Compared to the past few years, it’s actually been a fairly normal offseason for Pittsburgh Basketball. They did lose all four senior guards via eligibility, but the program only saw two players enter the transfer portal to this point in wing Nate Santos and center John Hugley, who led the team in scoring a year ago but was limited to just eight games this past season.
But already, the Panthers were able to get a couple of players to help replace those two guys. The first was Zach Austin, a 6’7 wing from High Point. As a sophomore, he averaged 14.1 ppg and 5.4 rpg along with over two blocked shots a game. The other commit was Ishmael Legget, who led Rhode Island in scoring this past season with 16.4 ppg.
Pittsburgh was hoping for another guard pickup in Noah Thomasson, who averaged 19.5 ppg at Niagara. He visited the program not too long ago and was on his list of final five teams. However, the 6’3 guard ultimately ended up at Georgia, leaving the Panthers having to look in another direction.
The good news for Pitt is that compared to some other teams in the ACC like Notre Dame, their roster is currently in good shape as it is. That’s assuming, of course, that leading scorer Blake Hinson returns from the NBA Draft process. However, considering the program’s past where they lose multiple players for the year for various reasons, it’s best to fill the last two open spots on the roster.
While there’s debate about whether they need to add a big man or not, Pittsburgh definitely could use another perimeter player next to both Leggett and redshirt freshman Dior Johnson. Here’s a list of eight guards still in the transfer portal that could be viable options.