Pitt Competing With John Calipari for Kentucky Transfer

The Pitt Panthers have a transfer target who is on a visit to Arkansas to visit his former head ocach.

Mar 21, 2024; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Adou Thiero (3) handles the ball against / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers transfer target forward Adou Thiero is on a visit to Arkansas, which might prove crucial in his recruitment going forward.

Thiero posted an Instagram story with the location as Fayetteville, Arkansas, the location for Arkansas basketball, also with 'Hogs' and two logos of the their mascot in the picture as well.

#Pitt transfer target Adou Thiero is at Arkansas. Looks like his former head coach at Kentucky, John Calipari, is pushing to bring the talented forward with him to Fayetteville pic.twitter.com/eZzOTBWnpD

— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) May 1, 2024

Thiero chose to transfer from Kentucky after the end of this past season. His head coach, John Calipari, is now the head coach of Arkansas and is vying to bring back the prized forward to Fayetteville. Arkansas is in Thiero's top five schools, along with Pitt, North Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana.

He did visit Pitt this past weekend, giving Panthers fans hope that the hometown star would come back to play for the program.

Thiero played high school basketball for Quaker Valley in Leetsdale, Pa., about 18 miles northwest of Pitt's campus on the Ohio river. 

He excelled throughout high school, but especially as a senior in 2022, where he scored 23.3 points, grabbed 10.3 rebounds, dished out 5.9 assists, forced 3.9 steals and made 2.3 blocks per game, respectively, en route to a WPIAL Class 4A Championship and finishing runners-up in the PIAA Playoffs.

Thiero, who ranked as a four-star in the Class of 2022, committed to Kentucky to join head coach John Calipari, who is from Western Pennsylvania himself. 

He averaged 9.5 minutes, 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game over 20 appearances as a freshman. Thiero took improved this past season as a sophomore, appearing in 25 games, starting 19 and averaging 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocks per game, respectively, while shooting 49.2% from the field and 80.0% from the foul line.

Pitt lost a few of their forwards from last season, as First Team All-ACC star Blake Hinson graduated and both Federiko Federiko and Will Jeffress entered the transfer portal.

They did land Florida State transfer Cameron Corhen and will bring in freshman Amdy Ndiaye, as well as a heathly return for Papa Amadou Kante, who suffered a season-ending injury prior to last season and redshirted. 

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

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