Inside The Panthers

Pitt's Justin Champagnie Makes Debut with Wizards

Former Pitt Panthers forward Justin Champagnie turned in a perfect debut for the Washington Wizards.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt's Justin Champagnie Makes Debut with Wizards
Pitt's Justin Champagnie Makes Debut with Wizards /
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PITTSBURGH -- Former Pitt Panthers forward got off on the right foot with his new NBA team this week, turning in a perfect shooting night in his debut with the Washington Wizards. 

Champagnie, a star for Pitt from 2020 to 2022, played just four minutes but scored seven points while making each of his three field goal attempts, including his lone 3-point field goal attempt in a 130-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets. 

Champagnie had limited NBA experience with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics to this point in his career. 39 of his 41 regular experiences over the past two seasons have come with the Raptors. This is the first time he's stepped up to join an NBA roster this season.

At the NBA Summer League with the Celtics in Las Vegas last July, Champagnie finished tied for third on the team in scoring (13 points per game) and first in rebounding (8.3 rebounds per game). Champagnie also made 30.4% of his 3-pointers and 71.4% of his free throws, blocked one shot per game and led the Celtics in minutes at 28.6 per contest over four appearances.

Champagnie was on Boston's roster for the 2023 playoffs. He appeared in two games, averaging 2.5 points and 1.0 rebounds over 11.7 minutes per appearance.

He averaged 23 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game over 19 games, all starts, for the Sky Force this season.

A 2021 first-team All-ACC selection, Champagnie averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds per game while making 47.7% of his field goals during his final season with the Panthers.

The Wizards have struggled mightily this season. They own a 9-46 record that stands as the second-worst in all of the NBA. There is some backlog at Champagnie's position, with Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert and Bilal Coulibaly all eating up minutes on the wing. But the Wizards might be willing to experiment with the season essentially over at this juncture.

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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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