Pitt landed a surprise commitment on the basketball front on Friday afternoon as transfer guard Michael Hueitt Jr. committed to the program. George Michalowski of Pittsburgh Sports Now was first to report.

Hueitt Jr. has one year of eligibility remaining and will be with the team this upcoming season. He checks in as a 6’3” guard and will provide depth for this upcoming season.

This all came together rather quickly for both sides. The University of Pittsburgh removed redshirt freshman guard Dior Johnson from the school last week, which left Pitt with some additional roster space just days before the fall semester started.

“Basically I got my NCAA waiver last Thursday and then this past week on Monday Coach (Milan) Brown reached out to me and reconnected,” Hueitt Jr. told Panther-Lair.com. “He recruited me at the College of Charleston. I went in for a visit yesterday and then today I committed.”

Hueitt Jr. last played Division-1 basketball in the 2019-20 season for UNC-Greensboro. He was on the roster for McNeese State but never saw action, and most recently played at the Division-2 level.

A car accident derailed his collegiate carer, but he is hoping to revive it with the Panthers for one final season. In his last Division-1 season with Spartans, Hueitt helped his team to a 23-win campaign. He averaged 5.8 points and connected on 36% from three-point range.

Hueitt said he has spent the past couple of years rehabbing and working out and when the NCAA granted him an extra year of eligibility late last week, Pitt reached out to try to make a connection and it happened in a matter of days.

“I’ve been working out and the coaches already knew my game from UNCG, so they just wanted me to come up and get a feel for me on a visit, so I came on an official, they just wanted to see me, and that was pretty much it,” Hueitt explained of the rushed recruiting process.

He said on his visit, he was able to meet the current team. Hueitt saw a good group of players who spoke highly of the program and coaching staff, which helped shape his decision.

“I think I’m going to fit in really well,” he explained. "They have some good guards right now and a good nucleus in general. Really just coming into an environment where Coach Capel let us be us and really tries to benefit all the players and make everybody buy in as a family.”

The selling point for the North Carolina native was simple: he wanted to play for Jeff Capel and in a league he grew up watching.

“Coach Capel and also my relationship with Coach Brown, as well as the city of Pittsburgh and really Pitt in general,” he said his reasons for choosing the Panthers. “Being able to be in the ACC and also getting the mentorship from all the coaches is what really attracted me to go there.”