Pitt Opponent Dismisses Former Blue-Chip Recruit
PITTSBURGH -- One of the Pitt Panthers' biggest competitors in a crowded ACC has lost a crucial backup forward this week.
Syracuse announced this week that junior forward Benny Williams - a 6'8 native of Bowie, Maryland, and Pitt killer over the course of his career - had been dismissed from the program.
Williams was a consensus four-star prospect coming out of St. Andrew's Episcopal High School and IMG Academy in the class of 2021 and was even rated as a five-star prospect by Rivals.
His college career has been underwhelming by comparison. Williams has averaged just 4.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 41.5% from the field over 77 games - 24 of which were starts - for Syracuse. 2022-23 was his best season to date, during which he averaged 7.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest while knocking down 39.6% of his 3-pointers.
Two of the five largest scoring outputs of Williams' career came against the Panthers. He dropped a career-high 24 points and five 3-pointers, along with nine rebounds, against Pitt last season and the 15 points he scored in a home win over the Panthers were the fifth-most of his career.
The Orange and Pitt are locked in a tight battle in the middle of the ACC, owning identical 5-6 records and a tie for eighth place in the conference standings. Pitt will have a chance to leap up into seventh place with a win over NC State this week and Syracuse can do the same by defeating Louisville.
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