Former Pitt Panther forward Wiliam Jeffress will miss the rest of the 2024-25 basketball season due to a knee injury suffered in his last game.
Jeffress underwent successful knee surgery on Wednesday.
Jeffress is a member of the Louisiana Tech basketball program in Conference USA. He transferred to LA Tech this past offseason after graduating from Pitt and playing for the Panthers in 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2023-24. He missed the 2022-23 season for Pitt due to a toe injury which required surgery at the time.
Jeffress had started three games for the Bulldogs so far this year, and was averaging 9.3 points and 7 rebounds per game for the team.
Jeffress arrived at Pitt in the class of 2020, reclassifying to join the Panthers after just three seasons at Erie McDowell. He was a consensus four-star coming out of high school, one of the top recruits in the state.
He appeared in 16 games as a true freshman in 2020-21, one of the youngest players in the NCAA, and he took a step forward during his sophomore season — starting 16 games. A foot injury heading into his junior season forced him to undergo surgery and miss the entire season.
Jeffress returned for his fourth season last season, playing in 31 games (two starts) and providing valuable defense in 10.8 minutes off the bench per game. He scored 49 points and grabbed 60 rebounds last season.
Jeffress finished his Pitt career averaging 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game over the course of three seasons. And while he never reached the peaks many expected prior to his arrival, he embodied what it meant to be a Pitt Panther under Jeff Capel and his coaching staff.
He penned a farewell to Pitt after entering the portal.
“I want to start by saying I am grateful for everyone’s support over the past four years,” Jeffress said in a statement released to his Twitter profile. “When I got to campus, I had two important goals: help the Pitt Men’s Basketball program grow and graduate with my degrees in hand.”
Jeffress continued, expressing his and his teammates’ perseverance through tough times in the program and talking about his achievements. He finished his statement thanking Jeff Capel, his staff, the Oakland Zoo, his family, and the medical, media and support staff members around the Pitt program.
Read Jeffress’ full statement here.
Sorry to hear about will, he plated a solid role for the Panthers
Yes, miss watching him play defense. Hate to see him lose his last season.