With the news that Ashton Gibbs is going to test the waters to get the opinions of NBA scouts about his possible draft position, all news about Pitt’s 2011-12 rotation is obviously on hold. The news comes as a shock, but the more I think about it, the more I could see Gibbs moving on.
The biggest thing he did to help himself was improve his shooting. His shooting percentage from the field went up from 40 percent to 47 percent this year and his three-point percentage rose from 39 percent to 49 percent. There’s little chance Gibbs would again improve in that dramatic of a fashion next year and the chances are probably greater that his numbers go down a bit.
Reports are pretty conflicted right now – even the guys at CBS Sports can’t seem to agree. Gary Parrish says a ‘source’ tells him this is more about getting in front of scouts while Jeff Borzello says that Gibbs has told him he’s leaning towards leaving.
The Butler loss was so deflating that it just might push Gibbs out the door. It's tough to come back after something like that, and it’s got to feel to some degree like all the work you put in was for naught (even though that’s obviously not the case).
Who knows where Gibbs goes from here, but Pitt’s team will look a lot different next year if he’s not around.
I’ve got more analysis on this over at SB Nation’s Pitt blog, Cardiac Hill.