Forward Shamiel Stevenson intends to transfer from Pitt at the semester break, the team announced on Monday.
Stevenson, a 6-foot-6 Canadian sophomore, saw his playing time decrease dramatically this season after a promising start to his Pitt career in 2017-18.
Last season, he averaged 8.5 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game while playing in an average of 23.8 minutes per game and starting 13 contests. Stevenson was most effective in Kevin Stallings’ half-court offense that saw extensive use of offensive sets that allowed the undersized but athletic forward use his ability to create mismatches in the paint.
This season, Stevenson saw action in just four of Pitt’s first 11 games, averaging eight minutes and 3.8 points per game. In particular, Pitt’s emphasis on playing an up-tempo, transition-transition-based offense with four guards, one power forward and no small forwards seemed to leave Stevenson without a role on the team.
“We support Shamiel’s decision to continue his academic and athletic career elsewhere,” head coach Jeff Capel said in a statement. “We appreciate his efforts with the Pitt Basketball program and wish him well.”
Stevenson is the second player to announce his intention to transfer from Pitt at the semester break, joining fellow sophomore Peace Ilegomah. Stevenson had been a popular choice as a player that might see more minutes after the transfer of Ilegomah, but that will obviously not come to pass.
Three other players: forward Ryan Luther, point Marcus Carr and shooting guard Parker Stewart, transferred from Pitt in the offseason. Of the Panthers’ seven-player freshman class from 2017, only three remain: forwards Terrell Brown and Samson George and guard Khameron Davis.
Pitt started the season with one open scholarship, and the departures of Ilegomah and Stevenson have left the Panthers with just 10 scholarship players. They’re especially thin at forward, where only 6-foot-9 starter Kene Chukwuka, 6-foot-10 Brown and 6-foot-7 George are the only players on the roster taller than 6-foot-6.
George has been the least-used scholarship player on the Panthers’ bench, playing just six minutes this season — three of them coming in Saturday’s rout of Maryland-Eastern Shore.
