Pitt goes into transfer portal, lands former Rhode Island guard Ishmael Leggett
Share this post:
Jeff Capel likes good players, but he likes good, experienced players even more.
He may have landed one of the latter type Monday when former Rhode Island guard Ishmael Leggett announced on his Twitter account that he will transfer to Pitt.
LETS GET TO IT!???? #A4D pic.twitter.com/UHyD4JzSYa
— Ishmael Leggett (@great8ish) April 17, 2023
Leggett is the second transfer to verbally commit to the Panthers since the end of the season. He joins Zack Austin, a 6-foot-7 forward who played the past two seasons at High Point (N.C.).
Leggett (6-3, 190 pounds) scored 939 points in 88 games the past three seasons for the Rams, starting 71 — 32 this season, 31 in 2021-22 and eight as a freshman in 2020-21. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
After playing in the Atlantic 10, Leggett will bring the length Capel requires for his defense. He recorded 89 steals in three seasons.
With the basketball in his hands, Leggett improved in scoring, shooting (overall, free throw and 3-point), rebounding, assists and steals from a year ago. He finished this season with a 16.1 points-per-game average for the Rams (9-22, 5-13).
He nearly doubled his point production from 8.3 in 2021-22 by shooting 38.7% from the field (up from 37.1%), 31.8% from 3-point range (up from 31.6%) and 84.2.% from the foul line (up from 68.5). He made 149 of 177 foul shots last season.
He also boosted his rebounding and assist numbers from the previous season, grabbing 5.9 rebounds per game (up from 3.1) and contributing 2.3 assists (up from 1.6).
Leggett scored 34 points in a 78-75 loss to Tulane on Nov. 22, hitting 13 of 19 shots (7 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc). He filled up his stat line Feb. 22 in an 89-80 overtime loss to George Washington with 30 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Overall, he scored at least 10 points in all but three games — five vs. Georgia State, seven vs. Saint Joseph’s and nine vs. George Mason.
Leggett visited UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Dec. 31 and scored 10 points in a 72-61 loss to Duquesne.
Capel now has two available scholarships and a team that already will look different from the one that won 24 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
New faces include Austin and Leggett plus incoming freshmen Jaland Lowe and Carlton Carrington at guard and Marlon Barnes at forward. Also guard Dior Johnson, who sat out the last season, is expected to return, and Pitt will welcome back forward William Jeffress from a season-ending foot injury.
Four of the team’s top six scorers exhausted their eligibility, but four holdovers either started most games or played key roles throughout the season. Blake Hinson was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder (15.6/6.0), Federiko Federiko averaged 5.3 rebounds per game and the Diaz Graham twins, Guillermo and Jorge, provided important minutes off the bench.