News and Notes - Tuesday, October 1st, 2019

As we reach October, the change of seasons is about to hit in a big way. While it's going to be hot in Pittsburgh for the next couple of days, cooler fall weather is on its way by the end of the week. Enjoy the warmth while it lasts, and get ready to break out those sweaters. Onto the news:

• Since we've finally arrived in October, we are officially in our final month of 2019 without college basketball! The season officially begins on Nov. 5 with a slew of high-profile games including Duke vs. Kansas at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. 
• Pitt's season opener is the following night, Wed. Nov. 6 against conference foe Florida State at the Petersen Events Center. The game will be featured on ESPNU.
• If you want to get your fill of Pitt basketball before the season officially opens though, you'll have a couple of opportunities this month. Pitt will be hosting Blue & Gold Madness at the Pete next Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 PM:

  The debut is coming soon. #ZooEra #H2P pic.twitter.com/CQeI9CgR7B

  — Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_MBB) September 18, 2019

• Pitt will also be hosting Slippery Rock University for a scrimmage on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at the Petersen Events Center at 7 PM.
• Former Pitt women's basketball head coach Agnus Berenato announced that she's cancer free, one year after starting treatment for breast cancer:

  One yr ago today I had my 1st of 2 surgeries for breast cancer, followed by 33 radiation treatments, cancer free now💕 pic.twitter.com/N4MiI82fYU

  — Agnus Berenato (@KSUcoachB) September 27, 2019

• Congrats to Coach Berenato on the fantastic news! Currently serving as the head women's basketball coach for the Kennesaw State University Owls, we at the Pitt Basketball Lead are wishing Berenato and the Owls a healthy and successful 2019-20 basketball season.
• Coaching at Pitt from 2003-04 through 2012-13, Berenato became the winningest head coach in Pitt women's basketball history with 161 wins, led Pitt to its first three NCAA tournament appearances and its only top-25 AP poll finish ever in 2008-09. Berenato continues to leave a mighty strong legacy at the University of Pittsburgh.
• In other news, Pitt women's basketball player Kyla Nelson will be having surgery today after receiving her own recent cancer diagnosis. We're sending thoughts and prayers to Nelson today, and hoping for her speedy recovery.

  “This is a challenge you weren’t expecting and it’s okay if it’s hard. It’s also okay to let people love you, you deserve love.”@sportsiren reached out to @kylanelson_ this morning to give some words of encouragement ahead of her surgery tomorrow.#H2P | #GoBeyond pic.twitter.com/OYyykUUCwq

  — Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_WBB) September 30, 2019

• Basketball writer Brian Rauf ran down his ACC basketball preseason rankings last week for Busted Brackets, and predicted that Pitt will be the 8th best team in the ACC for the 2019-20 season. That would represent a major improvement for the Panthers, who won just three ACC games and finished 14th in the conference in 2018-19.
• Pitt has certainly added its share of ACC-caliber players this offseason, including some much needed depth to the frontcourt with graduate transfer forward Eric Hamilton and incoming freshman forward Karim Coulibaly. Especially with the potentially long-term absence of Kene Chukwuka, both figure to see plenty of minutes this upcoming season.

So, Pitt fans, what are your thoughts? Is Pitt a middle-of-the-pack ACC team this year? Or are we still a year or two away from being a threat in the ACC once again? Feel free to let us know in the comments or on social media, where you can find us on Twitter @PittLead.