help treat pain associated with arthritis and menstruation. Merck, however, withdrew the medication in September 2004 after concerns of heart attack and stroke arose in a small number of patients.

These concerns came to light, Levine said, because doctors reviewed more than 1.5 million patient records to find Vioxx as a common cause of heart attacks.

Dean search committee to form this fall Dale Shoemaker Assistant News Editor Pitt’s search for a new dean of students will start early next fall, according to Ken Service, vice chancellor for communications.

Pitt’s typical cycle for searches for deans of students, Service said in an email Monday, begins “in the mid-tolate fall.” Pitt plans to follow that cycle for Kathy Humphrey’s replacement, he said. Chancellor Patrick Gallagher promoted Humphrey earlier this semester to senior vice chancellor for engagement and chief of staff. Provost Patricia Beeson will name the members of the search committee in early fall, Service said.

In the meantime, Kenyon Bonner, previously director of student life, will remain in his position as interim dean of students. Steve Anderson, associate dean and director of residence life, will continue to serve as director of student life in Bonner’s stead.

“That’s big data,” Levine said. “The more data we can accumulate, the more we can see patterns of illness that lead us to prevent and diagnose more effectively.”

Innovation, more so than data collection, is the heart of the alliance, Romoff said.

“I will be very disappointed if, five years from now, the projects looks anything like we just described,” Romoff said.

“Because, if it does, we have not been as innovative, we have not been as creative as we need to be.”

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

EDITORIAL

OPINIONS

Freedom of speech doesnʼt imply immunity for racism On March 8, The Oklahoma Daily reported on an appalling incident of tasteless racism on a charter bus full of members of the University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers.

The men depicted in the video raise their fists and chant, “There will never be a n*gger in SAE.” The song also references lynchings.

The line “You can hang ’em from a tree,” illustrates their dark and careless exclusion of black students.

Since the incident, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at OU has closed, and the university expelled two of the brothers — Levi Pettit and Parker Rice — shown in the video.

Members of the OU chapter claim that other branches of the fraternity have used the same slur, leading to a nationwide investigation of the entire fraternity, according to The New York Times.

Equally shocking as the racist banter itself, some legal experts are claiming that the students’ expulsion is unlawful — constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of

the law school at the University of California, Irvine, states that courts defend “hateful, racist speech” under the First Amendment.

If we construe the Constitution in this manner, we are authorizing and perpetuating a racist culture that trickles down to the university level, making an entire group feel unwelcome on their campus.

While the Supreme Court famously noted in 1969 that students don’t “shed their ... rights at the schoolhouse gate,” misconceptions about the First Amendment lead to overreaching, drastic conclusions. It’s all too common to assume that you can say whatever you like because freedom of speech exists. In addition, the framers of the Constitution created the First Amendment to criticize government authority, not necessarily to ostracize others.

As further evidence of this misunderstanding, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits agencies from discriminating on the basis of color if the department receives federal funding. In this way, we ban

“racially hostile” environments in universities. As a public research school, Oklahoma University cannot allow students to use such harmful banter without consequence.

Further, Daria Roithmayr, a law professor at the University of Southern California, has an argument against relying on the First Amendment right. By initiating a hostile environment, the brothers created a “material disruption” which would not pass the U.S. Supreme Court’s substantial disruption test — a standard set by Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District in 1969 to determine whether a student’s rights have been infringed upon.

Oklahoma University is not only legally correct but socially moral in prosecuting the fraternity and expelling the students.

As a large, public university, OU has a wellheard voice. Tolerating such racist language instills a poor reflection upon the school.

As a part of a university, students should abide by its policies — with freedom comes responsibility, especially with our essential

First Amendment right.

Raving about lynchings might seem innocuous to frat members, but this discourse doesn’t belong at a higher learning institution — or anywhere. If such behavior is excused at the university level, it could seep into modern society. We don’t have a place on our campuses for this barbarous apartheid.

Pettit and Rice must accept their dismissal and apologize for their crude comments.

While Pettit’s parents released an apology noting their son’s kind heart, and Rice told the press he was sorry and felt badly for the threats his parents have received, it is evident that they aren’t acknowledging the people they have alienated. Apologies to thin air don’t amount to anything — Pettit and Rice need to face their peers in a public apology.

While a direct apology won’t excuse Pettit and Rice, it is the first step in sealing the proverbial wounds they gashed with their atrocious behavior. As for the witnesses of such verbal abuse, we hope you take the higher road and speak out against injustice.

COLUMN

Officer shooting in Ferguson: Black and blue lives matter Adrianne Glenn Columnist

Last week, Twitter user @DanDevaneGOP, a proud conservative according to his Twitter bio, tweeted, “show your support by using the hashtag #BlueLivesMatter for the hero Cops shot at the #FergusonShooting.” @DanDevaneGOP is just one of a tidal wave of Twitter users who have turned to the hashtag to voice their support of “blue lives” in Ferguson.

After 20-year-old Jeffrey Williams allegedly shot two Ferguson police officers on Thursday, he was charged with first-degree assault in connection with the shooting three days later.

Some Twitter users have utilized the hashtag #BlueLivesMatter as a play on the existing #BlackLivesMatter to highlight the

recent officer shootings. This shifts discussions of Ferguson to include the importance of police officers’ lives. While it is important to include these blue lives in the discourse, it is paramount that we do not forget the black lives affected in Ferguson.

The recent U.S. Department of Justice’s official civil rights investigation on Ferguson revealed the disproportionate amount of negative attention black citizens receive from police authority in Ferguson. It is exactly the hard evidence we need to give credence to widespread racial discrimination and start mending it.

According to the report, black residents made up 93 percent of arrests and 85 percent of traffic stops in Ferguson. They were also two times more likely to be stopped and have police search their vehicles despite being 26

percent less likely to be caught with contraband than white residents.

According to the 2010 census, the demographics don’t correlate with the findings of the report. 29.3 percent of citizens were white, and 67.4 percent were black. If blacks are about 67 percent of the population, why do they account for 93 percent of arrests?

The report further indicated that the city depended on money from fines as part of its annual revenue.

“Even as officers have answered the call for greater revenue through code enforcement, the City continues to urge the police department to bring in more money,” the report said. In a March 2013 email, the finance director suggested that court fees were anticipated to rise about 7.5 percent, according to MSNBC. In the email, he wrote, “I did ask

the Chief if he thought the PD could deliver 10 percent increase. He indicated they could try.’”

The police force reciprocated by distributing outlandishly high fines for minor offences.

For example, police fined people more than $500 for having high grass or weeds, according to the report.

Additionally, Ferguson police dogs only attacked black residents. The records show that the threat posed by the victim of the attack was never proportional to the severity of the attack and that the bites wounded many non-violent offenders.

