For the second straight night, Pitt landed a commitment in the transfer portal, this time being former Texas Tech and Wichita State guard Jamarius Burton.
Pitt lands Jamarius Burton.
Previously at Texas Tech and Wichita State the year before.
Shortly after the late-night commitment, Pittsburgh Sports Now caught up with the newest Panther.
“I just felt like we had great conversations and their plan for me was clear,” Burton told PSN about why he chose Pitt. “We talked about how they plan on me fitting into their program and their system. And then just the relationship was great. They recruited me last year out of Wichita State, so we had great conversations back then. It just didn’t align then. But when they came knocking this time, I couldn’t turn it down.”
Burton has been in the transfer portal for just a week, and although he said he does not know much about Pitt’s program history, he already feels comfortable with the staff and is ready to go.
“They first reached out about a day or so after I put my name in the portal, and I put it in on last Monday,” Burton said. “I have talked to the whole staff, I met them [Monday] night on Zoom. I have talked to Capel a lot via text and on the Zoom call as well.”
The Panthers staff plans to use the Charlotte, North Carolina native alongside Femi Odukale at times, which would provide for a tremendous combination of size and skill at the position.
“I am excited,” Burton added. “I am just ready to go to work and learn from Coach Capel. He was a guard at Duke, you know, he has played at a high level. So, just being able to work and learn from him and the rest of his staff is exciting.”
In his lone season at Texas Tech, he played 19 minutes per game, averaging 4.3 points, 1.2 assists and 1.8 rebounds. Burton put up larger numbers the previous year at Wichita State, in which he scored 10.3 points, grabbed 3.5 rebounds, and dished out 3.4 assists per game to go along with a 38% mark from 3-point range.
“From a basketball standpoint, I am looking forward to developing and learning from Coach Capel, because he played my position at the highest level, so just learning from him,” Burton said when asked what his goals are at Pitt. “And then winning. That is the most important thing, winning, and I look forward to winning with them.”
We’re supposed to get excited over this 2x transfer bench player?