Pitt freshman guard Femi Odukale suffered a broken arm in mid-August after he was involved in a moped accident in Pittsburgh, and he has not had a timetable for his return to the floor.
That remains the case, but Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said on Wednesday as the team began full practices for the first time this season that Odukale has been cleared for non-contact workouts.
“He’s able to do non-contact practice,” Capel said. “So he’s able to do anything in practice without any contact. And as we continue to progress, there’s no definitive timetable for him yet, as far when he’ll be cleared for full contact. But everything else, you know, he’s been doing now for probably about a week, tomorrow will be a week, where he’s been doing things without contact.”
Odukale, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard from Brooklyn, New York, was expected to be a big part of Pitt’s backcourt, working in behind Xavier Johnson, Ithiel Horton and Nike Sibande as the Panthers revamped their guard group.
But Odukale’s injury and Sibande’s ongoing quest to get NCAA eligible might have put a damper on that progress.
Pitt needs to replace the minutes played by Trey McGowens, who transferred to Nebraska, and Ryan Murphy, who went to Tulane before turning pro, last season.
The Panthers do not yet have a season schedule, but the earliest they can begin the 2020-21 season is on Nov. 25, so that will give Odukale more than a month to continue his rehab and get into the rotation for the Panthers.
