Inside The Panthers

Pitt's Justin Champagnie Makes First NBA Start

Former Pitt Panthers forward Justin Champagnie hit a career milestone.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt's Justin Champagnie Makes First NBA Start
Pitt's Justin Champagnie Makes First NBA Start /
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PITTSBURGH -- Former Pitt Panthers forward Justin Champagnie is getting his first real extended NBA experience this season and thriving as he's been given more opportunities to play.

Champagnie, who starred for two seasons at Pitt, hit a career milestone this weekend. He made his first career start for the Washington Wizards as they took on the heavy world title favorites in the Boston Celtics after appearing in 46 games as a reserve. 

He tied a career-high in points with 14, made 5 of 11 field goal attempts - including a 2-4 mark from 3-point range - grabbed eight rebounds and stole two passes in a career-most 36 minutes of work. Champagnie is averaging career-bests in scoring, rebounding, 3-point shooting a minutes per game since joining the struggling Wizards earlier this season. 

Champagnie has limited NBA experience with the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics so far in his career. 39 of his 41 regular experiences over the past two seasons have come with the Raptors. 

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. 

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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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