Evaluating Impact of Pitt's First Two Transfers

Adding Ishmael Leggett and Zack Austin represents a coming stylistic shift for the Pitt Panthers.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have made two major additions through the transfer portal, earning verbal commitments from former High Point wing Zack Austin and Rhode Island guard Ishamel Leggett. 

Their surface level statistics say the Panthers added not just experienced players but scorers that will help them cover for the extensive losses suffered in a deep backcourt and good rebounders. But how will those two fit in when Pitt has to mesh a group of players that have now been there and done that? 

To put it in the most basic of terms, Pitt is going to look and play very differently than they did last season. Just by looking at the roster, you can tell the 2023-24 Panthers will look intrinsically different from their 2022-23 counterparts and Austin and Leggett are a big reason why. 

Pitt wasn't an offensive juggernaut but it finished among the top quarter of Division I teams in offensive efficiency per Ken Pom and averaged 75 points per game, largely on the strength of their 3-point shooting. Pitt ranked 43rd in Division I in 3-point rate and 75th in percentage made at 36%. Austin is a capable spot-up shooter and Leggett has the ability to make shots from outside, but beyond Blake Hinson - a 38% 3-point shooter at a high volume - there are few elite options from deep on the roster as it currently stands. 

In losing Greg Elliot, Nelly Cummings and Nike Sibande - all plus shooters - this was inevitable and Pitt had a choice to make - reload with shooters and build a similar roster as the previous one or seek to shore up their inconsistent defense and rebounding. Jeff Capel chose the latter. With Austin and Leggett as two centerpieces, the Panthers are built differently. They are longer, staffed with better defenders and led by their frontcourt while the backcourt develops its young, but talented pieces.  

Leggett is a guard and Austin figures to fit in as a small forward opposite Hinson, but the Panthers still added two players with length, good size for their positions and rebounding ability. They'll bring plenty of firepower to a team that needs it, but I'd venture to say what they bring defensively to this roster is just as, if not more important than how much they'll score. 

Austin averaged 1.1 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, all while committing fewer than two fouls on average per night. His 7.7% block rate erases shots at a high level and a 15.5% defensive rebounding rate means he cleans up misses with similar effectiveness. Leggett isn't quite the defensive stopper Austin is but owns a steal rate of 2.3%. 

Federiko Federiko, the ACC's third-most prolific shot blocker who spearheaded stifling defensive efforts against the likes of North Carolina and Armando Bacot and Boston College and Quinten Post, will still anchor the defense from the middle. But with Austin, Leggett and William Jeffress on the perimeter, Pitt will have more high-level defenders that can prevent some of the defensive lapses that drew Federiko into disadvantageous rotations and subsequent foul trouble. That's all without mentioning the strides that lanky freshman Guillermo Diaz-Graham made on the defensive end as the season wore on and a late-season injury to Federiko forced him into spot starts against some of the country's best big men. 

Leggett and Austin aren't the end all, be all of Pitt's offseason, but any other additions figure to be added to the periphery. For the most part, the additions the Panthers have made are proof of their shifting style, something made possible in part because of the attrition suffered this offseason. 

Who knows if Pitt will be better or worse next season, but they will be different. 

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

Pitt Makes Top Five for Three-Star DB Kahmir Prescott

Eastern Michigan Transfer Darius Lassiter Adds Pitt Offer

ESPN Analyst Believes FPI Underrates Pitt

Pitt Signee Jaland Lowe Moves Down in ESPN Recruiting Rankings

Marquis Williams Wants Pitt to Play Rivals in Spring Game

Pitt Pursuing Niagra Sharpshooter Noah Thomasson in Transfer Portal

• Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt