What Makes Pitt's Bub Carrington NBA Prospect

Pitt Panthers guard Bub Carrington has everything NBA scouts are looking for.

Feb 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Carlton Carrington (7) warms / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- When freshman sensation Bub Carrington first arrived on campus to begin his career as a Pitt Panther, Jeff Capel knew he was good and could even tell that he would, some day, be a professional basketball player. But even Capel didn't think that "some day" would come so soon.

"I didn’t think, I don’t think he thought and I don’t think his family thought that this would just be a one-year thing with him playing for us," Capel, the Pitt head coach, said. "But when he got here in the summer and we started working and we started doing stuff, I noticed that he was different. I knew he was a really good player when we recruited him and I had never been one to pay attention to rankings, but once we started working, I started to see that he was different."

Carrington's stats tell one story. At just 18 years old, he leveled up to college basketball and was an instant star for a Panthers team that won 22 games and went right up to the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament. He finished the season averaging 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists to just 1.9 turnovers per game while shooting 41% from the field and 32% from 3-point range.

It took just two weeks for Capel to realize what he had on his hands. After a 107-56 win over Jacksonville in mid-November, one in which Carrington scored 17 points on 50% shooting from the field and a 5-8 mark from 3-point range, grabbed three rebounds and dealt four assists, Capel called the young star and his family in for a meeting.

"I was sitting there with his parents because I knew from my past experiences that everything was going to change and this thing would be pretty fast, or had a chance to be pretty fast," Capel said. "Once the season was over with, I spoke to his dad again, put together a plan."

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Capel immediately went about putting that plan in motion. After coaching 17 first-round draft picks and many more professional players that weren't taken with the first 32 picks as an assistant at Duke, Capel had connections around the NBA that he tapped to try and get some feedback on Carrington's game. Capel saw his strengths - the strong handle, smooth jumpshot form, innate feel for the game and basketball IQ all fit into a 6'5 guard's frame - but would scouts see it too? As it turns out, they did. There's room to improve but also tons of potential that was evident right away.

"Scouts are liking my mind, my feel for the game, my ability to score from the mid-range and 3-pointers, Carrington said. "And something they want me to work on is getting to the basket, using my size. I’m 6’5 - I think I’m 6’4 - but actually playing like I’m 6’5.”

Carrington closed the season especially strong, averaging 18.8 points 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 48% from 3-point range over his final six games, including a 24-point outburst against then-No. 4 North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals. He was a five-time ACC Rookie of the Week honoree, earned an All-ACC honorable mention, landed on the ACC All-Rookie team and finished third in ACC Rookie of the Year voting.

That's when the visions of the NBA really began to materialize in Carrington's head, when it really seemed possible that he could make this dream a reality. Capel and Carrington both still see so much room for improvement and so many ways for him to grow, but have enough faith in the foundation to let him make this leap now.

"We were walking in here today and I think he’s grown since the season’s been over. So positional size, feel for the game, his ability to score and facilitate, he’ll continue to get stronger - I actually think he’s going to grow again - but his feel for the game and his mind and the fact that he’s still 18. He’s not going to turn 19 until the middle and almost the end of July," Capel said. "He’s shown that he’s competitive defensively. He’s got to stop fouling so much but he got better towards the end of the year. Learning how to harness that competitiveness and not let it get the best of him."

The tangible things - height, shooting ability, handle, length - are what make players into prospects, but it's the intangible things that help them stick as valuable contributors and even stars at the next level. That's what gives Capel the most confidence in Carrington - the budding 18 year old is far from a finished product and Carrington will do whatever it takes to make this dream come true.

"The thing I know is that he’s going to work. You don’t know any of this stuff until you’re with a guy all the time," Capel said. "All these guys say they want to work and be really good but are you really going to put in the time? And he’s shown that he’s ready to do that and that’s something that’s going to go to another level now.”

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