Pitt wing Justin Champagnie finished the 2020-21 season as the ACC’s leading rebounder, becoming the first Pitt player to lead the league in rebounds and finished just behind Duke’s Matthew Hurt as the conference’s second-leading scorer.
Champagnie had 211 rebounds for an 11.11 per game average to lead the conference, becoming the first Pitt player to lead the ACC in rebounding since the school joined the league in 2013.
He was the only ACC player to average more than 10 rebounds per game and the only player to average a double-double. He had 13 double-doubles in 19 games. Syracuse’s Quincy Guerrier finished second with 8.9 rebounds per game.
The last Pitt player to lead his conference in rebounds per game was DeJuan Blair, who averaged 12.34 to lead the Big East in 2008-09. Aaron Gray (2005-06) and Jerome Lane (1986-87, 1987-88) are the other two Pitt players to lead their conference in rebounds.
Pitt’s best rebounding season came in 1953-54, when Ed Pavlick averaged 13.7 rebounds per game. The Panthers competed as independent that season.
The scoring race between Champagnie and Hurt came down to the final game of the league season on Sunday. Champagnie finished with 18.4 points per game after scoring 13 in Pitt’s season finale against Clemson early Saturday afternoon.
Hurt, playing in the last game of the conference season against North Carolina, needed to get to 405 points on the season to finish ahead of Champagnie. He entered the game with 397 points and scored 14 in the Blue Devils’ loss to the Tar Heels to finish with 18.7 points per game.
Hurt’s league-leading total was the lowest for an ACC leading scorer since Clemson’s Terrell McIntyre averaged 17.9 points per game to lead the league in 1998-99. The last Pitt player to lead the league in scoring was Michael Young in 2016-17.
