Pitt loses Horton to the transfer portal

Pitt lost its fifth player to the transfer portal on Wednesday morning, and it was the biggest departure yet.

Guard Ithiel Horton is leaving the Panthers as a grad transfer after spending the last three seasons in Pittsburgh. He previously transferred to Pitt following his freshman season at Delaware.

Horton sat out the 2019-20 season due to transfer ineligibility rules, but when he joined the team on the court in the fall of 2020, he provided deep shooting, leading the roster with 43 made three-pointers and shooting 37.1% from beyond the arc.

He was expected to be a key piece for Pitt this season, but those plans changed when Horton was arrested on Nov. 6 for a number of charges related to an incident with a tow truck drive and a City of Pittsburgh police officer.

The arrest, which came three days before Pitt’s season opener, led to an indefinite suspension that held Horton out of the Panthers’ first 16 games. He was reinstated for the Jan. 15 home game against Louisville after the charges against him were dropped, and scored 13 points in the 65-53 win. But the charges were reinstated shortly thereafter, and he missed the next three games.

Horton returned for good to join Pitt on its road trip to Boston College at the end January. All told, he played in 13 games and started eight. He averaged 9.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 36.1% from the floor and 37.9% from three.

Horton is the fifth Pitt player to enter the transfer portal since the end of the season. Guard Onyebuchi Ezeakudo and forwards Noah Collier, Chris Payton and Dan Oladapo have also left the Panthers.