Officers faced no repercussions for harassing black residents — unreasonably accusing a minister of being a thief and arresting

Glenn

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 6

GLENN countless citizens when it was blatantly nonsensical, like when a man was helping his girlfriend who had been in a car accident.

The officers’ shooting in Ferguson last week was devastating, a grotesque statement made with little consideration for human life.

It does not make sense to blame the officers for widespread discrimination against black lives. These blue lives need consideration in

THE PITT NEWS

the Ferguson discourse, as they are entangled with black lives by association.

Despite this most recent tragedy, the national discussion must not stray from prevention and eradication of racism. Discriminatory attitudes are what often prompt violence.

Ferguson is about far more than a single gunman. The shift in attention to this double assault is not unfounded, but the attention must be complemented through citizens’ renewed discussions about race and violence, as well. Blue lives matter just the same as

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black lives. The focus should be joint — end the culture in which people target and harass groups, be it black or blue.

If race relations don’t improve, violence will bubble up inside those affected. The victims of these crimes are not only officers, but everyday people. Whether or not average lives get the attention blue lives do should not matter. What matters is that the discrimination stops, ending the cycle of violence in Ferguson and nationwide.

On that note, Ferguson should no longer employ quota standards that seek to raise

revenue through racial profiling. The Department of Justice’s report should fuel positive change.

The ramifications of the Civil Rights Report alongside Jeffrey Williams’ assault of two officers are further evidence of this vicious cycle.

Until we realize that all black and blue lives matter the same, our country will remain bruised — black and blue.

Adrianne Glenn primarily writes about social and cultural issues for The Pitt News.

Write to Adrianne at adg79@pitt.edu.

Editorial Policies Single copies of The Pitt News are free and available at newsstands around campus. Additional copies can be purchased with permission of the editor in chief for $.50 each.

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT Flat white makes an overpriced, over-foamy entrance in U.S. Grace Kelly Staff Writer Our hipster coffee obsession perpetuates a common myth — “The Americano isn’t just espresso with water. It’s a brash shot of heady liquid adrenaline with notes of chocolate and tobacco tempered by a slosh of hot water” — but half the time that Americano you sip at Starbucks is average at best.

London is a hipster coffee lover’s paradise — a place where the plethora of terms used to describe various coffee concoctions opened my mind. There was a “black filter” or “white filter,” which denote whether or not coffee comes with milk, and half and half was a non-existent commodity. This, and the fact that oatmeal was called porridge, convinced me that London coffee shops were hipster-topias.

But, in reality, this was all normal.

There was also a “flat white,” which I had always seen people order quite casually, their posh accents making the whole affair seem more meaningful than it actually was. So, one day in Caffè Nero, a European coffee chain, I ordered the flat white in my nasally American voice. I took my cup and sat near the window, thinking the concoction in my hands was simply coffee with milk and a fancy name meant to appeal to coffee aficionados.

As I took my first sip, I learned that I had, in fact, ordered a derivation of a latte.

Except, this was creamier, less foamy, and the barista swirled the milk froth into the coffee. It wasn’t revelatory, but it certainly was a pleasant surprise.

After a few months of ordering flat whites in London and thinking nothing of it, my brother sent me an article last December which revealed that the U.S. — and, more specifically, Starbucks — would start importing the flat white method in early 2015, which is described as “taking the U.S. by storm.”

The echelons of selfproclaimed worldly foodies were “raving” about this new drink that has been commonplace in the U.K. and Australia for years. Essentially, they raved about a new derivation of a latte.

I laughed out loud.

Starbucks unveiled its “flat white” with shiny woven posters displaying carefully traced hand lettering, catching the eyes of self-proclaimed hipsters as they gawked from behind their tortoise-shell spectacles.

Back in the U.S., I decided to get over my ego and buy one to see if the

overdone hype could live up to the simple nicety that is the flat white. I swiped $5.05 off my card and received my Starbucks cup with my name erroneously spelled ‘Grac’ (actually a pleasant surprise, since Starbucks’ baristas are usually keen on re-naming me “Chris”) and took a muchanticipated sip.

Foamed milk touched my lips. I swal-

Grace said: “Starbucksʼ heralded version of the flat white, the pinnacle of hipster egoism, was nothing more than an over-priced, over-foamy latte.”

lowed. The next sip was more milk, frothier than before. And, as I tipped my cup higher, I eked out a small splash of burnt coffee. Starbucks’ heralded version of the flat white, the pinnacle of hipster egoism, was nothing more than an overpriced, over-foamy latte. Imported or not, I finished my latte, tossed the cup and continued on my way, wiser.

Starbucks said: “An extra ristretto shot ensures that itʼs bolder than a latte, yet steamed milk keeps it smoother than a cappuccino.”

Appalachian Juice Co. bring all-organic juices to Shadyside Andrew Fishman Staff Writer With inexpensive options of fried or heavily processed foods on campus — not to mention a whole pizza for $5 — maintaining a healthy lifestyle in college can be a tall order.

But, at the Appalachian Juice Company — an organic juice and smoothie bar that opened in February on Walnut Street in Shadyside — owners Meghan Kosar and Scott Crytzer are looking to

remove the stigma that eating healthy has to come with a high price tag, while also providing veterans with a source of employment.

“Going organic doesn’t have to be expensive. You’re not paying for the pesticides and fertilizers,” said Kosar, a former Pitt student who graduated in 2010 with a communication degree.

“It’s so important to eat something that is healthy and nutritious, and we want more people to have that available to them.”

The business model behind the Appalachian Juice Co. began when Kosar and Crytzer started juicing extra produce from their small plot of land in Laurel Highlands, which is less than two hours southeast of Pittsburgh, and giving it to friends. The feedback was extremely positive, as were the effects of the organic juice.

“We really liked how you felt after drinking the juices. It was a clean kind of energy that gave you an extra boost to get you through your day,” Kosar said.

“From there, the whole juice company was born.”

The Appalachian Juice Co. now serves all-organic juices and smoothies. Its raw, cold-press juicing system aims for fresh products. The term “raw” means that the fruits and vegetables are not pasteurized or exposed to other high-pressured processing that might remove some of their nutrients. The “cold-press” is in the juicer itself —

Smoothies

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 8

SMOOTHIES rather than exposing the produce to heat and oxygen and, therefore, taking away some of the nutritional value, the juicer creates a cold pulp that is then pressed thin to make a smooth, nonpulpy, nutrient-rich juice.

“The point of it is that your body doesn’t have to waste any energy digesting it,” Kosar said. “It can be absorbed right from your stomach. It’s laborintensive, but it gets the best product.”

Crytzer, a veteran, said the company’s veteran outreach program provides job-seeking veterans with a chance to learn sustainable, chemical-free farming.

