Panthers may break retro threads out of closet again
uniforms.
Free shirts helped too, at least in the Zoo, where every student who came received a free retro Oakland Zoo Tshirt to match the fans with the players, who for the first time wore the old-school Pitt colors of royal blue and yellow complete with the now-new-again script logo.
It’s the same color scheme that was rolled out during football season to widespread acclaim, with Pitt wearing the vintage threads for its homecoming game against Georgia Tech, then busting them back out again for a home game against Duke.
The basketball program revealed its version of the back-to-the-future look last month, and Saturday it was their turn to live up to the hype. The Panthers did that and then some, securing a win few thought they could.
“You know, as crazy as it sounds: A, we had a really good crowd. B, they were excited about the uniforms,” coach Kevin Stallings said after the game. “That just got them excited, I think. I think they got excited to play because there was a really good crowd, the students were awesome, and they had the retro unis going.”
That’s pretty high praise for a wardrobe change coming from a head coach, but when combined with the energy the “Pitt Retro” day got from the crowd, there might be something to it.
“People are always excited when it’s a big game like this, but it’s also the first time we get to see something like this,” Oakland Zoo leader Charlie Hansen said before the game. “The homecoming for football was huge, and I think the explosion over this has been a little bit bigger. It helps that we get to be retro with the team, but people were just really pumped. It hasn’t been anything like this for so long.”
The power of free stuff. But there’s also something of a groundswell of support building for the throwback Pitt colors, from Zoo denizens to older fans and beyond.
For his part, Hansen would like to see Pitt try to transition back to the royal blue-and-yellow it ditched for navy and gold in the late 1990s — “these colors are so awesome, and they just pop really well,” he said. So would Bill Hixon, 52, a native of Cumberland, Md., but a fan of Pitt sports.
“I think it takes it more back to what the school started as and what they came up through,” Hixon said, wearing a throwback Pitt script sweatshirt before the game. “And I think it energizes the fans. … It’s just my opinion, but I think it stands out. I think it’s part of Pitt heritage.”
Count a former player among the Pitt purists, too. Curis Aiken, a Panthers standout from 1983-87 and now a broadcaster for the team, reminisced a bit about his playing days upon seeing the current squad putting a new spin on the old jerseys Saturday. But unprompted, he also expressed his desire to see it be a permanent look.
“It was really cool. I was excited about it. I think they should do this all the time,” Aiken said.
Another brand change for the athletics program which just brought back the script logo a year ago?
“Absolutely,” Aiken said. “Go back to that.”
Not only were the jerseys noticeably different in hue, but they were also a tighter fit with higher shorts, as was the style of the time.
“The shorts were a little short, but besides that, it’s all good,” said senior Sheldon Jeter, who wasn’t constricted so much that he couldn’t score a career-high 29 points. “We really went retro.”
“They’re a little too short,” senior Jamel Artis chimed in, but added, “We might bring them back out.”
It’s not just basketball, either. With a plethora of recruits on campus over the weekend, the Pitt football staff employed the traditional practice of wooing prospects by having them try on jerseys — and Saturday, it was the throwbacks, which has become a common practice.
Even director of football recruiting Mark Diethorn astutely noted that both teams are now both undefeated in the throwbacks, tweeting simply, “3-0 in Pitt retro” with a contemplative emoji and #H2P.
Any serious traction for a color change would almost certainly have to be tabled until a new athletic director is in place, likely in the spring, but just as Scott Barnes won some fan base equity with a wholesale switch back to script, perhaps a new head of Pitt athletics would consider doing the same.
In the short term, the question is as near-sighted as whether the basketball Panthers will keep wearing the new old uniforms. Maybe even until they lose again? Their next game is Tuesday night on the road, at Wake Forest, which figures to be in the customary home whites.
“I don’t know. We had a discussion in there about that, that we might wear them again,” Stallings said after talking to his team in the locker room. “We’ll see.”