Justin Champagnie is leaving the Pitt Panthers basketball program after two seasons to enter the NBA draft.
Champagnie becomes the fourth Panthers starter from last season to exit the program and hopes to become the first Pitt player to be drafted since Lamar Patterson in 2014.
Champagnie averaged 18 points and 11.1 rebounds per game last season and was first-team All-ACC and an honorable mention AP All-American.
Still only 19 years old, Champagnie is just 6-feet-6 inches-tall and will have to play guard in the pros. He was viewed as a long-shot early entry candidate because of the amount of work he still needs on ball handling to make the transition to pro ball.
While Pitt loses a star player, the Panthers may have added a transfer yesterday, with a verbal commitment from Chris Payton, a 6-7 forward who averaged 12.5 points and 10 rebounds per game for Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. Payton is coach Jeff Capel’s fourth roster addition since last season ended.
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