Pitt Basketball
Pitt’s Zack Austin Named Finalist for Defensive Player of the Year
On Thursday, collegeinsider.com announced the finalists for the Lefty Driesell award, given annually to the top defensive player in college basketball.
30 players were nominated as finalists for the award, including Pitt wing Zack Austin.
Austin recently made the ACC All-Defensive team, too. Austin averaged 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, along with 1.6 blocks. Austin led the ACC in blocks with 51 this season, his final year of college basketball. Austin began his career at High Point in the Big South, but transferred to Pitt before the 2023-24 season.
He had several highlight plays each game for the Panthers, especially on the defensive end. The high-flying Austin was one of the most explosive players in the nation over his collegiate career.
He also made headlines this year when he drained the game-winning three pointer against Ohio State in Pitt’s comeback victory in overtime in Columbus.
Austin hit 60+ threes in two separate college seasons with High Point.
As a freshman at High Point, he shot 32% from three, hitting 67 of 208. That year, he hit 24 of his 61 (39.3%) unguarded catch-and-shoot threes, and just 28 of his 116 guarded attempts (24.1%). As a sophomore, Austin was 62 of 186, a 33% mark. He was 20 for 48 (41.7%) on unguarded catch-and-shoot threes, and 34 for 102 (33.3%) on guarded attempts.
Then, in his first year at Pitt, Austin hit just 28 of 95 three-point attempts, a 29.5% mark from deep.
Austin has scored over 1,400 points in his collegiate career and has grabbed over 700 rebounds. He blocked over 230 shots in his career, too, with his career high coming with 69 as a freshman at High Point. Austin does not have any remaining eligibility.