Crytzer said the main goal of hiring veterans will be to educate them in Appalachian Juice’s methods of production and hopefully encourage them, through purchasing agreements through the juice company, to grow sustainable, chemical-free food.

“From my experience as a third-gen-

eration combat veteran, most veterans join out of a need to serve their community,” Crytzer said in an email. “What better way than to provide healthy affordable food that doesn’t pollute their bodies or the land they live on?”

The owners set up an online fundraiser on Indiegogo from Feb. 10 to March 15 to help fund the company’s plan for the farmland, including extendedseason growing and workshops intended to show other local farmers the advantages of growing organic. They raised $2,420 of their $40,000 goal from 19 contributors.

“We call it juice-induced harmony,” Kosar said. “Providing healthy options for people at affordable prices and making positive changes in the food system

and people’s lives.”

Located a short bus ride away from Pitt’s campus, the Appalachian Juice Co. storefront hopes to attract college students looking for healthier options.

Some Pitt students already practice the lifestyle of eating organic to combat the use of pesticides.

“Eating organic helps reduce pesticide use, which negatively affects both the environment and our health,” said Leenie Baker, a sophomore majoring in theatre arts, political science and English writing who eats organic foods. “Our bodies are also very sensitive to pesticides, and there have been studies that show links between disease, like Alzheimer’s, and pesticide intake. Even foods touted

“Replacing a soda with a juice - it’s a small step that your body will thank you for.”

Meghan Kosar

9 as health foods ... are often laden with pesticides and therefore possibly causing side effects we don’t even think of.”

The owners of Appalachian Juice Co. agree it’s difficult for college students to eat healthily, let alone organic. Although they focus on raising money for their farm and the veteran outreach program, they hope that their company can do its part to better the lives and diets of college students.

“Replacing a soda with a juice — it’s a small step that your body will thank you for,” Kosar said. “As college students, it’s really a great way to get a lot of nutrients.”

As a communication major, Kosar never imagined she would own an organic juice and smoothie bar and create sustainable farmland and opportunities for veterans.

“You just have to be open-minded about talking to people and talking about your passions,” said Kosar. “Always make time for the things you love, because you never know when the opportunity will arise to do something you are passionate about.”

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

ONE LAST SHOT

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

After a four-year career, senior Brianna Kiesel is ready for the spotlight JASPER WILSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Theo Schwarz | Visual Editor

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

rianna Kiesel couldn’t make a shot. She Amateur Athletic Union organization City Rocks, Danzy couldn’t even come close. first met Kiesel when he went to scout her at a varsity game The starting point guard of the Pitt women’s during her freshman year of high school. He’d stay for just basketball team, who currently ranks fifth on a few minutes of the actual game and knew she’d fit into his the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,893 points, has program, which draws from all over the state of New York. rarely had this issue of draining basketsover her past four “I just watched her in warm-ups and [saw] how hard seasons leading the Panthers. But these circumstances she was going, how deliberate she was in her warmups,” were different.

Danzy said. “She went through her routine with maximum During the mid-1990s, Kiesel’s father, Steve, her older energy, just working up a good sweat.” sister, Ona, and she would play at Addison Miller Park in Danzy had seen enough and, before leaving, let Steve their hometown of Utica, N.Y. They’d run and shoot around know that Brianna had a spot on his team. together after their father had played pickup there.

Similarly powerful first impressions continued. Mc“She was so little, she couldn’t even get the small ball to Manus first met her when they came on their official visit the [regulation-size, 10-footto campus tohigh] basket,” Kiesel’s father gether in Octorecalled with a chuckle. “She Brianna Kiesel will leave Pitt as one of ber 2010. Playthe program’s most decorated players. was so mad.” ing pickup with Steve can’t remember exAlyson Derrick | Staff Photographer varsity players actly when his youngest child while in town, started turning those misses McManus was into makes, but when she did struck by her so just a year or two later, he peer’s energy. wasn’t surprised.

“You could “She always kept trying to tell her work get better and better. She kept ethic from working and working at it,” the jump,” she he said. said.

That drive, first displayed The first on an outdoor court back two seasons home, has stayed with the featured little 5-foot-7 senior and contribsuccess, with uted to her exploits as much the team unas any physical skill, which able to win a she possess in spades. conference Since arriving in Oakland, game in eithe small but lightning-quick ther. Ashlee guard only missed one game Anderson, who of a possible 121, starting all played three the rest. seasons with Her infectious attitude has Kiesel, said also motivated her mostly the losing took young teammates to follow its toll on her her lead, according to senior ultra-competteammate Cora McManus. itive backcourt Together, Kiesel and company mate. have brought Pitt (19-11, 9-7 “I think she ACC) to the verge of its first just tried to postseason appearance in five take the weight years and first NCAA berth of it all on herin six. self instead of “Even in offseason condilooking at the tioning, she’s out there sprintbigger picture. ing. We’ve got to all be at that pace [and] catch her, run That was one of things we always talked about amongst that hard,” McManus said. “People want to be her. You ourselves, not even with the coaches, was ‘Bri, you don’t want to be that type of player.” have to do it all. That’s what we’re here for.’”

Keith Danzy didn’t need very long to see just how high “It’s a long season, and you’re gonna burn yourself out a caliber player Kiesel was. trying to do it all by yourself,” Anderson continued The director of the girls’ program for Albany, N.Y.-based After the team showed little progress from the first to

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second losing campaign, the University firedhead coach Agnus Berenato April 1, 2013.

“My mind was all over the place definitely between struggling and not knowing what was going to happen,” Kiesel said.

Pitt hired Suzie McConnell-Serio a week and a half later. In the following months, McConnell-Serio and her staff worked hard to keep Kiesel around, having seen what the rising junior was capable of from coaching against her with Duquesne the previous two seasons.

“She was ready to graduate in three years and didn’t know if she was coming back just because of all of what she had endured,” McConnell-Serio said. “I knew if she played last year as a junior, we could convince her to stay.”

Both happened. Kiesel received her bachelor’s degree in the administration of justice last spring and is now working to complete a second BA in legal studies with a communications certificate. The team made noticeable progress with her that year, finishing the season with three conference victories.

“I think that with the new staff coming in, it definitely woke us up like ‘Hey, this is our fresh start,’” McManus said. “We gotta go out here, [and] we gotta get it.”

Kiesel has the highest scoring average of her career, 16.8, and continues to lead the team in minutes, just as she has each of her four years. The rest of the country has taken notice. Kiesel was named one of 15 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given annually to the nation’s top point guard, and to First-Team All-ACC and the conference’s All-Defensive team.

