The Pitt Panthers basketball team has made it a habit of winning some big games the past three weeks.
That could be enough to send them to another NCAA Tournament. If the Panthers do go dancing in March, they may have one man to thank for it- forward Sheldon Jeter.
Since receiving a bump in minutes the past few weeks, Jeter has begun to emerge as the player Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon thought he would have at the beginning of the season.
Sometimes you just need an opportunity and Jeter has taken full advantage of his.
The more minutes Jeter has received has resulted in a surge in both his confidence and production.
“I got to a point where I wasn’t playing as much,” Jeter said after Saturday’s big win against then No. 12 North Carolina. “I was taking advantage of the opportunities that were given to me or ended up on the bench. So every chance I got I made sure it counted. The more chances I got the better I played.”
Jeter, a sophomore and Beaver Falls native who transferred in from Vanderbilt, scored a career-high 22 points in leading the Panthers past the Tar Heels.
But it just wasn’t that game that served as a breakout for Jeter. The signs were there that this was coming.
Jeter has scored in double figures three times in conference play. Those three times just happened to be the only times that he has received more than 16 minutes of playing time.
He showed during the Syracuse game on February 7 where he scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds that he can produce when given the opportunity.
So what has been the sudden change in the uptick in minutes for Jeter?
“`He is taking those mid-range jump shots and getting around the glass,” said Dixon. “We’ve interchanged Jamel [Artis], Mike [Young] and Sheldon in what we are doing offensively. We have changed our zone offense. We have seen so much zone and we’ve had to find a way to apply him at the three but keep him close to the basket at the same time. He has gotten better for us defensively. He is playing with a lot of confidence now and the guys know where he needs to get the ball and that’s important too. It takes some time. He is playing in the best league in the country against the best teams in the country and he wasn’t doing that last year.”
It’s not that Dixon didn’t want to play Jeter early on.
Almost after every game early in the season Dixon would comment on how he wanted to get Jeter more minutes, but Jeter was the first to tell you that he wasn’t doing the job defensively.
However now that Jeter seems to have picked things up on the defensive end of the floor, he very well could be a big X-factor for the Panthers the rest of the season.
During the past three games, Jeter is averaging 15.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 24.6 minutes while shooting 64.5 percent from the floor.
Things won’t get any easier for Pitt as they prepare to take on No. 2 Virginia Monday night.
But this is a hot Panthers team that has won four of their past five games — including victories against Top 12 teams North Carolina and Notre Dame.
Another big win or two should land Pitt the field of 68 come March.
If that is to happen, Jeter is going to have to continue to play a major role in the Pitt attack.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
