It took two full seasons for the Pitt basketball program to get back on track under Ben Howland, who had to revamp the program following five seasons of mediocrity under Ralph Willard.
Howland can arguably be credited for laying the foundation for the early portion of Jamie Dixon's success of making the NCAA Tournament in 11 of his 13 seasons at the helm, as Howland put Pitt back on the map with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and an Associated Press Top 25 ranking as high as No. 2 in the 2002-'03 season.