Inside The Panthers

Pitt Opponent Dismisses Former Blue-Chip Recruit

As the Pitt Panthers battle Syracuse for position in the ACC, the Orange have lost a backup center.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Opponent Dismisses Former Blue-Chip Recruit
Pitt Opponent Dismisses Former Blue-Chip Recruit /
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PITTSBURGH -- One of the Pitt Panthers' biggest competitors in a crowded ACC has lost a crucial backup forward this week. 

Syracuse announced this week that junior forward Benny Williams - a 6'8 native of Bowie, Maryland, and Pitt killer over the course of his career - had been dismissed from the program. 

Williams was a consensus four-star prospect coming out of St. Andrew's Episcopal High School and IMG Academy in the class of 2021 and was even rated as a five-star prospect by Rivals. 

His college career has been underwhelming by comparison. Williams has averaged just 4.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 41.5% from the field over 77 games - 24 of which were starts - for Syracuse. 2022-23 was his best season to date, during which he averaged 7.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest while knocking down 39.6% of his 3-pointers. 

Two of the five largest scoring outputs of Williams' career came against the Panthers. He dropped a career-high 24 points and five 3-pointers, along with nine rebounds, against Pitt last season and the 15 points he scored in a home win over the Panthers were the fifth-most of his career. 

The Orange and Pitt are locked in a tight battle in the middle of the ACC, owning identical 5-6 records and a tie for eighth place in the conference standings. Pitt will have a chance to leap up into seventh place with a win over NC State this week and Syracuse can do the same by defeating Louisville. 

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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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