Get to Know Pitt’s New High Flyer Zack Austin

Pitt’s newcomers certainly have big shoes to fill after 60% of Pitt’s starting lineup graduated last year.

Incoming transfers Zack Austin, Ishmael Leggett, and Mike Hueitt all joined the Pitt program this offseason, following last year’s 24-12 finish with two NCAA Tournament victories. As the team is now officially practicing and is just over one month away from game one, Austin and co. are getting more acclimated on and off the court in the Steel City.

“I like it a lot,” Austin said on Tuesday. “Weather wise, it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be super cold up here all the time. I’m not ready for that. But it’s nice. The city, I’ve never been in a city like this with a lot of things to do.”

Austin’s athleticism is almost always the first thing that comes up in conversations about his skill set. Despite not dunking a basketball until his sophomore year of high-school, he has become one of the most explosive players at any level of college hoops, and proved it on Pitt’s foreign tour to Spain earlier this summer.

WATCH: Zack Austin Throws Down Pair of Huge Dunks in Pitt’s Exhibition

He will surely be a fan-favorite this season due to his electrifying playing style. The former High Point star said that in practice last year, he dunked over a 6-foot-9 teammate.

“I didn’t want to put him out there like that,” Austin said, laughing. “It’s all love though.”

But Austin is more than just a dunker. The 6-foot-7 wing has proven himself as a scorer — averaging 14+ points in each of the last two seasons at High Point. He also hit 60+ threes in each season, thriving out on the wing for the Panthers. On the defensive end, Austin has been a solid defender and an elite shot blocker throughout his collegiate career, blocking 60+ shots in both seasons at HPU. He credits his shot blocking ability to his NBA 2K video game experience. He plays MyCareer mode and claims he has four 99-overall-rated players on NBA 2k14.

“The way I play 2K, I want to do everything,” he added. “I leave my man, and I just try to make a play.”

Austin chose Pitt weeks after entering the portal. Just two days after taking an official visit to Pitt and touring the facilities with Jeff and Jason Capel, he committed to the Panthers.

“I’m big on family,” Austin said on Tuesday. “So just coming to a place, regardless of how far it is from home, just knowing I have people that have my back. Cape, he’s a North Carolina kid too, so he knows how it is. Just that, you know, playing time, playing situations, just having the ability to do something, to bring this community back basketball. I feel like that led to me coming here.”

Austin has been in Pittsburgh since May, and has been living the full Pitt athletics experience ever since. He has been to all but one Pitt volleyball contest so far, as well as a Pitt soccer game and the team’s football games, too.

“Why not watch winners win?” Austin said about the Volleyball squad. “They’re a top ten team in the country. It’s fun, it’s really fun to watch them play. It’s that simple.”