Inside The Panthers

Nike Sibande Signs with Finnish Pro Team

A fourth former Pitt Panther is getting a shot in professional basketball.
Stephen Thompson|
Nike Sibande Signs with Finnish Pro Team
Nike Sibande Signs with Finnish Pro Team

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Pittsburgh Panthers

PITTSBURGH -- Another former Pitt Panther has found his next basketball opportunity overseas this week. 

Nike Sibande, who spent three years in Pittsburgh after transferring from Miami (OH), is joining Kataja Basket, a Finnish international basketball team in the nation's top league, “Korisliga.” Kataja, which is based in the capital of Helsinki, won the league title last season. 

He's the fourth player from last year's NCAA Tournament squad to land a professional contract with a foreign team. Jamarius Burton will be in Belgium this season, Greg Elliott will play in Denmark and Nelly Cummings is headed to Cyprus. 

Sibande joined the Panthers during the 2020 offseason and not only had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic while transitioning to Pitt, but had to battle the NCAA and his former school for an immediate waiver as well. Eventually, an NCAA rule awarding a blanket waiver to all transfers allowed him to play that season, beginning with the ACC opener against Miami in mid-December.

His first 11 games as a Panther yielded modest results, but he really took off at the end of the season. The former 1,500-point scorer at Miami (OH) scored 23 points on 54% shooting to go along with nine rebounds and four assists in the 2021 home finale against Wake Forest and 24 points on 60% shooting, with six rebounds for good measure, in an ACC Tournament loss to Miami later that month.

After missing all of the 2021-22 season with a knee injury, Sibande returned with a vengeance in 2022-23. Along with some tremendous on-ball defense, Sibande scored 8.4 points and grabbed 4.1 rebounds per night while making 35% of his 3-pointers and 52% of his 2-point shots on the way to ACC Sixth Man of the Year honors.

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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