Shooting Guard Cashius McNeilly No Longer With Pitt Men’s Basketball Team

Some news out of left field concerning the Pitt men’s basketball program.

Former JUCO guard Cashius McNeilly, who signed with the Panthers back in June, is no longer with the Panthers basketball program.

Pittsburgh Sports Now has not yet heard a reason for this late departure.

The 6’4″ guard was hoping to add a shooter to Pitt’s backcourt, something they have sorely lacked the last couple of seasons.

At the time of his signing, head coach Jeff Capel had this to say about the addition of McNeilly.

“Cashius is a talented guard who brings competitiveness, shooting and play making abilities to our backcourt rotation,” said Capel. “He has the size, strength and skill set to play multiple positions on the perimeter and can impact a game on both ends of the floor. The start of his college career was slowed by an injury and the pandemic, so I know he is eager to get back out on the floor and compete. We look forward to him joining our program this summer.”

Despite being such a young player, McNeilly has had a lot of stops in his basketball career.

As a Top-150 4-star recruit coming out of high in Ontario, Canada, McNeilly started his college career at Texas A&M. He missed his first season with a football injury before opting to sit out the 2020-21 season due to concerns over COVID-19. He then decided to transfer to TCU before quickly moving to Northern Oklahoma (JUCO) last season, where he averaged 10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, while shooting 44% from three-point range.

Pitt now has one scholarship open for this year and this departure means that Pitt will have five opens scholarships to fill next year. Those five open scholarships don’t include the commitments of 3-star forward Marlon Barnes and 4-star shooting guard Carlton Carrington. If they sign their Letter of Intent with Pitt, that number will decrease to three.

Despite this news, Pitt still has plenty of options in the backcourt for this season with Dior Johnson, Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliot, Jamarius Burton and Nike Sibande.

No word yet on whether Pitt will look to add someone late or just carry that scholarship into next season.