Report: 8 Members Of Pitt Men's Basketball Team To Be Given Release In Order To Transfer
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) – The Pitt men's basketball team endured their worst season in school history and the news doesn't appear to be getting better.
According to ESPN's Jeff Goodman, eight players will be given their release on Friday in order to transfer to another school.
Eight Pittsburgh men's basketball players will receive their release to transfer elsewhere today, sources told ESPN. Story coming.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) March 16, 2018
Per ESPN's report, the players include, "senior Ryan Luther, sophomore Kene Chukwuka, and four more freshmen -- Marcus Carr, Khameron Davis, Terrell Brown and Shamiel Stevenson."
Last week, the school fired head coach Kevin Stallings after going 8-24 this season, which included an 0-19 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Stallings went just 24-41 in two season at Pitt after replacing Jamie Dixon in March 2016. Dixon left to take the head coaching job at his alma mater, Texas Christian University. The Panthers were a perennial NCAA Tournament team under Dixon but Stallings struggled from the outset.
Pitt finished 16-17 in his first season despite having senior stars Michael Young and Jamel Artis. Stallings restocked the roster heading into the season, bringing in 11 new players. Whatever thin margin for error the Panthers had vanished when senior forward Ryan Luther was lost for the year with a foot injury in December. Without the most experience player, Pitt simply couldn't keep up in arguably the nation's toughest conference.