Pitt’s Blake Hinson named nation’s top college basketball transfer
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While Pitt coach Jeff Capel seeks to replace four departing seniors who arrived through the transfer portal, Panthers junior forward Blake Hinson has been named winner of the Riley Wallace Award, presented annually by CollegeInsider.com to the top transfer in Division I college basketball.
Hinson helped lead Pitt to a 24-12 overall record, including a school-record 14-6 mark in the ACC, and an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, where the Panthers won two games.
Hinson, a second-team All-ACC selection, is the first Pitt player to average at least 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds while making 50 or more 3-pointers in a season since Sam Young (2009-10). He led the Panthers in scoring (15.3), rebounds (6.0), double-figure scoring games (30), 20-plus point games (nine), double-doubles (five), and 3-point field goals (97).
He shot 38% from beyond the arc, matched a school record with eight 3s in a victory against Wake Forest, and became just the third player in program history to make more than 95 three-pointers in a season.
Pitt is Hinson’s third school. He began his collegiate career at Ole Miss before sitting out the past two seasons at Iowa State and, then, becoming one of the top forwards in the ACC. Hinson was ranked among the ACC leaders in scoring (T-12th), rebounds (12th), 3-pointers (1st), 3s per game (5th – 2.69), 3-point percentage (4th) and defensive rebounds (12th – 4.58).
Hinson has totaled 1,098 points, 440 rebounds, and 188 3-pointers in 96 career games (93 starts). He joins North Carolina’s Brady Manek (2022) as the only ACC players to win the Riley Wallace Award. They are also the only winners from power conference schools.