Levon Kendall

[Boilerman]

Did anyone see that Levon Kendall (playing for team Canada) dropped 40 points on the U.S. squad in the under 21 basketball championships and made all tournament team? This could be a sign of good things for the Panthers this year if Kendall could step up and replace some of the point production of Troutman and Taft.

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[Coach]

How big is this kid? When you said about villing a void in points from Troutman and Taft I'm assuming he is a big man down under. Is he a freshman to be or what?

[Boilerman]

Kendall will be a redshirt junior this year. He actually started a few games last year and looked good early in his starts, but he seemed to lose confindence as the season went on. Kind of the Panther's story last year as someone new always seemed to step up, but then eventually faded. He is listed as a forward at 6'9', 220 lbs., but hopefully he added some thickness in this offseason to compete inside if that is what Dixon chooses to do with him. He seemed to play a little better on the perimeter (has some range) than on the inside.

My comment was mainly on someone taking over some of the point production, but as Coach said, hopefully someone can step up and be an inside presence on both side of the floor with Troutman and Taft gone. I think Aaron Gray will be very good on the inside, especially if he improves from year 2 to year 3, just as much as he improved for year 1 to year 2.

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Boiler OUT!

[Coach]

Thanks for the info... I don't like Pitt's hoop team but I'm a Big East fan in college bball. My team is UConn and I think Pitt is going to be tough again this year. They seem to be pulling good kids continually now.

[Heaven&Hoops]

Solid tournament from Kendall! This should help his confidence tremendously. Hopefully Dixon gives him time to show what he can do.