Inside The Panthers

Former Pitt G Finds New Team Overseas

Former Pitt Panthers guard Nike Sibande will play with a new European team as he continues his professional career.

Stephen Thompson

Former Pitt G Finds New Team Overseas
Former Pitt G Finds New Team Overseas /
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PITTSBURGH -- Former Pitt Panthers guard Nike Sibande continues to climb the ladder of European basketball after ending his college career last spring. 

Sibande has lit up the Finnish league and is now moving to Turkey, where he'll play for Yukatel Merkezefendi Municipality Basketball, a team based out of Denizli, Turkey that competes in the Basketbol Süper Ligi. Sibande announced the news on Twitter. 

Sibande struggled to see the court after moving to Greece and joining Maroussi of the Greek Basketball League just before the turn of the new year. He averaged just 12 minutes and five points per game but made 60% of his 2-point field goals and 50% of his 3-pointers in just 12 minutes per appearance. 

After four games with Maroussi, he moved teams again, joining Kataja Basket in Finland. He flourished after the move, playing 30.4 minutes per contest and averaging 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 54.2% from inside the 3-point arc and 41.5% from beyond it over 12 games. He posted similar numbers in 8 games during the FIBA Europe Cup last fall. 

Sibande joined the Panthers during the 2020 offseason and not only had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic while transitioning to Pitt, but had to battle the NCAA and his former school for an immediate waiver as well. Eventually, an NCAA rule awarding a blanket waiver to all transfers allowed him to play that season, beginning with the ACC opener against Miami in mid-December.

His first 11 games as a Panther yielded modest results, but he really took off at the end of the season. The former 1,500-point scorer at Miami (OH) scored 23 points on 54% shooting to go along with nine rebounds and four assists in the 2021 home finale against Wake Forest and 24 points on 60% shooting, with six rebounds for good measure, in an ACC Tournament loss to Miami later that month.

After missing all of the 2021-22 season with a knee injury, Sibande returned with a vengeance in 2022-23. Along with some tremendous on-ball defense, Sibande scored 8.4 points and grabbed 4.1 rebounds per night while making 35% of his 3-pointers and 52% of his 2-point shots on the way to ACC Sixth Man of the Year honors.

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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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