There is one hole to fill for Jeff Capel to have a completed roster for his 2023-'24 Pitt basketball roster.
Capel's frontcourt is loaded up and gained strength with the addition of four-star freshman Papa Kante, a former Michigan signee who signed with the Panthers in late May. Kante joins Zack Austin and fellow freshman Marlon Barnes as newcomers to the frontcourt, while transfer Ish Leggett joins freshmen Jaland Lowe and Carlton Carrington as newcomers to the backcourt.
But, for as much talent as there is within the backcourt, including the long-awaited debut of Dior Johnson, that is likely where Capel will fill in his final scholarship opening.
This issue lies in the numbers, however. We are 135 days away from the season, and the options are running thin.
Who is out there for the taking?
One major situation to monitor is what's happening down I-79 in Morgantown, W. Va., as a fallout to Bob Huggins' resignation from West Virginia is slowly starting to take action.
West Virginia point guard Kerr Kriisa and shooting guard Joe Toussaint are available through the portal. On3 has reported Pitt is one of many schools to have contacted Toussaint, who averaged 9.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game and shot 37% from the field and including 32% from 3-point range last season. He scored a team-high 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting with five assists in West Virginia's win over Pitt early in the campaign.
Pitt is not the only one in play for Toussaint, though. Per On3, California, DePaul, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Kansas State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, St. John's, Texas Tech, and Western Kentucky have all reached out to him.
Kriisa had interest from Memphis, Cincinnati, and Nebraska when he transferred away from Arizona and before he landed in Morgantown. West Virginia's returning leading scorer Tre Mitchell -- a Pittsburgh native -- has reportedly entered the portal and would be an immediate plug-and-play scorer for Pitt as a grad transfer, but he is a center, and Pitt doesn't need anything more to its frontcourt.
A report from Pittsburgh Sports Now on Saturday said Pitt has contacted Iowa State transfer guard Jeremiah Williams, who played two seasons at Temple and tore his Achilles after transferring to Iowa State. He had committed to Illinois this offseason but recently de-committed. The report said Williams has also heard from Arizona State, Wichita State, St. Bonaventure, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston State, and San Jose State over the past couple of days.
The most-recent Pitt target to enter -- and exit -- the transfer portal was UC Riverside guard Zyon Pullin, who entered the portal in mid-May and was contacted by Pitt throughout his process, but committed to Florida earlier this month.
The big swing and a miss came on Niagara guard Noah Thomasson, who was Pitt's priority target out of the portal and visited in early May, but committed to Georgia three days after that visit. Capel made an in-home visit with former Syracuse guard Joe Girard III before he committed to Clemson, and Austin and Leggett each committed within three days of visiting Pitt.
Rutgers' guard Paul Mulcahy had a Zoom call with Capel last Thursday, but he visited Washington this past week and has had interest from Michigan and Kentucky.
From now until the season tip-off Nov. 6, there can always be more stragglers to enter the portal and join late in the process, but Capel surely would want to shore up that last spot sooner, rather than later.
