Basketball: Panthers get a Gentleman to compete at point guard

By Adam Littman / Assistant Sports Editor

published: Tue, 11 Aug, 2009

With Levance Fields graduated, the Pitt men’s basketball team had no proven options at point guard coming into the season. Sophomore Ashton Gibbs, whose natural position is shooting guard, and freshman Travon Woodall, who redshirted last year, are expected to battle for the starting job.

Now, they also have to beat out Chase Adams.

Adams, a senior, is transferring to Pitt from Centenary College in La., where he started a majority of games at point for the Gentlemen the past three seasons.

Centenary is downgrading from a Division I school to a Division III school, so Adams is eligible to play this season for the Panthers. Normally when transferring schools, a player is required by NCAA to sit out a year.

While a Gentlemen, Adams increased his average minutes per game, points per game, field goal shooting percentage, 3-point shooting percentage, rebounds per game and steals per game each season. Last season he averaged 14.6 points a game, 4.5 assists a game and 4.2 rebounds a game. He led the Summit League with 2.7 steals a game and was named the league’s defensive player of the year last season.

Adams is five-foot-ten and from Baltimore where played AAU ball with current Panther, and potential backcourt starter, Jermaine Dixon while the two were in high school. If the two play together, the Panthers will have a very pesky, defensive duo at guard.

While it’s safe to say the competition in the Summit League isn’t on par with what Adams will see in the Big East, he did perform well when the Gentlemen took on strong out-of-conference opponents. Against Louisiana State last season Adams scored 16 points and hauled in nine rebounds and four steals. He scored 23, including four-of-five from beyond the arc, and had six rebounds against Texas Tech.

Pitt isn’t just concerned with the upcoming year, though. They also recently received a verbal commitment from Cameron Wright, a six-foot-five shooting guard from Cleveland. Wright is heading into his senior year at Benedictine High School.