Inside The Panthers

Pitt Contacts East Carolina Transfer Scorer

The Pitt Panthers continue their hunt for a Blake Hinson replacement.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Contacts East Carolina Transfer Scorer
Pitt Contacts East Carolina Transfer Scorer /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have hit the transfer portal hard in as new players flood in with most of the sport having wrapped their seasons up. 

With leading scorer Blake Hinson having exhausted his eligibility, the Panthers will search for someone who can replace his scoring production at the forward spot and they might have found one in Brandon Johnson, a double-digit scorer who is transferring from East Carolina. Pitt contacted him this week alongside South Carolina, Arkansas, Clemson, St. John's, Miami, Notre Dame and Seton Hall. 

That list will likely grow quickly because Johnson, a 6'8 and 222-pound redshirt junior from Raleigh, North Carolina, has blossomed over the past two seasons after transferring in from Brunswick Community College. 

Johnson averaged 14 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game last season while appearing in 31 games - all starts. He shot 36.5% from 3-point range, a vast improvement from the 33.3% mark he posted the season prior. 

Hinson and fellow senior K.J. Marshall are the only ones who are expected to depart the team as of right now and with two high school recruits incoming, the Panthers have one open scholarship at this time. There could be some more attrition over the course of the offseason, as is to be expected in this day and age of college basketball, but none has been announced yet for Pitt. 

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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:

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