It's official: Pitt will spend Thanksgiving in Brooklyn for the NIT Season Tip-Off
Pitt made its Thanksgiving plans official Thursday with the announcement that the Panthers will be one of four teams participating in the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The dates — Nov. 22 and 24 — are the days immediately before and after the holiday.
Pitt’s inclusion in the event was previously reported last week.
Baylor, Florida and Oregon State are the other teams. Matchups will be announced at a later date.
Meanwhile, coach Jeff Capel has two available scholarships to use in his quest to find backcourt experience. Presently, transfer Ishmael Leggett is the only guard with collegiate experience. He averaged 16.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last season at Rhode Island.
Incoming freshman guards Carlton Carrington and Jaland Lowe will be joined by redshirt freshman Dior Johnson. Forwards Zack Austin, a transfer from High Point (N.C.), and freshman Marlon Barnes Jr. are the other newcomers to a Pitt team that lost guards Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott and Nike Sibande after reaching the NCAA Tournament last season.
Pitt transfer target Noah Thomasson, a guard from Niagara, opted to make a verbal commitment to Georgia earlier this week.
Five key players return next season, including starters Blake Hinson and Federiko Federiko, sophomores-to-be Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham and William Jeffress, who missed the 2022-23 season with a foot injury.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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