Trey McGowens enters transfer portal

Pitt sophomore guard Trey McGowens has entered the NCAA transfer portal according to multiple reports. McGowens averaged 11.5 points per game and started 32 of the team's 33 games this season. The sophomore averaged 3.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds a game as well.

McGowens has showed plenty of promise throughout his first two seasons at Pitt. As a freshman, he had two 30-point games that fueled upset wins over Florida State and Louisville respectively. The South Carolina native averaged 11.6 during that rookie campaign.

This past season, McGowens had a dazzling 24-point and 8-assist performance over North Carolina in January, and had some other big moments as well, but things started to turn for both the team and McGowens in February.

There had been previous speculation that McGowens could opt for a transfer given how the team finished the season. McGowens was held to under double-figure scoring during a seven game losing streak that defined the end of the season for this program. He rebounded to average 13 a game in Pitt's two ACC Tournament game, but the finish to the regular season left an impact in many ways.

Corey Evans of Rivals.com has already reported that Ole Miss and Georgia have reached out to McGowens. The former top-100 recruit will be one of the more heavily pursued players in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason as many schools will be in the running for McGowens.

The departure of McGowens marks the second Pitt player to transfer since the end of the season, as he joins Ryan Murphy in the portal. Pitt has also seen two scholarship players, Kene Chukwuka and Samson George graduate early as well. Pitt already has three recruits signed in the class of 2020 along with another recently committed in Femi Odukale. In addition to that, Ithiel Horton will be eligible to play next season after sitting out a season following his transfer from Delaware.

Pitt will have a new-look roster next season with all the incoming players and with at least two more scholarships to fill, but the departure of McGowens will sting a bit. He has started 64 out of possible 66 games in his career and has also displayed star potential, albeit without consistency.

McGowens was the first commitment for Jeff Capel upon his hiring in 2018. He is also the highest-rated recruit to sign with Pitt during Capel's tenure.