After losing seven scholarship players to transfer since the end of the 2021-22 season, Jeff Capel and the Pitt men's basketball program have now landed their second player from the portal.
Blake Hinson, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Iowa State, has committed to the Panthers, he announced Monday on Instagram.
Hinson's decision came after a weekend visit to Pitt's campus.
View this post on Instagram
Pitt announced Tuesday that Hinson has signed with the program, making the move and his place on next season’s roster official.
“Blake is a talented forward who plays with a lot of confidence,” Capel said in a statement. “We like his competitiveness, ability to shoot the ball with range and his overall desire help impact winning. His skill set combined with his size and strength enable him to play multiple positions on the floor and present matchups problems on offense. We are excited to welcome him to our program and look forward to aiding in his continued development.”
Oakland will be the next stop in what has been an unusual, seldom straightforward college basketball journey for the Florida native.
A four-star prospect coming out of high school in 2018, Hinson began his college career at Mississippi, where he started 58 of 60 games in his two seasons at the school. As a sophomore in 2019-20, he averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
After that season, he transferred, leaving in part because of the Confederate flag appearing on Mississippi’s state flag. Days later, Mississippi governor Tate Reeves signed a bill to remove the symbol from the flag. During Hinson’s freshman season in Feb. 2019, several Mississippi players knelt during the national anthem before a game in protest of a Confederate rally being held that day near the arena.
"It was time to go and leave Ole Miss," Hinson told the Daytona Beach News-Journal at the time of his decision to transfer in June 2020. "I'm proud not to represent that flag anymore and to not be associated with anything representing the Confederacy."
Hinson ended up at Iowa State, where he missed the 2020-21 season with what the university described as an "ongoing medical condition" that was not COVID-19 related. Last October, weeks before the start of the regular season and following a coaching change earlier that year, Hinson entered the transfer portal.
“I met with all of our players individually Thursday to discuss their roles heading into the season,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said at the time in a statement released by the school. “On Friday, Blake informed me he was quitting the team. While it is disappointing, it is important to understand roles and I believe the rest of our team is ready for the upcoming season."
With the benefit of a super senior year, should he choose to use it, Hinson has two years of eligibility remaining.
He bolsters a group of Pitt forwards that is relatively thin following transfers and graduations. Given his past production at the college level, he should vie for minutes at the three or four spot, competing with the likes of Nike Sibande, William Jeffress and Nate Santos for playing time, given who is presently on the roster.
His career numbers aren't indicative of someone who will provide the Panthers with the kind of steady shooting they need -- in his last college season, he shot 39.6% overall and 31.9% from 3-point range -- but his size, versatility and experience should help a roster that wasn't even half full entering the day. Entering last season, Hinson was expected to be a rotation player on an Iowa State team that made a surprising run to the Sweet 16.
Hinson becomes the second transfer to join Pitt this offseason, joining guard Nelly Cummings, a Colgate transfer and Midland native who committed on April 1. The Panthers now have six open scholarships for next season.
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: April 18, 2022, 10:19 p.m.
