Champagnie goes undrafted; will sign two-way deal
Justin Champagnie will sign a two-way deal with the Toronto Raptors, Pitt announced early Friday morning.
Champagnie was not selected in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, leaving him as a free agent. The two-way deal with Toronto means he could play for both the Raptors and in the G League. Each NBA team can sign just two players to two-way contracts.
Champagnie left Pitt after a sophomore season that saw him average 18 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. His scoring average was No. 2 in the ACC, while he led the conference in rebounds, and he was named to the All-ACC first team.
No other Pitt player has made the all-conference first team since the Panthers joined the league in 2013.
The last Pitt player to average a double-double was DeJuan Blair in 2008-09, and the last Panther to average better than 18 points and 10 rebounds per game was Billy Knight in 1973-74. No other player in a major conference this season averaged a double-double, and only four players in the country averaged at least 18 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Champagnie also gained notoriety when he went for 20/20 in back-to-back games this past season, following a 20-point/20-rebound performance in a win at Northwestern with 24 points and 21 rebounds in a win over Garner-Webb. Only two other players in the last 25 years - Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin - have posted consecutive 20/20 games.
Despite his loaded stat sheet, Champagnie never climbed on draft boards. His outside shooting - he shot 31.1% from three this season and 26.2% as a freshman - was subpar for a player his size. Champagnie also suffered knee injuries in each of the first two years of his college career, which could have contributed to NBA teams skipping him in the draft.
As such, Champagnie will try to stick with the Raptor, or he could look for an opportunity to play in Europe.
Champagnie went drafted on Thursday night, but Pitt wasn’t the only ACC school to get shut out by NBA teams. The league had seven total players selected, representing five of the conference’s 15 schools. Florida State led the way with three selections - including the ACC’s top choice, No. 4 overall pick guard Scottie Barnes - while Duke, Virginia, North Carolina and Louisville had one each.
The last Pitt player to be selected in the NBA Draft was Lamar Patterson, who went to the Milwaukee Bucks with the 48th overall pick of the 2014 Draft. Pitt’s last first-round pick was Steven Adams, who went to the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 12 overall.