The Pitt basketball staff has been working the transfer portal for weeks, targeting players from around the country.
One of the first players that the staff contacted once the transfer portal opened was Zack Austin, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward out of High Point University.
Austin told Pittsburgh Sports Now that he met with the Pitt staff on a zoom call on Tuesday. Austin also included that he will “probably” visit Pitt “soon after the dead period.” The NCAA states that there is a recruiting dead period — a period in which recruits cannot interact in-person with a college coaching staff — from March 30 to April 6. After that date, look for Austin to take a trip to Oakland.
Austin has been in the High Point program for three years, but redshirted his first year. As a redshirt freshman, Austin averaged 14.4 points, eight rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game, also hitting 67 of his 208 three-point attempts (32%). Austin made the Big South All-Freshman Team, as the Panthers finished the season 14-18 on the year.
This season — in his redshirt sophomore campaign — Austin averaged 14.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. He started 26 of 31 games for High Point, and also improved his shooting numbers in each category. Austin shot 44% from the field (41 as a freshman), 56% on two-point attempts (51 as a freshman), 33% on three-point tries (32 as a freshman), and 79% from the free-throw line (72 as a freshman).
The Panthers are looking to fill three open scholarships. The team’s front court currently consists of Jorge Diaz-Graham, Guillermo Diaz-Graham, and Federiko Federiko, with Blake Hinson, Nate Santos, William Jeffress, and freshman Marlon Barnes on the wing and Dior Johnson in the back court. The Panthers will also welcome in freshmen guards Jaland Lowe and Carlton Carrington this season.
