Three Transfer Candidates for Pitt's Last Roster Spot
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are all but completely finished with assembling their roster for the 2023-24 season, with two elite scorers transferring in and a top-25 recruiting class calling closely behind.
But Pitt has one scholarship left to play around with and given all the production they lost in the backcourt with Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliot and Nike Sibande graduating, it would make sense for them to seek out a veteran guard who can take some of the pressure off Jaland Lowe and Dior Johnson, a true freshman and redshirt freshman who will be expected to
Here are a few candidates from the transfer portal who could fill that role for them.
Andre Curbelo, St. John's
Pitt would be the third stop of Curbelo's career. The former top-100 recruit has played well, but been underwhelming compared to his pedigree. I think less would be more for Curbelo, who had been handed the keys to every offense he's played on but has struggled with turnovers in the past to the tune of 25% over his three years in college basketball.
Let him take on more of a limited role and I think you can see the tremendous passing vision and defensive abilities shine. The struggle would be to convince Curbelo that he should take a backseat to players three and four years younger than him.
Kyron Gibson, UT Arlington
Gibson has played just one season at the Division I level but he was highly impactful for a Mavericks team that had little else going for them, especially offensively, in 2022-23.
The 6'1 and 198-pound guard averaged 11.2 points 3.9 assists on a team that shot just 41.4% from the field - good for 323rd in Division I. It's reasonable to expect that on even a marginally better shooting team, Gibson would look like a much better passer and his concerning 22.8 assist rate. He shot 36.7% from 3-point range on 128 attempts last season which doesn't hurt either.
Gibson would give the Panthers another proven scorer and playmaker to provide solid, but limited minutes.
Jeremiah Williams, Iowa State
Williams doesn't have much of an outside game to speak of - he's just a 26.7% shooter from 3-point distance over the course of his two seasons in college basketball - but he is can be a playmaker (31.1% assist rate in 2021-22) without giving away the ball too much (1.3 over 31 minutes per game for his career) and a plus defender (1.7 defensive box plus-minus in 2021-22).
This seems like the best of both worlds to me - an older player that can bring something different than what everyone else at his position does and makes sense as a bench piece behind Johnson, Lowe and Leggett. Williams wouldn't play 30 minutes a night but Pitt wouldn't need him to. Williams could simply be another weapon on a team that seems poised for a shift from offensively to defensively focused.
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