Pitt Adds Two New Coaching Staff Members

The Pitt Panthers added two new coaching staff members to their basketball program.

Feb 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard KJ Marshall (12) reacts after making a three point basket against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. Pittsburgh won 86-59. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers basketball coaching staff added two new members to their ranks for this upcoming season, including a former player, according to a recent press release.

KJ Marshall, a former walk-on guard, and Matt Watson, will join the Pitt coaching staff. Marshall will help the coaches with scouting, practice, player development and skill work.

Marshall hails from Reading, Pa., but played high school basketball at Trinity Christian Academy in Fayetteville, N.C. He scored more than 1,000 career points, received all-state honors in both his junior and senior years, and played in three state championship games, winning it in 2017 as sophomore and in 2018 as a junior.

He averaged 9.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, while shooting 39% from 3-point range as a senior, leading his team to a 21-10 record and an NCISAA semifinal appearance as a senior.

Marshall joined the Panthers as a walk-on prior to the 2019-20 season, joining his former high school teammate in Au'Diese Toney at the program. He appeared in six games that season, with most of them coming later on in the season.

He chose to transfer to Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kan. for the 2019-20 season. He played in 19 games and averaged 6.0 points and 4.6 assists per game.

Marshall then landed at Mars Hill University, a Division II program in Mars Hill, N.C., near the Tennessee border in the west of the state. He would play in 17 games, averaging 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

He returned to Pitt for the 2022-23 season as a walk-on, serving as a part of the team that made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, appearing in 11 games off the bench.

Marshall would earn a scholarship in January of the 2023-24 season and played in eight games for the Panthers.

Watson spent the past four seasons with Pitt as a student manager and earned the role of graduate manager in July. He also helped with Pitt Basketball Youth Summer Camps and was the student equipment manager in undergrad.

He worked as the liaison between managers, coaches, opposing teams, and various university personnel as a student manager last season. He will focus on the logisitical side of the program, with Brian Regan, the Director of Basketball Operations (DOBO), on data analytics and video breakdown.

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