Pitt Basketball
Banged-Up Panthers Suffer another Loss
PITTSBURGH — Pitt’s blowout loss to Clemson took an even worse turn on Wednesday, when senior forward Eric Hamilton suffered an ankle injury in the final minutes of the game.
Hamilton went up for a slam dunk with 1:05 remaining in the Panthers’ 72-52 loss to Clemson, and landed directly on the basketball, rolling his right ankle in the process.
After laying in the paint for a moment, Hamilton was helped off the floor by his teammates, but was unable to put any weight on his right foot.
Pitt head coach Jeff Capel did not have an update on Hamilton’s status after the game.
Hamilton, a 6-foot-9 forward, is in his first season at Pitt after joining the Panthers as a graduate transfer from UNC Greensboro.
In his first 24 games this season, Hamilton averaged 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while playing an averaged of 16.3 minutes, second-most amongst Pitt’s forwards.
Without Hamilton available, Terrell Brown and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly closed out the loss to the Tigers. Brown has started Pitt’s last two games and leads the team in minutes as a post player.
Coulibaly, a freshman from Mali, has played more recently after coming on slowly to start his Pitt career.
Besides Brown and Coulibaly, little-used junior Samson George is the only other forward to play for Pitt this season, meaning that the already-thin Panthers depth could be lessened quickly with an extended absence for Hamilton.
Pitt did get some good injury news on Thursday, as junior guard Ryan Murphy returned to the lineup after missing three games with a concussion. Murphy played 16 minutes but did not attempt a shot.
The Panthers are also playing without senior forward Kene Chukwuka, who has not suited up all season while recovering from offseason hip surgery, and sophomore guard Onye Ezeakudo, who sprained his ankle against Notre Dame on Feb. 5.
Banged up? Only you would make excuses for this inept, poorly coached team. Our 2 “star” guards are fully healthy and combined for 2-20 from the field. This loss was embarrassing. Hopefully Capel’s recruiting can overcome his coaching and player development.
Remember how void of talent this team was just a year or two ago. I don’t like hearing it either but you don’t go from the talent we had to competing for the ACC in 1 or 2 years. We had D3 talent 2 years ago. We are doing well with what we have. Capel is recruiting some big time talent. If they are here and we are failing, then complain. I think we are doing better than anyone thought we would this year.
Of their 11 scholarship players, one has not played at all, one missed the last three games and another got hurt last night. They’re also missing their best walk-on. If that isn’t banged up, what the hell is?
Wow harsh words from a former Panther that played when Pitt was not in a rebuild mode and was surrounded by better talent.