UCLA head coach, Ben Howland. After spending his first season at Pitt as a redshirt, Krauser came into a stronger Pitt basketball program with guards such as Julius Page and Brandin Knight. In Krauser's first playing season, he averaged 6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game. Krauser had 93 assists in this season, which was the fourth most all time at Pitt by a freshman at that time. Krauser was also named the Most Improved Player at the team's banquet that year. The Panthers made it into the NCAA Tournament in 2002, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Kent State. 2003-2004 Krauser's sophomore season showed marked improvement from his freshman year. He received an All-American Honorable Mention by the Associated Press, the Big East's Most Improved Player, and All-Big East second team honors. Pitt chose him as the team's Most Inspiration Player and the best Free Throw Shooter. Krauser led the team averaging 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in 2003-04. Carl helped to lead the Pitt Panthers to a berth in the NCAA tournament, where the Panthers again made the Sweet Sixteen before falling to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. 2004-2005 In his junior year, Krauser was the leader of team. Pitt had lost both Jaron Brown and Julius Page to graduation, and Krauser was now the floor general for younger players such as freshman guard Ronald Ramon. Some highlights from that season include 31 points against the University of Richmond Spiders, 5 steals against Robert Morris University, and 15 assists against West Virginia. Krauser received the John Wooden Award in his junior season and was also named as a Naismith All-American and a Bob Cousy Award finalist. He was honored by the Big East with two player of the week awards and by being named to the Second-Team All Big East. Krauser led the Panthers to another NCAA Tournament berth as a 9th seed where they lost to 8th seed University of the Pacific. In the offseason, Krauser entered the 2005 NBA Draft but removed his name without hiring an agent so he could retain his NCAA eligibility and play his fifth and final college season at Pitt. Krauser was included in a Sports Illustrated article where he was ranked as one of the top 10 point guards in the nation, and at midseason was predicted to be selected in the