“I’ve been spoiled the last two years, having the opportunity to coach her,” McConnell-Serio said last month after Kiesel finished with a game-high 23 points in a comeback victory over University of Virginia. “She’s just unbelievable the way she continues to fight and finds ways to score.”

Time and again in the last part of the regular season, as she continued to move up the all-time scoring chart to her current position, Kiesel has deflected any questions about what that or any other individual achievements mean to her.

“We still have more games to play, and that’s just something you keep pushing [towards],” she said. “It just makes you want to keep working, just because you know there’s more to work for.”

“She’s just unbelievable the way she continues to fight.”

Suzie McConnellSerio

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Diop finds success at Pitt thousands of miles from home Jessica Boddy Staff Writer

Yacine Diop has played in every game this season. Nate Smith | Staff Photographer

It was 4:15 on a Wednesday afternoon in the Petersen Events Center, and the Pitt women’s basketball team was just finishing up a vigorous practice session. The final drill was underway, during which trios of players rotated around a hoop and took turns making free throw shots. One player, Yacine Diop, offered verbal encouragement to teammates while also making consecutive free throws.

After a sharp whistle blast and a collective team huddle, the player bounded over to the media representatives on the sideline, extended a hand, and declared, “Hello! I’m Yacine!”

Yacine Diop, a freshman forward with a notably sunny disposition, started in all 30 games and averaged 9.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for Pitt this past season, putting her at third and second best on the team, respectively, in each.

Basketball was Diop’s first love, she said, which she discovered at nine years old on the streets in her hometown of Dakar, Senegal.

“I first started playing on the street, like street basketball,” said Diop, who added that she went to play for a club two years ago.

In 2011, Diop, then 16, came to the United States alone and attended Oak Hill Academy in Virginia to further pursue her basketball and academic careers.

The adjustment to American culture was a challenge, but relationships with teachers, coaches and basketball teammates smoothed the transition.

“It was very different. Coming to the states, I didn’t know English at all,” Diop said. “I had a personal English teacher and a class to help my speaking and pronunciation and writing. That really helped a lot.”

Diop faced roadblocks during the journey to her starting position at Pitt. After her sophomore year of high school, Oak Hill Academy cut the girls’ basketball program.

Mike Rodgers, the former girls’ basketball coach and current director of admissions at Oak Hill, said when he was promoted to his current position, the ad-

ministration could not find a replacement coach and decided to close the program.

Rodgers said one reason he took the admissions job was because of the strenuous travel requirements that came with the team’s schedule.

Diop transferred to Seton-La Salle High School in Pittsburgh in order to keep playing. She knew Seton-La Salle assistant coach Ron Mumbray through playing summer AAU ball in the Pittsburgh area, and SetonLa Salle typically has an excellent basketball program.

After evaluation, the Western Penn-

sylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) ruled Diop ineligible to play for her junior season at Seton-La Salle because her reason for transferring was athletic – something that’s not allowed by these organizations’ rulebooks, in order to prevent schools attempting to stack a roster full of skilled athletes through transfers.

Despite the year without competitive play, colleges around the country — UC Berkeley, Dayton and Wake Forest — heavily recruited her. Pitt head coach Suzie Mc-

Connell-Serio secured Diop, though, and reminisced about the first time she saw the forward play.

“As soon as you watch her play, you just see her athleticism and the way she can run and jump and elevate on the jumper. The first time I saw her play I just absolutely fell in love with her,” McConnell-Serio said.

“As a sophomore, when you see that in a younger player — you see unlimited potential with her.”

McConnell-Serio said Diop’s calming and infectious personality has had positive effects on and off the court.

“I’m the one who gets animated and tense on the sidelines, and she’s a calming factor. She’ll look at me and give me the hand signals like, ‘Coach, it’s OK. We’re OK. I got you’,” McConnell-Serio said. “She has a personality that is just infectious around this team. [She] always has a smile on her face.”

Diop’s teammate and roommate, Aysia Bugg, reiterated her coaches’ statements about Diop’s affability.

“She’s so easy to relate to on a personal level and to talk to, even though she’s not originally from here,” Bugg, a freshman guard, said. “You can talk to her about anything. She’s a great friend.”

As for academics, Diop, who is now fluent in English, French and Wolof, plans to study international business or become an interpreter one day. She recently made the 2014-2015 All-ACC academic team, along with teammates Brianna Kiesel and Monica Wignot.

To be eligible for those honors, a player must earn a 3.0 GPA in the previous semester as well as maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA during their academic career.

Over the next three years on the court, Diop said she wants to keep improving her 3-point shot and overall shooting percentage. McConnell-Serio wants to help her achieve those goals, and sees Diop as a developing force for the Panthers.

“I just see her continuing to grow her game and being able to be a 3-point threat for us,” McConnell-Serio said. “One thing she has is versatility, being able to play inside and out. And I just see her getting better and better in both areas.”

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

COLUMN

Dixon’s tenure should not go unappreciated Dan Sostek Assistant Sports Editor

Jamie Dixon could have gotten out of dodge, if the slew of reports two springs ago gained any credence.

The then-48-year-old Pitt men’s basketball head coach could have escaped the frigid winters of western Pennsylvania for the warm coastline of the University of Southern California, a short drive from his birthplace in North Hollywood.

Instead, Dixon stayed in Oakland, inking a 10-year contract with Pitt that ended any speculation about his employment status.

But, after this display of loyalty, which came after an extended display of coaching prowess, Dixon — who sports the highest winning percentage in Big East history — still isn’t enough for a small upwelling of Pitt fans, even after 12 years.

The arguments against Dixon are simplistic and invalid, discounting the extended period of dominance that Dixon brought to a previously middling basketball program.

“No Final Fours! No recent success! He

can’t recruit!”

The Final Four critique unfairly diminishes the success that the Panthers have seen under Dixon. In a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams, making the semi-finals isn’t an indication of coaching ability, but rather an indication that the team is firing on all cylinders.

Too many times, coaches bare the brunt of the blame for these postseason losses, while players avoid most of the culpability.

Dixon wasn’t defending Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds coast-to-coast, game-winning layup in the 2009 Elite Eight. Dixon wasn’t the one who committed a foul on Butler’s Matt Howard in 2011.

Instead, Dixon’s contributions have led Pitt to the program’s first two No. 1 seeds in its history. He’s won two Big East regular season titles and one Big East tournament title — and was a Kemba Walker crossover away from a second. I prefer to judge a coach based on a large sample size of season-long success rather than one bad game at tournament time.

As for Pitt’s recent “struggles,” the fact that some consider Dixon’s two worst seasons — this year and 2011-2012 — disappointing is a

testament to his success.

Dixon set an NCAA record for the most victories by any coach in the first eight seasons with 211. To expect that kind of sustained excellence to continue at a school like Pitt, one without any recent history of consistent winning in basketball, is asking for something that’s nearly impossible.

