Ithiel Horton has not played in a division one basketball game since March 11, 2019, when he scored 21 points in a 78-74 loss to Hofstra. Horton eventually put his name in the transfer portal following a successful freshman season for Delaware before eventually finding a home with Pitt, but due to NCAA rules he had to sit out all of last season.

Horton has been gearing up and is ready to turn himself loose in the ACC this year. The 6’3” guard is expected to have a huge role for the Pitt program this season, and he’s ready to check back into a game and start working towards his goals this season.

“It’s just been a long journey,” Horton told reporters after the first day of practice. “Sitting out last year, an entire year, it kind of felt like I was trapped. I wasn’t really going anywhere, I wasn’t really making headway towards my goals or anything like that. So it feels good to finally let the chains off and get out there and compete.”

Pitt has an open void left in its backcourt that Horton is expected to fill. Trey McGowens transferred after last season and that departure should allow for Horton to step right into a starting role this year. Horton averaged 13.2 points a game for Delaware as a freshman and knocked down 40.9% of his shots from 3-point land. The trait of being a scorer and an outside shooter makes him an ideal replacement for the departed McGowens.

Pitt struggled to shoot the ball as a team in 2019-20, and Horton should be an instant shot in the arm for an offense that needs more reliable scoring. Going up against him in practice last year, Pitt junior point guard Xavier Johnson recognizes what Horton can do for this team.

“He’s a really tough player to guard on defense,” Johnson said of Horton. “He’s very crafty, he can shoot the ball very well and that’s going to be one thing I’m going to be looking to kick the ball out to a lot because he can really knock the shot down, and consistently too.”

Horton’s shooting is going to be a much-needed boost to this team, but with a year of sitting out and watching, he feels he can bring so much more. Despite never playing a game for Pitt, he feels like he can be a leader to a team that is welcoming in five freshmen this season. That aspect of his game is something he has worked on very hard since he arrived in Oakland.

“I was a silent type of guy,” Horton said of himself. “I think I am still a silent type of player. I’m still learning how to come out of my shell and open up and speak and give my expertise, but I think last year definitely got the ball rolling for me to become a leader.”

Horton’s other big adjustment has been moving from the CAA to the ACC. The level of commitment was something he noted was a big difference and one he had to adjust to when he got to Pittsburgh.

“Coming from UD, which was a mid-major program, I had a certain level of commitment and dedication, but I realized when I got here I had to up it and I had to increase in ten times,” he said.

One of the big keys this season will be to see how Johnson and Horton mesh together in the backcourt. Johnson is a guard that likes to handle the ball and drive the lane, and over the past two seasons that clashed with McGowens, who had a similar style of game. Horton is expected to space the floor with his shooting prowess and the two should be able to feed off of one another this season. It is still going to take time to come together, but Horton sees some positives working with Johnson.

“We haven’t really played alongside of each other long enough to know, but I think that our games are going to compliment each other more than they contrast,” he said.