PITTSBURGH — Pitt Panthers junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham hasn’t had the best of starts to the 2024-25 season, leading to some difficult moments so far.
He has shot 39.2% from the field and a poor 22.0% from 3-point range so far, which pales in comparison to last season, when he shot 49.1% from the field and 40.5% from deep.
Diaz Graham has started all 12 games this season, after starting just seven contests last season, and now has a larger share of the offensive produciton, with All-ACC First Team honoree Blake Hinson and NBA Lottery Draft pick Bub Carrington departing after last season, who both shouldered most of the scoring.
He had a decent start to the season, shooting 7-for-22, 31.8% from 3-point range through the first five home games, but then struggled the next six games, going 2-for-24, 8.3% from behind the arc.
This came to a culmination in the 96-56 home win over Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 11, when Diaz Graham scored 0 points, shooting 0-for-4 from 3-point range and turning the ball over five times.
There were some fans that booed Diaz Graham for the performance, which led Panthers head coach Jeff Capel to defend his starting forward following the game in the ensuing press conference.
Capel credited him and his twin brother, junior forward Jorge Diaz Graham, for helping change the program, as they ended a seven-year NCAA Tournament drought as freshmen.
He also acknowledged that Diaz Graham was struggling, related to him as he dealt with a tough time shooting as a senior at Duke, and that he was adjusting from playing the No. 5 spot last season to the No. 4 spot this season.
“My big thing is if you’re a Pitt fan you should cheer for the kid,” Capel said. “You shouldn’t judge him. You shouldn’t be negative. It’s easy to pile on someone when they’re down, but my thing, is that if you’re a fan our our program, you’re a fan of Pitt basketball, you’re a fan of all of Pitt basketball. Not just when someone is doing well and we need everyone to rally around him because we need him to be at our best.”
Diaz Graham put in a solid performance to end the non-conference slate in the 110-78 victory over Sam Houston on Dec. 21. He shot 3-for-5 from the field and 2-for-4 from 3-point range, scoring eight points, while also grabbing five rebounds, dishing out two assists and making two steals.
This marked the first time he made multiple shots from behind the arc since the 86-62 blowout of rival West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl at home on Nov. 15.
“Feel great,” Diaz Graham said about his game. “My teammates trust me, my coaches trust me, I trust myself. Being able to see the ball go through the net, of course it helps. It always feels good to make shots.”
Diaz Graham also said he hasn’t focused on his shooting struggles, as he wants to improve upon his game, which will keep the strong start going into ACC play and get him back to where he wants offensively.
“Just the same, playing for the team, making sure I played good defense and then everything else would happen,” Diaz Graham said. “I’m not worried about it, I’m not thinking about it, just thinking about helping the team and keep winning.”
Diaz Graham tried to break his shooting slump by working harder, but what really worked was taking time away from basketball and then coming back with a better state of mind.
“Just, honestly, just take a break,” Diaz Graham said. ‘Take a break from the basketball a little bit and once your mind’s cleared, just get back to it, back to work, back to working with my teammates and that’s what I did.”
What has helped Diaz Graham the most is the support from his teammates through this diffcult time, who have kept him going and gave him the belief to get back to his best self.
“The best, I won’t lie,” Diaz Graham said. “Teammates, coaches, everybody is super behind me, telling me that they trust me. They know who I am and so, super grateful for that…”
He is closest with the front court on the Panthers, including junior Cam Corhen, redshirt freshman Papa Amadou Kante and freshman Amdy Ndiaye, who have all made each other better throughout the season.
“Me Cam, Papa and Amdy, we have this close group and we talk to each other every day, we push every day and these couple last games, we’ve emphasized that we gotta be better for the team,” Diaz Graham said. “We gotta be stronger, we gotta be more physical and we fight every day of practice against each other, we push each other and we love each other too.”
Pitt will face Cal on New Year’s Day and then Stanford on Jan. 4, as they continue the rest of their ACC schedule.
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