Also, dismissing Pitt’s last four years as disappointing is a gross misrepresentation.

Dixon’s teams have made the NCAA tournament two of those four years, which would have been widely welcomed during Pitt’s eight-year-long March Madness drought from 1994-2001. Dixon fostered such a period of consistency that even the slightest deviation has left some of the Panther faithful craving more.

Perhaps the greatest fallacy of all is the notion that Jamie Dixon has been a mediocre recruiter of talent. This is a claim with little basis, unless solely based on his 2014 class, in which he only brought in two low-tier recruits, Ryan Luther and Cameron Johnson.

Dixon

25

Rozelle Nix to provide big boost in frontcourt Jeremy Tepper Staff Writer Down in Florida’s Pensacola State swimming pool, a huge man swims laps, slimming his body to prepare for an impending trip to Pittsburgh.

The figure swimming up and down the pool is Rozelle Nix, Pensacola’s 7-foot, 308-pound star center and incoming Pitt recruit.

Morning swims, along with laps around the track and countless hours in the gym and the weight room, have helped transform Nix from a lightly recruited, overweight prospect, into an ACC recruit. He will be a much-needed recruit, providing size to a team that is losing senior big men Derrick Randall and Aron Phillips-Nwankwo.

Just three years ago, Nix tipped the scales at more than 400 pounds. A Cincinnati native, Nix struggled to stay on the court because of his weight, averaging 3.8 points and 5.9 rebounds at Withrow High School. Nix

dreamt of playing college basketball and, eventually, professionally, but he said he wasn’t getting there at that weight.

Aiming to transform his basketball performance, “lose weight and get better every single day,” he said, Nix attended junior college for two years from 2013 to this spring.

His first visit was Pensacola State College, a successful junior college program in Pensacola, Florida.

Though Pensacola’s men’s basketball coach Pete Pena knew Nix’s weight loss goal didn’t come with a simple answer, the center’s attitude and desire to improve made the junior college an easy sell. Pensacola competed at the top of the Panhandle Conference, finishing second with an 8-4 conference record and a 20-10 overall record.

“What we got to understand during his visit was how bad he wanted to become a good player and how determined he was,” Pena said.

“We just hit it off,” Pena added. “I fell in love with the kid.”

The Cincinnati native was leaving Pensacola after his visit, and Pena said he told Nix, “‘Rozelle, I want to be a part of your life for the next two years.’”

Nix listened. A couple days later, he pulled the trigger and committed to Pensacola. This phone call to Pena was the unofficial beginning to Nix’s path to college basketball.

Though Nix whittled himself down to around 380 pounds in his freshman year, his weight blocked him from reaching his full potential. While he had the drive, he still needed the stamina. Nix couldn’t run the court like he wanted to or play long enough to make an impact at the next level. His first year, he averaged 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

His dissatisfaction sunk in when he wasn’t playing up to his standards in the junior college state tournament.

“Last year during the state tournament I was around 370 or 380 [pounds] at the time,

Nix

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Pitt earns 10 seed in NCAA Tourney Chris Puzia Sports Editor

Only two years and one head coach removed from a season in which it did not win a single conference game, the Pitt women’s basketball team have grabbed a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Pitt (19-11, 9-7 ACC) earned a No. 10 seed in the tournament and will face No. 7 seed Chattanooga (29-3, 14-0 Southern) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Knoxville.

In her second year as head coach, replacing Agnus Berenato, Suzie McConnell-Serio has quickly turned the team around. While the team previously lost 33 consecutive conference games from 2011-14, it managed nine just this season. Senior point guard Brianna Kiesel attributed the turnaround to her coach.

“For coach to come in here and turn our program ... in her second year we’re going to the NCAA Tournament,” Kiesel said. “How amazing is that?”

McConnell-Serio said the selection show was both stressful and exciting for her team.

“That was the longest hour of my life,” McConnell-Serio said about Monday’s selection show. “It’s been emotional ... I’ve had tears. I’m just so proud of our team.”

Pitt will face a Chattanooga team that went undefeated in the Southern Conference this year. Its last loss came on Dec. 1 to Arkansas State, 57-52.

Kiesel has led Pitt all season, averaging 18.2 points per game.

“Unbelievable is an understatement,” Kiesel said. “We didn’t get a chance to fully look at [the bracket], all we saw was Pittsburgh and we automatically jumped up ” Senior center Cora McManus said the progress from her freshman year to now surprised even her.

“Nothing is ever out of reach,” McManus said. “If you go back to my freshman year, after that first season, it would have been a long time coming. But, being here now, it feels amazing.”

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

So you think you can dance?

No. 1 Kentucky No. 16 Hampton/Manhattan No. 8 Cincinnati No. 9 Purdue No. 5 West Virginia No. 12 Buffalo No. 4 Maryland

CONFERENCE PERFORMANCES

The University of Kentucky has dominated headlines in college basketball all season long, but its conference, the SEC, was in the middle of the pack on Selection Sunday, getting five teams into the dance. The “Big” winners in terms of conference this year were the Big 10 and Big 12, both of which landed seven teams in the tournament. The ACC managed to send six teams in, headlined by the No. 1 seed in the South Region, Duke University. Other conferences with strong representation include the Big East with six teams and the Pac 12 with four.

-Logan Hitchcock

No. 13 Valparaiso No. 6 Butler No. 11 Texas No. 3 Notre Dame No. 14 Northeastern No. 7 Wichita St. No. 10 Indiana No. 2 Kansas No. 15 New Mexico St. No. 1 Wisconsin No. 16 Coastal Carolina No. 8 Oregon No. 9 Oklahoma St. No. 5 Arkansas

PITTSBURGH MATCHUPS

The Consol Energy Center will host four NCAA Tournament games in the first weekend of the tournament. The most intriguing matchup in the Steel City is No. 8 seed North Carolina State against No. 9 seed Louisiana State University. Pitt fans likely remember the Wolfpack’s dominant ACC Tournament victory against the Panthers, but the Panther faithful shouldn’t sleep on the Tigers, who barely lost to No. 1 Kentucky on Feb. 10 and has also beaten strong West Virginia and Arkansas teams this season. Redshirt junior guard Trevor Lacey leads NC State with 15.8 points per game, compared to sophomore forward Jarell Martin, who leads LSU with 16.9 points per game.

