Corhen: 'I felt like it’s a place I could really grow and develop'
The Pitt Panthers added an important piece to the puzzle for their 2024-25 roster on Monday morning. Cam Corhen, a 6-foot-10 forward in the transfer portal committed to the Pitt program. Corhen played his first two seasons at Florida State and will arrive in Pittsburgh with two more years of eligbility.
Over the weekend, Corhen took an official visit, his first opportunity to do so after hitting the portal and waiting out the dead period. All it took was one visit to find his next destination.
“I felt like it’s a place I could really grow and develop and that’s all we really talked about on my visit was just how they can develop me and how they can make me a better player,” Corhen told Panther-Lair.com after his decision.
As a sophomore, Corhen averaged 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. He scored a career-high 25 points against Pitt in a game back on March 5th, and competing against his new program back then, he saw what type of basketball Jeff Capel liked to play and it caught his attention.
“I know he makes his dudes play hard and I like that,” Corhen said of his new head coach. “There’s a great culture, all the dudes love each other. Everybody is pulling in the same direction and it’s just like a close-knit group.”
While on his official visit, that was something that really caught his eye. He has been through the recruiting process before and knows you don’t necessarily get to spend time with everyone on an official visit, but got to experience just that in Pittsburgh.
“I was with the whole team for pretty much the whole weekend,” Corhen said of what stood out the most about his visit. “Everybody loved each other and it just felt like a family”
Corhen should be walking into a pretty significant role for Pitt. The Panthers lost starting center Federiko Federiko to the transfer portal following this past season. Pitt can return Guillermo Diaz Graham, who has played major minutes splitting time with Federiko over the past two seasons. A pairing of Corhen and Diaz Graham would give the Panthers a more dangerous offensive duo inside.
It’s an opportunity he saw as well and played a major factor in his decision.
“I feel like I’ll fit in pretty well,” Corhen said of his role for next season. “I’m a versatile player and I couldn’t get to show everything I could do at Florida State in my second year and that’s a big part of why I like Pitt. I feel like I’ll fit in pretty well. I play hard and I’ll be a good teammate.”
He has high expectations for Pitt next season. The Panthers won 22 games and finished fourth in the league this past year and boast one of the best returning backcourts in the ACC in Ishmael Leggett and Jaland Lowe for next season, and still have the opportunity to add more talent with three more roster available to Capel.
“I feel like I can be one of the most improved players in the ACC just with the development of Coach Capel and we’re trying to win the ACC this next year,” Corhen said.