Pitt fired Kevin Stallings last week, and considering Stallings was coming off of an 0-19 ACC season, it seemed more than justifiable. Whoever inherits the program, though, will be facing even more of an uphill battle, because as many as eight players are seeking transfer opportunities and will reportedly receive their release to do so.
Eight Pittsburgh men’s basketball players will receive their release to transfer elsewhere today, sources told ESPN. Story coming.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 16, 2018
Goodman expanded upon that tweet in this report for ESPN:
In addition to talented freshman Parker Stewart [who had already announced his intention to transfer], seven other Pittsburgh players have asked for — and are expected to receive — their release on Friday to explore transfer options, multiple sources close to the basketball program told ESPN.
Sources told ESPN that senior Ryan Luther, sophomore Kene Chukwuka and four more freshmen — Marcus Carr, Khameron Davis, Terrell Brown and Shamiel Stevenson — asked for permission to contact other schools on Friday afternoon. Luther will have to apply for and is expected to receive another year of eligibility.
Junior Malik Ellison, who sat out this past season after transferring from St. John’s, also asked for his release. His situation, however, is somewhat uncertain because he didn’t play last season after transferring.
That’s not great! Pitt doesn’t really have a coach lined up, either; they’d met with Tom Crean, but Crean opted for the Georgia job instead. That’s unfortunate for Pitt, as Crean has experience taking over a program without returning players; when he took the Indiana job, just one scholarship player returned, and that player was a former walk-on. Indiana took a long time to recover from that, and if Pitt faces a similar exodus, they could be looking at a very
Of course, it’s also possible that the prospect of such a rebuild was what prompted Crean to look elsewhere.
It’s also possible that once a new coach is in place, some or all of the players end up staying:
Should remind Pitt fans, asking for a release to transfer does not mean it’s a definite that the player is leaving. Told majority will wait to see who the appropriate hire will be before a final decision is ultimately made
— Corey Evans (@coreyevans_10) March 16, 2018
Corey is spot-on with this. https://t.co/jfXBqLz4jp
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 16, 2018
But even then, the new coach is left with talent that went 0-19 in ACC play, at a school that just fired a coach after two seasons for losing too many games. It’s not unreasonable that Pitt could struggle to land a name as big as we might think they would. (Would Danny Hurley leave Rhode Island for Pitt right now, even?)
As for the players, if they do decide to leave, there will be restrictions:
Pittsburgh has a standard policy in place of not allowing an undergraduate transfer to go to ACC schools or a program on next season’s schedule, and one source told ESPN that those restrictions will be included in the each player’s release.
College basketball schedules are typically not set at this point, though there are certain commitments made already, so some of the players could have their options limited. As always, that’s silly; they already have to sit out a year, unless they’ve graduated. Further restricting them is nothing but petty. These restrictions haven’t always held up, though, so who knows?
Whatever happens and whoever it is, the next coach is probably going to have a rough first season. Though hey, if they win a conference game, that’s technically an improvement!
[ESPN]
