Inside The Panthers

Former Pitt Player Joins Illinois Coaching Staff

A former Pitt Panthers basketball player and assistant is joining the Illinois coaching staff.

Dominic Campbell

Feb 2, 2022; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats assistant coach Orlando Antigua yells to
Feb 2, 2022; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats assistant coach Orlando Antigua yells to / Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- A former Pitt Panthers basketball player and assistant coach is joining the Illinois coaching staff.

Orlando Antigua is leaving Kentucky to go to Illinois to reunite with head coach Brad Underwood, who he spent four seasons under as an assistant coach from 2017-21. Illinois announced the hiring on Sunday.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported earlier in April that Antigua would leave Kentucky to join head coach John Calipari at Arkansas. Calipari took the head coach job at Arkansas, leaving Kentucky after 15 seasons at the helm.

Antigua, who hails from the Dominican Republic and lived in New York City as a child, spent four seasons playing for Pitt from 1991-95. He would make the postseason twice, the NIT Second Round as a freshman in 1992 and the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore in 1993.

The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.7 blocks per game, respectively, while shooting 42.0% from the field, 38.6% from 3-point range and 68.3% from the foul line in his career. He also played in 116 games, starting 78 of them, including every single game as a senior.

His 38.6% shooting from 3-point range in his Pitt career ranks 10th best in program history and he led the team as a junior with a 42.0% clip from behind the arc.

Antigua received All-Big East Freshman honors in 1992, starting 21 of 34 games and averaging 18.5 minutes per game,. He also scored 6.5 points, grabbed 2.6 rebounds, dished 1.1 assists and made 0.6 steals and 0.9 blocks per game, respectively, while shooting 46.2% from the field, 41.7% from 3-point range and 66.0% from the free throw line.

His brother, Oliver Antigua, would play for Pitt from 1995-98, making them the last brother duo to play for the program prior to current roster members, sophomore forwards and twins Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham. 

He then played with the Harlem Globetrotters, and profesionally with both Gigantes de Carolina from 1996-97 and Mets de Guaynabo in 2000 in Puerto Rico. He also represented the Dominican Republic National Team at various points in the 1990s.

Antigua soon transitioned to coaching in the early 2000s, starting out as an assitant for Mt. Lebanon high school in suburbs of Pittsburgh for the 2002-03 season.

He joined new Panthers head coach Jamie Dixon's staff in 2003, serving as director of basketball operations (DOBO) for three seasons to 2006. Dixon then promoted him to assistant, where he spent the next two seasons in the position. 

The Panthers excelled during his time on the coaching staff, making the Sweet 16 twice in 2004 and 2008, along with winning the Big East Regular Season Title in 2004 with a 13-3 conference record.

Calipari hired Antigua in his last season at Memphis in 2008-08 before bringing him to Kentucky, where he served as an assitant for five seasons until 2014, when he took over South Florida as head coach.

He struggled to find success at South Florida, accruing a record of 23-55 overall before the school fired him after a 6-7 start in the 2016-17 season. Antigua also served as head coach of the Dominican Republic National Team from 2013-15.

After spending the following four seasons with Underwood, Calipari hired Antigua again to his staff in 2021 and he spent these past three seasons with the Wildcats.

Antigua will now look to help Underwood to continue making the Fighting Illini' into one of the best teams in the country and build off of an Elite Eight apperance this past season, their best finish since they made the National Championship game in 2005.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

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