-Chris Puzia

No. 12 Wofford No. 4 North Carolina No. 13 Harvard No. 6 Xavier No. 11 BYU/Ole Miss No. 3 Baylor No. 14 Georgia St. No. 7 VCU No. 10 Ohio St. No. 2 Arizona No. 15 Texas Southern

BEST STORYLINE

Most people will remember University of Louisville guard Kevin Ware’s gruesome leg injury against Duke in the 2013 Elite Eight. After doctors inserted a metal rod into his tibia, Ware attempted to return to action but quietly decided to move closer to his home state of Georgia, transferring to Georgia State University. This past weekend, Ware tallied 18 points in his team’s Sun Belt conference championship win over Georgia Southern University, propelling it to the NCAA Tournament. As a No. 14 seed, his team faces an uphill battle against No. 3 seed Baylor University, but getting Ware back in the tournament will be an inspirational sight by itself.

-Dan Sostek

All photos from TNS

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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With a field of 68 teams, the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament always provides countless players and storylines to track. Here are some that The Pitt News Sports Desk are looking at heading into the Big Dance.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Villanova University’s senior forward JayVaughn Pinkston has seen it all over the course of his career, facing potential expulsion and surviving a MRSA scare. In his five years on campus, he’s grown from an immature kid from Brooklyn to the undisputed leader of the latest, least-talked-about 32-2 team.

Pinkston wants to end his career with a bang, and, if everyone keeps underestimating Nova’s abilities, he might get what he’s looking for. Check him out Thursda Thursday daay ag aagainst ainst Lafayette College at the Consol Energy gy Center.

-Alex Wise

Villanova No. 1 Lafayette No. 16 NC State No. 8 LSU No. 9 UNI No. 5 Wyoming No. 12 Louisville No. 4

UPSET CANDIDATE

Out of all the No. 1 seeds in the tournament, Villanova is O the tteam most likely to face an upset. This Wildcats team may be one o of the best squads in the school’s history, capable of overcoming any opponent in the country when it gets into a over rhythm, but it still lives and dies by the 3-point shot. It consists rhyt of high-powered hi shooters at every position, but if more than a few pplayers are having an off day, then it will struggle to score.

-Alex Fischbein

CINDERELLA TEAM

UC Irvine No. 13 Providence No. 6 Boise St./Dayton No. 11 Oklahoma No. 3 Albany No. 14 Michigan St. No. 7 Georgia No. 10 Virginia No. 2 Belmont No. 15

Stephen F. Austin State University’s “sharing is caring” motto, and its three returning starters give the squad a definite Cinderella team possibility. SFA ranks first in the country in assists at 17.8 per game, which has been a huge contributor to the team’s success. After upsetting No. 5 seed Virginia Commonwealth University in last year’s NCAA Tournament — and losing to No. 4 seed UCLA in the next round — the Lumberjacks’ returning conference MVP Thomas Walkup, who averages 16.8 points per game, will lead a redemption-hungry charge in the tournament this year.

-Jessica Boddy

Duke No. 1 N. Florida/RMU No. 16 San Diego St. No. 8 St. John’s No. 9 Utah No. 5 S.F. Austin No. 12 Georgetown No. 4

BEST MATCHUP

The most intriguing first round matchup takes place in Portland, Ore., where the No. 12 seed SFA Lumberjacks take on the No. 5 seed University of Utah. The Southland Conference champs can pile on the points at a rate of just under 80 points per game, and they lead the country in assists per game with 17.1. This style of play clashes with a defensive-minded Runnin’ Utes team that only allows 56.9 points per game. The Utes also pride themselves on getting in your face with their length and shot blocking ability, which will make for a fair challenge.

Prediction: ‘Jacks 71, Utes 67.

-Brandon Duerr

Eastern Wash. No. 13 SMU No. 6 UCLA No. 11 Iowa St. No. 3 UAB No. 14 Iowa No. 7 Davidson No. 10 Gonzaga No. 2 North Dakota St. No. 15

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

COLUMN

Disappointing end to season has Pitt looking to future Alex Wise Staff Writer

After trailing in a two-possession game versus the University of Miami on March 4 for several minutes, sophomore forward Sheldon Jeter knocked down a shot from behind the arc to pull Pitt within three with less than 30 seconds left. Head coach Jamie Dixon called a timeout, and the Panthers lined up in a full-court press, resulting in a Jeter steal.

Suddenly, all the fans streaming out of the arena returned to their seats. We had hope.

A few passes later, the ball ended up in the hands of sophomore forward Jamel Artis, who had a wide open look for three from the wing. He shot the ball with 19 seconds left.

Then, everyone in the Petersen Events Center held their collective breath, and ... clank.

Rebound Miami. Foul on Pitt. Free throws made. Game over.

It was the story of the season, really. When crunch time came, Pitt just couldn’t seal the deal in close games. The failures in closing

minutes explains the loss to Virginia Tech.

The same late-game shortcomings explain the lack of a solid out-of-conference win, and they explain the collapse when tournament hopes rode on wins against Wake Forest, Miami and Florida State. All of these factors add up to a disappointing 19-14 record, with a lessthan-stellar 8-10 mark in ACC play, where Pitt finished ninth out of 15 teams.

Overall, the year disappointed fans, yet there are a number of bright spots to remember. For one, Pitt re-established the homecourt dominance that it had lacked slightly in the past few years. Losses to Clemson and Miami hurt, but the Panthers defended their floor against ranked opponents like Notre Dame and North Carolina, as well as against rival Syracuse.

Artis and fellow sophomore forward Michael Young became a two-headed monster on offense, combining for more than 27 points per game. The development of Artis’ perimeter game (39.2 percent from three) made him the Panthers’ No. 1 option, and Young’s

ability to work the post and offensive glass (3.3 offensive rebounds per game) made him crucial to Pitt’s success. In the seven games that Young scored in single digits, the team went just 1-6.

Junior point guard James Robinson’s role expanded from the previous two seasons, as well. Typically a passer, Robinson seemed less hesitant to take open shots. Teams had to respect his jumper, leading to more open driving lanes for everyone. Meanwhile, Robinson’s assist-to-turnover ratio remained an impressive 3.1-1.

This is a solid core on which to build. Pitt will also return a number of other role players. Only three graduate: Cameron Wright, a beloved four-year contributor and sparkplug; Aron Phillips-Nwankwo, a walk-on who contributed to the team greatly despite his limited playing time this season; and Derrick Randall, who, though seldom-used, Pitt will miss on the glass.

The ACC was as strong as it’s ever been this year, particularly with the caliber of teams

near the top of the standing. Duke and Virginia are national championship-caliber squads, Notre Dame’s offense is one of the country’s best, and both North Carolina and Louisville are capable of just about anything when playing at full strength. Even Syracuse, which experienced a down year for its standards, still looked good at times.

But as Pitt fans, we’re accustomed to inconsistency. That’s why it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Panthers posted the same numbers of wins – four – against the bottom tier of the conference as they did against the elites. Still, it’s disappointing to see a talented team underachieve so grandly. Had the Panthers taken care of business at the end of their ACC slate, we would have a completely different conversation — one that includes the NCAA tournament.

