Football is usually the sport de jure when talking about guards, Pitt and the draft this time of year.

However, basketball took center stage on Wednesday when the Panthers held a press conference to announce that freshman guard Carlton “Bub” Carrington will declare for the 2024 NBA Draft.

Alongside Jaland Lowe, Carrington was part of a dynamic duo of starting freshmen guards who helped lead Pitt to a 22-11 record during the 2023/2024 campaign; Carrington averaged 13.8 points per game, along with 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

As per the Panthers’ official website, Carrington’s freshman year ranked up there with many in program history–including first all-time in minutes played (1,986), second in points scored (456), first in three-point attempts (386) and second in three-pointers made (65).

Despite the 22-11 record and fourth-place finish in the ACC, Pitt did not receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament, and after the program declined a bid to the NIT, Pitt fans began to wonder about who would stay and who would go. Blake Hinson, the accomplished fifth-year senior forward who played his last two seasons in Pittsburgh after transferring from Mississippi, is out of eligibility and is not coming back. Federiko Federiko, the junior center from Finland, immediately decided to enter the transfer portal after the season and apparently will not be back for the 2024/2025 campaign.

Now, Carrington.

Speaking of the transfer portal, that may have been what many Pitt fans expected Lowe or Carrington to enter after their freshmen seasons. The current state of NIL being what it is, it was easy to envision one or both being offered more money by a program with deeper pockets than the Panthers.

However, seeing a Pitt player declare for the draft early is a bit of a call-back to simpler times in college athletics and perhaps even a feather in the cap for the basketball program. Pitt head coach Jeff Capel knows this, and that’s one of the reasons why he was sitting right next to Carrington at the press conference held at Petersen Events Center on Wednesday afternoon. Capel can now sell Pitt basketball as a program that can attract talented players and quickly develop them into NBA-ready prospects.

With that in mind, Brandin Cummings, a guard from Midland, Pa. who has committed and signed for the 2024/2025 season, will have some huge shoes to fill in Carrington’s absence.

Lowe, who averaged 9.6 points per game during his freshman season, along with 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists, is expected to return. Ishmael Leggett, who averaged 12.3 points off the bench for Pitt as a junior and was named ACC Sixth Man of the Year for the 2023/2024 season, could theoretically take Carrington’s place as a starting guard next season.

Carrington, Hinson and Federiko will be a lot for the Panthers to replace in time for the 2024/2025 campaign.

But that’s life in modern college basketball. Capel and his assistants now must hit the recruiting trail hard and continue to pore over possible candidates in the transfer portal.