Pitt Seniors Who Walked on Senior Night but Still Have Eligibility

Pitt celebrated Senior Night on Thursday, prior to the win over Boston College at Acrisure Stadium, to send the seniors out on top.

Prior to the game, the Panthers honored those seniors by having family on the field with them and receiving a flower, as they took the field for what should serve as their last time ever. The seniors and the rest of the Panthers came out and put on a dominant performance, with a great game from junior running back Rodney Hammond en route to a 24-16 win over the Eagles.

The NCAA awarded student-athletes with a COVID-19 year, for those who played on college teams during the 2020-21 academic calendar year, making it more difficult for fans to understand when a player still has collegiate eligibility remaining or not.

So, many people, understandably, become confused on Senior Night, when they don’t know if a player will return to the team or if they are graduating, due to their eligibility or lack thereof. Players with eligibility remaining can decide to walk during Senior Night and then return the following season if they so choose.

For Pitt, there are 12 seniors, 11 of them sixth-years that are out of eligibility and will not return next season

Pitt Football Seniors That Walked And Can’t Return for 2024

• QB Phil Jurkovec
• RB C’Bo Flemister
• OL Blake Zubovic and Jake Kradel
• TE Malcolm Epps
• DL Devin Danielson, Tyler Bentley and David Green
• LB Shayne Simon
• DB Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods

Woods is the only player in his fifth year on the team that doesn’t have any remaining eligibility left. This is because he didn’t redshirt when he arrived in 2019 and is using his COVID-19 year for 2023. All the linemen on both sides and Marquis Williams came as a part of the Class of 2018 and played roles in the 2021 ACC Title.

Pitt Football Players Who Walked and Have Eligibility Remaining

• WR Bub Means, Josh Junko (WO)
• CB M.J. Devonshire
• LB Brandon George
• OL Matt Goncalves

All five of these players are in their fifth-year and came as graduated from high school in 2019. They redshirted their first season in 2019 and have a year of eligibility remaining with the COVID-19 year.

Means started out with Tennessee as a defensive back, playing four games to preserve his redshirt. He then transferred to Louisiana Tech, transitioning to wide receiver and played there for two seasons before coming to Pitt prior to 2022. Means leads the Panthers with 636 receiving years, is first along with junior wide receiver Konata Mumpfield with five receiving touchdowns and is second with 35 receptions in 2023.

Devonshire, an Aliquippa alum, originally played for Kentucky for two seasons, before transferring to Pitt prior to 2021. He played a role in the ACC title later that season and Pitt football fans will always remember his pick-six against West Virginia in 2022 to restart the Backyard Brawl with an emphatic late victory, 38-31 at Acrisure Stadium.

Goncalves suffered an injury in the West Virginia game and head coach Pat Narduzzi officially ruled him out for the rest of the season. Since he only played in three games this year, Goncavles could receive a medical redshirt and play two more seasons. Reports of him looking to the NFL might mean he won’t return not just to Pitt next season, but college as whole and go to the pros.

George is fourth on Pitt with 48 tackles, 24 solo, and has an interception, a sack and 4.5 tackles for loss in 2023. He played in the ACC title game as well and has been at Pitt since 2019, along with Goncalves.

Pitt Players That Did Not Walk and Have Eligibility

• DL Nate Temple, Bam Brima, Deandre Jules and Dayon Hayes
• DB Buddy Mack II, Dante Caputo (WO)
• LB Bangally Kamara
• OL Jason Collier Jr. and Ryan Jacoby
• TE Karter Johnson
• RB Daniel Carter

All of these players still have one year left of eligibility. Hayes, Kamara and Mack came in 2020 and are the last recruiting class to have the COVID-19 year, giving them one more year in 2024 if they want to return, which looks like they will. The other players came in 2019, redshirted their freshman season and have one more season thanks to COVID-19.