But, alas, here we are, bound for the NIT. Still, as a senior who experienced the groan-inducing 2011-2012 season, there is still a silver lining.

At least it’s not the CBI.

The Pitt News Crossword, 3/17/2015

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com ACROSS 1 Dash gauge 5 Pawn at a shop 9 Vague shapes 14 Height: Pref.

15 Saintly glow 16 Sportscast rundown 17 *Pest-control device 19 Hersey’s bell town 20 Like paradise 21 Go round and round 23 “Tao Te Ching” poet __-tzu 24 “Yummy!”

25 *Off-the-wall game?

27 Grant-granting gp.

29 Soul automaker 30 *Simple garment 36 Aerobic exercise aid 40 Woodlands mangoat 41 Campus URL suffix 42 Serious 43 Old Russian ruler 44 *One given to flights of fancy 46 Short-lived EgyptSyr. alliance 48 Drunkard 49 *Hidden explosives activator 54 Overthrow 59 Farm female 60 “__ o’ your throats”: “Measure for Measure” 61 Phobic 62 “Alas and __!”

64 Figuratively, where some wild ideas come out of; literally, a hint to a word and its position when paired with the starts of the answers to starred clues 66 In need of a chill pill 67 Mystery writer Gardner 68 Colombian city 69 Beer holder 70 Ear piece?

71 __-slapper

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3/31/15

By Jerry Edelstein

DOWN 1 Got under control 2 Words after “crack” or “live by” 3 Pitiless 4 Mubarak of Egypt 5 Came out of one’s shell?

6 “Days of __ Lives” 7 Attend uninvited 8 Letter after iota 9 Chastain of women’s soccer 10 Guided 11 City NW of Orlando 12 Unoriginal 13 Thread dispenser 18 Ex-Disney CEO Michael 22 Printer cartridge contents 26 Iraqi port 28 Neighborhood 30 FDR’s last vice president 31 Western defense gp.

32 Actress Hagen 33 IHOP condiment 34 Ice cream maker Joseph 35 Brewski

Monday’s Puzzle Solved

©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

37 Bagpiper’s topper 38 December 24 or 31 39 Each 42 Exit the bus 44 Tap concern 45 Went round and round 47 Greet the day 49 “__ Life”: Sinatra hit 50 Rented again 51 Silly

3/31/15

52 Romeo and Juliet, e.g.

53 Apply, as pressure 55 Puncture with a pin 56 Song of praise 57 City in northern France 58 Comic Izzard 63 TV forensic drama 65 __ shot

20 COLUMN

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Kiesel, McConnell-Serio help lead turnaround effort Logan Hitchcock Staff Writer

In less than two calendar years, Suzie McConnell-Serio rerouted Pitt’s women’s basketball program from a downward spiral of losses to the start of a victorious upward climb.

I did not see that coming.

In November, when I made my prediction about the team’s upcoming season, I was the most optimistic of my peers, predicting a 13-16 record. I thought 13 wins was going to be a stretch, citing a lack of depth and overwhelming team-wide inexperience as the two main factors holding the Panthers back. I expected them to finish well below a .500 winning percentage, not even sniffing a potential bid to the NCAA Tournament.

I underestimated McConnell-Serio.

In the two seasons prior to her Pitt arrival from Duquesne, losing was all the women’s basketball team had known. Mired in a streak of losing seasons and a stretch of 38 straight regular season conference losses,

McConnell-Serio helped the team take small steps toward improvement during her first season as coach.

Small steps are fine, especially when just trying to win a few conference games, but the team and McConnell-Serio wanted to make noise in the conference, and they managed to make themselves heard.

On the backs of senior point guard Brianna Kiesel and a bevy of contributing freshmen, the Panthers bypassed another season of small steps and made a leap.

The leap, displayed by their ACC record, was all you could have asked for this season.

It included a winning record, both overall and in conference play (19-11, 9-7 ACC). It included an incredible, accolade-filled year from Brianna Kiesel, an exemplary woman on and off the court — she earned conference all-academic team honors three times and posted a perfect 4.0 GPA last semester.

The season even included awesome narratives, like the play and shot-blocking ability of former Pitt volleyball standout Monica Wignot.

But, most importantly, it included a glimpse into the future that appears to have an upward trajectory.

That future is largely in the hands of three freshmen: Stasha Carey, Aysia Bugg and Yacine Diop.

The trio, currently lacking a nickname (think of something along the line of the 2008 Boston Celtics’ “Big Three” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen), were thrown into the fire right from the first tip this season and forced to contribute in a conference that featured five top-25 teams at season’s end.

Kiesel was undeniably the Panthers’ best player, and her First-Team All-ACC honors show that the country has noticed.

But without the play of the freshmen, the team wouldn’t have earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

I’ll start with Carey. The big-bodied forward was arguably the most important player on the court, besides Kiesel. She provided a post presence for a young team that needed to get easy baskets when its shots

weren’t falling, which was the case more often than was desired.

Her defensive efforts, especially on the glass, were more than anyone could have asked of an incoming freshman, and her quick hands turned over plenty of steals, including one off a Virginia inbound that helped vault the Panthers to another win.

While Carey’s name found its way into the headlines, it overshadowed the contributions of Bugg, especially if you only look at postgame statistics. Bugg, who might have the reins to herself next year with Kiesel’s departure, provided big minutes for the team and showed the ability to handle the ball when she was on the court.

Nothing about her game necessarily stands out as extraordinary, but she will be an integral part of the team in the coming years.

Last, there is Diop, who might literally jump off this page. The Senegal native’s athleticism went unparalleled this season. Even

W Hoops

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

T P N S U D O K U

Today’s difficulty level: Very Hard Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

No. 1 Temple No. 8 Bucknell

No. 4 Pittsburgh

NIT HAPPENS

No. 5 GW

Pitt missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the second

No. 3 La. Tech

time in Jamie Dixon’s 12-year tenure as head coach.

No. 6 Cen. Michigan

The team will still compete in the National Invita-

No. 2 Texas A&M

tion Tournament, with its first game beginning

No. 7 Montana

on Tuesday night against George Washington

No. 1 Richmond No. 8 St. Francis No. 4 UConn No. 5 Arizona St.

University.

Still, the team should not expect an easy tournament win.

