I have no idea how far the Pitt basketball team will go this spring. It will win the ACC regular-season championship if it beats 2-16 Notre Dame on the road Wednesday night. It should go soaring into the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years. It is good enough to do some damage once it gets there.
But I do know this for sure about Pitt:
Jeff Capel has built a team in the truest sense of the word.
That became clear Saturday evening when former manager/former walk-on Aidan Fisch scored in the final seconds of Pitt's crushing 99-82 win against Syracuse at Petersen Events Center. Watch the video on YouTube. It isn't hard to find. See the Oakland Zoo go crazy, sure. But more than that, notice the players erupt on the Pitt bench. Watch Capel thrust his right fist in the air. All of it is priceless.
While you are on YouTube, find the video of Capel presenting the game ball to Fisch in the locker room.
"Man, he dreamed of being here. ... He has been as big a part of this turnaround as anyone because he believed. He has led. He has shown up every day. ... He's done that every day he's been here from the time he was a manager until right now. Dude, I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy for you."
Capel cried.
Fisch cried.
Teammates mobbed Fisch, who has been with the Pitt program longer than any of the players.
Absolutely priceless.
That post-game presentation swept social media. The response from NBA star Kevin Durant was fairly typical of those who watched it and said they felt like crying right along with Capel and Fisch: "I love this game."
"It's what makes college athletics different," Fisch said in a quieter moment Sunday afternoon. "Guys genuinely care for one another. We're just a bunch of young guys out here, having fun, doing what we love.
"It was pretty emotional for coach and for me. I think he saw the work I put in for this team. I saw his dedication to this program. We've been through the ups and downs together. I saw the loss to The Citadel. I saw the loss to St. Francis. Now, to be in this position where he can say Pitt is back? I'm so happy for him."
The basket Fisch, a fifth-year senior, scored against Syracuse was just his second of this remarkable Pitt season. He has played a total of 18 minutes in nine games, mostly in mop-up duty. But his story is inspirational nonetheless. Everybody should have his drive, his determination, his will to succeed. Everybody should have his want-to to be a part of something special.
Fisch thought his basketball career was finished when, during his senior year at Franklin Regional High School, he had two knee surgeries and then a broken foot. He looked at some Division III schools in Ohio but decided on Pitt because his parents, John Fisch and Mary Ann Hynes, are doctors at UPMC, dad as an obstetrician/gynecologist and mom as a primary care. Aidan Fisch is a pre-med major and will graduate this spring with a biology degree. He also hopes to be a doctor, perhaps as an orthopedist. "I have a lot of experience with what my body has been through," he said.
Fisch said he missed basketball terribly in his first year at Pitt and reached out to Capel and the coaching staff about being a walk-on in his second year. When he was told no, he became a manager for a season before getting his chance as a walk-on in his third and fourth years. Capel put him on scholarship about a month ago. His teammates erupted that day, as well.
"I never expected it," Fisch said.
Well, I never expected Pitt to be in this position, not after it lost early in the season at home by 25 points to West Virginia and by 31 to Michigan in the Legends Classic at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. But it has won 10 of its past 12 games to build a 14-4 record in the ACC. It finishes the regular season with the game at Notre Dame and one at Miami on Saturday.
Fisch said he saw this coming and sounded serious when he said it.
"I was with these guys in the summer. I saw how they can score the basketball. I knew the shots were going to fall for us," he said.
"We have new guys here — older guys, more mature guys. All of us are all about winning. It's been a breath of fresh air for coach. All these guys care about is winning and not any type of individual accolades. I know it means the world to coach."
Fisch said he has watched the video of his basket against Syracuse "probably a thousand times. ... It pops up on my phone every five seconds." He said he still can't believe it happened. He is amazed by the reaction of the Zoo, his teammates and Capel. He said three different times that he is thankful for the opportunity Capel gave him.
To be a part of a special team.
"My mom asked me if I realized how loud it was in the Pete when the ball went through," Fisch said. "I honestly don't remember. It was surreal, something you really dream about but never expect to happen."
As for that game ball?
"I'm definitely going to put it under glass and save it for my future man cave," Fisch said.
I suggested it might make for a nice talking point in his future office as an orthopedist.
"Now, that," Fisch said, "is a pretty good idea."
