Jeffress hits the transfer portal

Pitt forward William Jeffress has announced his intentions to hit the transfer portal on Friday. Jeffress, a 6’7” junior, will have two years of eligibility remaining at his next stop. He now becomes the second player to hit the portal from Pitt following Federiko Federiko’s lead from Thursday. Jeffress was honored for Pitt’s senior day prior to the team’s regular season finale, suggesting a transfer was likely.

The Erie native averaged 1.6 points and 1.9 rebounds per game this past season. He appeared in 31 of the team’s 33 games this season, while recording two starts on the year. Over his four years at Pitt and three healthy seasons, Jeffress played in 78 games with the Panthers, while scoring a total of 192 points.

In the 2021-22 season, Jeffress enjoyed his most successful campaign, making 16 starts and posting 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He then missed the following season with an injury before returning to the rotation this year and helping the team to a second consecutive 20-win season.

The junior forward did not have a double-figure scoring effort this season, though he managed to record several big-time performances in different ways. He collected nine rebounds in the Panthers’ 80-64 win over West Virginia and then played instrumental defense in the team’s comeback win over Wake Forest on January 31st.

Jeffress was one of the highest-ranked recruits Pitt signed under Jeff Capel when he committed as a four-star prospect in the class of 2020, ranking No. 82 nationally according to Rivals.com. He starred for McDowell High School in Erie, and opted to reclassify and enroll at Pitt as a 17-year old. Jeffress became the youngest person to appear in an ACC game in over 30 years that season.

Following both transfers, Pitt now has three open roster spots to fill prior to next season. As of today, the Panthers are still set to return starters Zack Austin, Bub Carrington, and Jaland Lowe as well as ACC Sixth Man of the Year, Ishmael Leggett.