Keeping Up With Pitt Basketball's Remaining Transfer Targets
PITTSBURGH -- For the second consecutive offseason, the Pittsburgh Panthers and head coach Jeff Capel have been forced to almost completely rebuild their roster. Eight players left either by transfer or graduation, taking 3,442 minutes, 950 points 492 rebounds and 205 assists from last season's squad with them.
But the months of March and April have been good to Capel and company, who have scored a few key wins recruiting in the transfer portal and elsewhere.
Nelly Cummings, a transfer from Colgate, kicked things off by signing with Pitt on April 1, then commitments from Iowa State transfer Blake Hinson and 6-foot-11 junior college product Fede Federiko followed. Adding two promising high school recruits - Jorge and Guillermo Diaz-Graham - helped the Panthers inch closer to a full roster.
There are, however, still holes to fill and the number of quality available players is dwindling. Pitt needs shooting and could use another capable ball-handler to give the lead guards some rest when needed. They have three scholarships at their disposal to
Greg Elliot is one of the players Pitt is most interested in. Elliot checks a lot of boxes - he is experienced, shot 40% from 3-point distance over a four-year career at Marquette and doesn't demand the ball. That would be a good fit alongside Jamarius Burton, Nike Sibande and Cummings, a trio of ball-dominant guard that will run the show for Pitt. Elliot scheduled a visit to Pitt for this coming weekend.
Weber State transfer Seikou Sisoho Jawara is another player of a similar mold that could be an attractive option for Pitt. He's another prolific shooter -- he made 64 of 149 3-point attempts (43%) last season -- with a low usage rate. He's only 6-foot-2, so pairing him with Cummings would mean a smaller backcourt that's more easily exploited on defense, but that would be worth it if Jawara shoots the way he can.
At the wings, 6-foot-6 UMBC forward Keondre Kennedy is a well-rounded, efficient player that could have helped the Panthers in areas other than shooting, but he committed to UNC Greensboro on Friday.
Bryson Mozone from USC Upstate is one of the best scorers in the transfer portal that is still uncommitted. He scored nearly 16 points a night for the Spartans and is a slightly better rebounder than Kennedy. Other than that, their season stats look mostly identical. Mozone said last week that he had heard from Pitt, Georgia Tech, Clemson, NC State and other high-majors. He has one year of eligibility left.
The Panthers retained All-ACC center John Hugley and, after landing commitments from Hinson and the Diaz-Graham twins, appear set in the frontcourt. They might not play with as big of lineups as they did for most of last year, but nonetheless have plenty of bodies to fill the necessary minutes.
That is good news because the remaining crop of available bigs is slim. Josiah Allick, who averaged 13 points and six rebounds per game for the University of Missouri-Kansas City last season, is one of the few bigs that has produced at the Division I level, isn't committed and been in contact with Pitt.
Mo Nije, who earned MAC All-Freshman honors by scoring nearly 20 points per contest for Eastern Michigan last season, is another. He's on an official visit to BYU this weekend and already visited SMU last week.
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