Pitt may have to face top-seed and in-state foe Temple as

JAMEL ARTIS JEFF AHEARN | ASSISTANT VISUAL EDITOR

23 Colorado St. No. 1 South Dakota St. No. 8 St. Mary’s (CA) No. 4 Vanderbilt No. 5 Rhode Island No. Iona No. 6 Stanford No. 2 UC Davis No. 7 Old Dominion No. 1 Charleston So. No. 8 Illinois St. No. 4 Green Bay No. 5

No. 3 Illinois

its second-round matchup. The field also includes defending

Murray St. No. 3

No. 6 Alabama

national champion Connecticut and No. 2 seed Miami, which

UTEP No. 6

No. 2 Miami (Fl.)

already beat the Panthers on March 4, 67-63. Here’s a look

Tulsa No. 2

No. 7 N.C. Central

at the NIT field:

William & Mary No. 7

24 FROM PAGE 14

NIX and I was moving slower than usual,” Nix said. “[I thought to myself] this isn’t going to work because, if I keep on being like this, I will not make it.”

After losing his final game of the season against St. Petersburg College, Nix vowed to upgrade both in his body and basketball skills.

“The day after we lost, I decided I would work out every day, eat right and get better with my skills,” Nix said.

His desire for self-improvement was so strong that his coaches urged him to temper his workouts at times.

“There were some days that they wanted me to rest. I understand I need to rest my body, but that’s just how bad I want it,” Nix said.

Still, the work has paid off as colleges, writers and scouts noticed his hustle.

Corry Black, a writer for a site dedicated to junior college basketball, said his conditioning will only benefit him.

“Nix is starting to come into his own making plays on the block, and his improved conditioning allows him to be a factor for longer stretches in games,” Black said.

After attending the Mullen Top 100 Junior College Showcase Camp in St. Louis, Mo., in July, Nix’s recruitment started to “blow up,” according to Pena.

Pitt showed interest in Nix shortly after the camp. In late September, head coach Jamie Dixon extended an offer to Nix. The next month, after officially visiting Pitt, Nix committed, choosing the Panthers over South Carolina and Loyola Marymount.

“We are extremely excited about Rozelle and [incoming recruit Damon Wilson],” Dixon said in a release. “Both are good players from winning backgrounds, and both have outstanding work ethic.”

Nix clearly wanted to work with Dixon as well, as he cited his comfort with the coaches as a factor in his Pitt decision.

“He really took a liking to [assistant] coach [Bill] Barton and Pittsburgh and really hit it off with coach Dixon. That’s where he felt comfortable,” Pena said.

Pitt also has a history in developing big men, drawing Nix with stories of numerous players who have steadily improved in their Pitt tenures, including Ontario Lett, a former Pensacola State player and now assistant

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com coach on their staff.

Lett could not be reached for comment on the phone on March 16.

“I knew about DeJuan Blair and Aaron Gray and my assistant coach Ontario Lett and Steven Adams. I know Jamie Dixon can develop me,” Nix said.

The San Antonio Spurs selected Blair 37th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft after two seasons at Pitt, and the Chicago Bulls took Gray 49th overall two years earlier.

Nix’s weight loss equated to a hefty push of success on the court. After averaging 11.2

points and 9.5 rebounds a game this season, Nix earned co-Player of the Year honors in the Panhandle Conference.

“I got a lot more developed. I got quicker, I got stronger, I got slimmer, and my skills improved 100-fold,” Nix said.

Nix is a self-proclaimed back-to-the-basket post player and a “tenacious rebounder.”

Pena also lauded Nix’s rebounding ability, calling Nix an apt scorer.

“His strength, without question, is rebounding,” Pena said. “He rebounds the ball very, very hard. He can score around the bas-

ket with both his right and his left hand.”

Along with rebounding, one of Nix’s biggest strengths is something he was born with: his size.

“Most of anything, he’s huge. He’s a big kid. A kid like that is going to take up a lot of room. He’s a tough kid. He doesn’t back down,” Pena said.

For Nix, though, perhaps his biggest priority is always exerting maximum effort, never letting it diminish.

Nix

25

March 17, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com FROM PAGE 24

NIX

“I hustle every single time up and down the court, offense and defense. I give 110 percent on the court and off the court,” Nix said.

As Nix prepares himself to attempt to fill Pitt’s lack of size in the frontcourt, Pena said Nix’s work ethic will serve him well.

“He’s going to have a heck of a transition.

You don’t go into the ACC ready to go right away, but his work ethic is outstanding,” Pena

said. “His attitude is outstanding. He’s going to do whatever he can to please the coaching staff as much as possible.”

“If you told Rozelle ‘you’re going to be successful if you do this,’ he’s going to kill himself trying to do exactly what you ask him,” Pena added.

Although Nix will now play in higherquality games in the ACC, Pena pointed to the quickness of college basketball as the biggest adjustment Nix will need to make.

Nix said he recognizes the challenge he has ahead of him and is ready to face it head

on.

“I know I need to come in and work automatically because I know it’s not going to be easy. I don’t want it be easy, I want everything to be challenging, because I’ll live up to the challenge,” Nix said.

After Nix’s college hoop dreams end at Pitt, Nix said he hopes that fans will keep him in good company, remembering him fondly with the likes of Blair and Gray, who were both All-Americans in their time at Pitt.

“When I’m done, I want to join them as Pitt’s best big men,” Nix said.

25 FROM PAGE 14

W HOOPS with Kiesel playing, at any given time Diop was the most athletic Panther on the court.

Her ability to create her own shot, as well as defend the oppositions from anywhere on the court, was an integral cog in the team’s plan this season.

If, and when, she matures and learns to dial down her sometimes-erratic play, Diop could blossom into a star — one that can take this team to great heights.

After dropping their first ACC tournament game to Virginia Tech, a team the Panthers already conquered earlier in the season, the team still played its way into the NCAA Tournament — unlike its male counterparts.

For that reason alone, we can mark this season as a win.

FROM PAGE 14

DIXON

Dixon is two years removed from landing the biggest commitment of his career, the 7-foot center Steven Adams from New Zealand, a consensus five-star recruit who was ranked the sixth-best player in the 2012 class.

Throw in Pitt’s first McDonald’s All-American Dante Taylor, another five-star commit in Khem Birch, who decided to transfer in the midst of his freshman year, as well as a litany of recent four-star recruits like Michael Young, James Robinson and Lamar Patterson.

It isn’t easy to recruit at a school like Pitt, whose surrounding areas aren’t exactly a hotbed for basketball talent, but Dixon has managed to overcome this obstacle with his skills in player development.

Dixon develops talent over four years, somewhat of a lost art in today’s era of oneand-dones. During his tenure, Adams and DeJuan Blair are the only two players to leave Pitt early for the NBA. To have the kind of success without the top-tier NBA talent that many other schools boast furthers Dixon’s reputation as an elite cultivator of talent.

To fire Jamie Dixon would be to fire the face of a program, to fire a man who shifted expectations for Pitt basketball from middling to eternally optimistic. It would be an irreversible step in the wrong direction for the program. Hopefully, the minority that wants him ousted remains a minority.