On many of the elite college basketball teams around the country, roles are clearly defined. There are the ballhandlers, the shooters, the scorers, the rebounders and shot blockers.

Point guards play point guard; shooting guards play shooting guard; and so on down the line.

But for the Pitt Panthers, the traditional roles on the team are less clearly defined. Coach Jamie Dixon has compiled a team of players who have the potential to create mismatch problems for opponents because of the variety of positions they can play.

Almost every player on Pitt's team can handle two positions and a few can manage three. Pitt has had versatile teams under Dixon before, but this team has so much flexibility that it stands apart.

"Now we have guys who can play different positions because of their versatility, their height, their size, things like that," senior Sam Young said. "Once we are comfortable with each position that we can play we'll be a much better team than in the past."

Young is one of the team's most adept, with the ability to play at power forward and small forward. One of the reasons Young made first-team all-Big East last season was because he caused so many mismatch problems as a smaller, quicker player at power forward.

But he also has the potential to be an effective small forward because he has great athleticism and an underappreciated shooting ability. Young is Pitt's top returning 3-point shooter, and Dixon draws up sets to take advantage of his outside shooting prowess.

"You get the best players and the best kids and you work through that," Dixon said. "And then you find your strengths. And some guys surprise you. I don't think anyone in their wildest dreams could have said Sam would become our best shooter. He's probably our best shooter along with Ashton [Gibbs]. I wish I could I say I anticipated that. We have some tools. We're not locking guys into positions."

In other words, player development sometimes dictates how the coaches assign roles. But Dixon and the coaching staff also have made an effort to recruit multifaceted players.

Six-foot-6 sophomore Gilbert Brown, perhaps the best athlete on the team, started 15 games at small forward last season. He also has the ability to play shooting guard and power forward.

Sophomore guard Brad Wanamaker can also play three positions: point guard, shooting guard and small forward.

"Sometimes you can put Brad at the [shooting guard] or [small forward] and he could take bigger guys off the dribble," Young said. "He's like a big point guard out there. That's great for us. You could put me at [small forward] and post up little guys or put me at [power forward] and go around bigger guys. A lot of players, even guys who haven't been exposed to different positions can play different positions."

Sophomore DeJuan Blair is one of those players. Blair, who stands 6 feet 7, has played exclusively center since arriving at Pitt, but his future in the NBA is at power forward.

Other players with dual roles include senior Tyrell Biggs at power forward and center; freshman Ashton Gibbs at point guard and shooting guard; and freshman Nasir Robinson at power forward and small forward.