Pittsburgh Basketball: Panthers land athletic High Point transfer Zach Austin

Pittsburgh Basketball lands its first offseason transfer pickup in Zach Austin of High Point. What does he bring to the Panthers?

Like many teams, Pittsburgh Basketball is one that needed to land a few newcomers via the transfer portal to build its roster up. John Hugley and Nate Santos were two guys that exited the program along with four departing seniors. But with Dior Johnson back from a redshirt and three incoming freshmen players, that gave the team four open scholarships to work with.

They’ve reportedly been after a few targets so far, including Joe Girard or Syracuse and Ishmael Leggett of Rhode Island. But the first commitment wasn’t from them but rather from the guy that visited the program this past weekend.

Zach Austin is a 6’7 forward out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He spent his first two seasons at High Point, averaging 14.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg. He also led the team in blocks, averaging at over two a year. He’s the rare player that leads a team in both total three-pointers and blocks.

This past season, Austin was in double figures in 26 of 31 games. That included a 26-point effort against Radford, along with a pair of double-doubles to end the season. He had a seven-block game in just his fourth game as a freshman and is known for being an elite athlete overall.

Pittsburgh spend all of last season using a pair of 6’3 guards at the small forward position. And while it has some positives on the offensive end, it made them very vulnerable against both bigger guards and true wings, as well as on the boards overall. Austin helps both of that immediately and assuming he’s able to transfer his abilities to the ACC level, should be a starter for next season.

It’s a good start for the Panthers in the portal. Look for them to focus more on the backcourt in the coming weeks, with Leggett reportedly coming to the city for a visit this weekend. A commitment from him would be huge for them.