Basketball Community Mourning Death of ‘Big Bub’ Carrington II, Father of Pitt Star

The Pitt basketball family is in mourning on Friday and thinking of former Pitt star Bub Carrington III and his family on the death of his father, Bub Carrington II.

“Big Bub” was a huge influence and presence in the personal and on-court development of his son along with being someone that was very influential in the lives of many young basketball players in the Baltimore area. Carrington was a longtime youth, high school and AAU coach.

Several players and those in the basketball community shared their memories of Carrington and support for his family after the news.

RIP Bub Carrington. Never a bad day talking w Bub. His positive energy was a light for so many people. What an amazing spirit. So glad he was able to see his son make it to the NBA. He was so proud. Awful news. I will miss that dude!!!

— Chris Mack (@CoachChrisMack) March 21, 2025

Carlton Carrington Sr., a staple of Baltimore basketball and father of Wizards first-round pick Bub Carrington, died last night.

Two of his former players turned pros shared tributes on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/6rv2TEzkH5

— Sam Cohn (@samdcohn) March 21, 2025

During the recruiting process of his son, the elder Carrington developed a strong relationship with Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, which played a role with Bub eventually signing with Pitt. His relationship with the Pitt basketball program began prior to his son signing, it actually began when  Carrington coached and had a small influence on former Pitt standout Jamel Artist signing with Pitt.

This was a huge year for Carrington as not only did he see his son get selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft but also to have him play for the hometown Washington Wizards was a dream come true. Bub is having an outstanding rookie season with the Wizards, averaging 9.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.

complete disbelief 😔 May the entire Baltimore basketball community, DC/Md ..all of the DMV 🏀 family find some comfort in the memory of our good brother Carlton Carrington, aka “Bub” ; lift up his son NBA rookie “Lil Bub” pray for him, let’s all hold him down through this 🙏🏾🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/dmK0IQHhmj

— 🇺🇸 (((RealClayDade))) 🇺🇸 (@ClayDade) March 21, 2025

A cause of death and funeral arrangements have not been publicly released. The Wizards are scheduled to host the Orlando Magic on Friday night at 7 p.m.