Pitt Class of 2023 recruit Hannah Watson announced that she decommitted from Pitt and instead found a new school for her future.
Watson posted on her Instagram on Sunday that she will attend Toronto Metropolitan University and play basketball there for college.
The departure isn’t surprising, as many players have left following the dismissal of former head coach Lance White in early March.
Pitt fired White for poor performance after five seasons as at the helm. White accrued a record of 42-99, the worst five-year stretch of any head coach in Panthers history. Athletic Director Heather Lyke found the new Pitt head coach in Tory Verdi,who has led Eastern Michigan and UMass from the bottom to the top of their conferences as head coach of those programs.
Nine Pitt players entered the transfer portal soon after his departure and Watson decommitting makes it 10 overall.
Former guard Dayshanette Harris announced her transfer to Clemson on Sunday, while forwards in Amber Brown and Maliyah Johnson transferred to St. John’s and Houston, respectively, this offseason as well.
Watson hails from Oshawa, Ontario in Canada and plays basketball for Capital Courts Academy in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association. She also played basketball for the Durham City Chameleons and R.S. McLaughlin, both in Ontario.
For Capital Courts Academy, she played a big part in the team winning the OSBA Championship in 2021-2022, when they defeated King’s Christian Collegiate, 65-61 in the title game.
Mills-Watson also featured on Team Ontario U17 National Team this past summer at the U17 Women’s National Championships. She featured in four games, with notable performances in wins coming against Newfoundland, when she scored 13 points and grabbed three rebounds, and against Alberta, when she scored 12 points and got seven rebounds.
Watson leaving also means that North Allegheny star guard Jasmine Timmerson and fellow Canadian Post Player Lauren Rust are the only two members of the Pitt Class of 2023. There are also currently only four returning players to Pitt next year, making it just six players available.
The list below shows the players that have placed their name in the transfer portal and those that are staying for the next season.
Guard Avery Strickland is the only player who is still considering returning to Pitt out of the nine players that entered their name in the transfer portal.
Pitt Transfers/Decommits
Guard
Graduate Dayshanette Harris: one year (Clemson)
Graduate Emy Hayford: one year
Graduate Destiny Strother: one year
Senior Sandrine Clesca: two years
Senior Taisha Exanor: two years
Sophomore Avery “Ace” Strickland: three years
Forward
Graduate forward Amber Brown: one year (St. John’s)
Redshirt senior Cynthia Ezeja: two years
Junior Maliyah Johnson: two years (Houston)
First-year Hannah Watson: four years (Toronto Metropolitan)
2023-24 Pitt Roster + eligibility
Guards
Sophomore Marley Washenitz: three years
Sophomore Aislin Malcolm: three years
First-year Jasmine Timmerson: four years
Forward
Senior Gabby Hutcherson: two years
Senior Liatu King: two years
First-year Lauren Rust: four years
