Travon Woodall didn’t have any problem filling in for the injured Ashton Gibbs on “Big Monday.”
After all, Woodall came off the bench at St. Anthony High School and backed up a few pretty good players in Jio Fontan, Tyshawn Taylor and Mike Rosario.
“In my head, I’m the first guy coming off the bench but at the same time I’m like a sixth starter,” Woodall said by phone after scoring 12 points and dishing 3 assists as No. 4 Pittsburgh beat No. 25 West Virginia, 71-66, in the “Backyard Brawl” in Morgantown, W.V.
“Coach [Jamie] Dixon does a great job with making me realize that I’m not only a guy coming off the bench, but I’m basically like a sixth starter.”
After ZAGSBLOG first reported Sunday afternoon that Gibbs, Pitt’s leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, could miss 10-14 days with an injury to his left MCL, Woodall began to prepare himself mentally to fill in for his friend.
“I was with him for a while every day, seeing how he’s doing and it didn’t look good,” said Woodall, who was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Paterson, N.J. “So I just kind of mentally prepared myself. I didn’t really know until practice [Sunday].”
Gibbs and Woodall both starred at New Jersey high schools, Gibbs at Seton Hall Prep and Woodall at St. Anthony. With seven Division 1 players, the 2008 Friars went undefeated and won the mythical national championship under current Hall of Famer Bob Hurley.
With Gibbs reduced to wearing sweatpants Monday night, he raised his fist in celebration when Woodall put the Panthers ahead to stay, 47-46, on a jumper with 8:16 remaining. He also drained Pitt’s first –and only — 3-pointer to make it 54-48 with about six and a half minutes remaining.
“I was looking for him,” Woodall said of Gibbs. “I was looking for him because I was thinking about all the big shots he hit. And I was like, ‘Damn, it was about time I hit one.'”
Nasir Robinson led Pitt with 15 points, Gary McGhee added 13 and Brad Wanamaker had 11.
Although Gibbs is projected to be out up to two weeks, Woodall said he wouldn’t be shocked if his friend and teammate returned in time to face Villanova Saturday.
“Especially knowing Ash,” he said. “He didn’t want to sit tout today. [But] they held him out and now we have to move on and play without him.”
As long as Gibbs remains out, Woodall is confident the Panthers can continue to win in his absence.
“I think he’s back, in my opinion,” he said. “But you know, we are ready for whatever. Anything can happen. If he comes back, it’s great for us. And if not, I know he’s going to be there emotionally with us. He’s still going to be in there coaching us while he’s on the bench.”
The Panthers have failed to reach the Final Four under Dixon, but this current team is now 22-2, 10-1 in the Big East, and Woodall believes this is their year for a breakthrough.
“Definitely,” he said. “I feel like it’s the same team as last year that could’ve made the Final Four and we have the same core group of guys.
“I think it’s definitely a group that can do it.”
