Pitt's Blake Hinson Details Origin of Iconic Celebration

Pitt Panthers forward Blake Hinson told the story of his celebration at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

PITTSBURGH -- Blake Hinson had missed the free throw but it didn't matter. His make moments before had sealed it. The Pitt Panthers upset No. 7 Duke on the road, their first win in Durham, North Carolina since 1979, and Hinson was going to let the Cameron Crazies know about it. 

After scoring 14 points on a historic 7-7 shooting night from 3-point range, Hinson sprinted straight for the middle of the Duke student section and said goodnight. He basked in the middle fingers and jeers of the Duke students before a security guard pulled him down. 

Pitt wins.

Blake Hinson lets the Crazies know.

What a game. pic.twitter.com/4RtFMGQZK8

— George Michalowski (@MichalowskiCBB) January 21, 2024

“I think after I hit the free throw," Hinson said about when he planned to go greet the Duke students with his Pitt teammates on ACC PM this week. "I missed the second one of the way back and I looked at the clock and I realized they aren’t going to have enough time to even make this any more of a game. I probably made it up in my head about then."

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel gave Hinson a talking to after the game and said he would keep that conversation private, but Hinson offered some more color to the postgame celebration. 

"He wasn’t excited. He apologizes right there ... Now he goes and gets me," Hinson said. "He comes back though, he comes back and I’m apologizing and he’s telling me that was not necessary." 

Both Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and star forward Kyle Filipowski voiced their displeasure with Hinson's antics but he maintained the display was a sign of respect for how hard it is to win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

"This is one of the hardest places to win in the nation," Hinson said following the win. "So that was just an example of you climbing Mt. Everest and just looking at it from up top and saying 'I did it.' It's nothing but respect. You can get mad at it, that's just your opinion, but I see it as respect." 

Capel wasn't happy either but he was eager to move on as well. The Panthers have more big games ahead of them, including trips to face Georgia Tech and Miami this week and they'll need to leave the Duke win behind if they are to refocus on getting the reason back on track. 

"But it’s okay though, it happens in the spirit of the sport," Hinson said. "He understands what type of person I am and he didn’t condone it, he still doesn’t condone it but we’re moving past it.”

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