Inside The Panthers

Pitt F Blake Hinson Took Extra Satisfaction in Beating Iowa State

The Pitt Panthers' NCAA Tournament win over Iowa State was extra sweet for Blake Hinson.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt F Blake Hinson Took Extra Satisfaction in Beating Iowa State
Pitt F Blake Hinson Took Extra Satisfaction in Beating Iowa State /
In this story:

PITTSBURGH -- His previous school didn't want him but as a Pitt Panther, Blake Hinson was able to thrive and take some revenge on the team that didn't think he still had it in him. 

Pitt was Hinson's third stop of his college basketball career and he arrived with his confidence shaken. He transfered because the Cyclones has told him he wasn't good enough to play for their program, so it must have felt pretty sweet when Hinson and the Panthers bounced them from the NCAA Tournament this past March. 

"I didn’t want to go too public about it in the moment because I didn’t want to overshadow the purpose of the game," Hinson said in an appearance on SiriusXM ACC Radio. "It was Pitt vs. Iowa State. It wasn’t Blake vs. Iowa State. But Iowa State told me I wasn’t good enough to play for their team so you can imagine how good I felt after we were waving them goodbye come tournament time.”

After the game, Hinson took a subtle shot at the Cylcones by posting a screenshot on Instagram of the frigid weather in Ames, Iowa that they would be returning to after falling, 59-41, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

While Hinson scored just five points and grabbed four rebounds in the first round victory over Iowa State, he had a resurgent year with the Panthers. He averaged 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game - both team-highs - while making 38% of his 3-point shots and 97 total triples - the third-most of any single season in school history - on the way to second-team All-ACC honors. 

Hinson credited much of his success to the confidence head coach Jeff Capel and the rest of the coaching staff instilled in him the moment he arrived. As his ending at Iowa State illustrates, there haven't been many college coaches who believed in Hinson like Capel does. 

“In practice one time, I didn’t take a shot," Hinson said. "It wasn’t the most wide-open shot but Coach [Capel] came up to me and told me, ‘I never want you not to shoot that ever again.’ … We laugh now because he said ‘Ever since, there hasn’t been a shot that you haven’t taken.’”

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Pitt Transfer Nate Santos Commits to Dayton

Pitt G Jamarius Burton Adds Two More NBA Workouts

Pitt G Greg Elliot to Workout for Detroit Pistons

Four-Star Pitt LB Target Cameron Lindsey Sets Commitment Date

Pitt Has Connection to Four-Star G with NBA Pedigree

Former Pitt QB Kenny Pickett Primed for Breakout Year

Published
Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

Home/Basketball