Pitt opens the regular season in five days, and it's looking like the Panthers, who are ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press poll, could start the season with a freshman playing point guard. Senior and two-year starter Levance Fields did not dress for the final exhibition game yesterday against La Roche College and it is anyone's guess if he will be ready for the opener Friday at home against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Coach Jamie Dixon was hoping Fields, who is rehabilitating from August bone graft surgery on his left foot, would be further along in his recovery.

"It's obviously his decision with where it's at," Dixon said after the Panthers beat the Redhawks, 82-30, at the Petersen Events Center yesterday. "We had hoped he'd be back by now. It's not where we thought it would be.

"We have to recognize what it is. He's been injured for 11 months. There's no other way to put it. We haven't been able to do anything that we would like to do for an 11-month period. There's no other way to put it. You can't sugarcoat it. We just have to try to find a way.

"He has practiced three times. You'd have to ask him what percent he's gone at, but it's definitely not 100 percent. It's his decision. We're just trying to see how he goes. We feel the bone is healed in a good way. That's where we're at right now."

Dixon yesterday bemoaned the fact that he has not yet practiced with his full complement of players. In addition to Fields' limited participation, Gilbert Brown, a part-time starter last season, did not practice last week after learning that he had a stress fracture in his left foot.

Dixon said he was unsure whether Brown would be able to play against Fairleigh Dickinson. The frustrating part for Dixon is that Fields and Brown cannot stay in shape because of the nature of their injuries.

"It's not exactly the best way to get ready for a season," Dixon said. "When dealing with the foot, there's not a lot of conditioning that you can do."

The starting lineup had one change from the first exhibition game. Junior-college transfer Jermaine Dixon started at shooting guard in place of sophomore Brad Wanamaker. For the second consecutive game, freshman Ashton Gibbs started at the point in place of Fields and played well.

Gibbs had 6 points, 7 assists and 1 turnover in 25 minutes. He again split time with fellow freshman Travon Woodall, who had 3 points, 5 assists and 2 turnovers in 21 minutes.

"They do some good things, but they don't have 120 starts to their name, either," Dixon said in an inexact reference to Fields' experience. Fields has started 64 games in his career.

"They both shoot it well," Dixon continued. "That can make up for a lot of deficiencies. They're pretty good with the ball and with decision making. They're on the right track, that's for sure."

Senior Sam Young led the team with 18 points in 20 minutes. Young played small forward again for the entire game and said he is still feeling his way through the transition from power forward. When asked about his comfort level at his new position, Young responded, "75 percent."

"Right now I'm still in the process of making a transition," said Young, who led the team with an 18.1 scoring average last season at power forward. "I still see myself doing things [like a small forward]. I run all the way down to the block instead of filling out on the wing. Sometimes I catch myself, little things like that.

"As we continue to play it will become more normal to me. I don't see it as a problem. When I become as comfortable as I was at [power forward], I think we can be an even better team than last year."

Dixon made it clear that his entire team is very much a work in progress.

"We've had 18 practices," he said. "We're still putting things together."

It hasn't helped matters that the exhibition season provided little competition. The NCAA changed the rules a few years ago and Division I schools can only play Division II or Division III teams in exhibition games.

The Panthers blew out Seton Hill last week as well. Pitt's stiffest competition has come in practice, and the players are looking forward to playing some games that count in the standings.

"We go so hard in practice, beating each other up," senior forward Tyrell Biggs said. "We're looking forward to beating other people up."