Durand Johnson is leaving the Univeristy of Pittsburgh basketball team. Johnson was suspended for the entire year after averaging 8.8 points per game as a redshirt sophmore. Durand played in only 16 games in th 2013-14 season and his suspension was announced right before tip-off of the first game of this past season.
“It is time to move on,” Dixon said. “It is time to look for another guy to look for the opportunity to step up.” Durand was expected to be a major contributor this upcoming season. His outside shooting and ability is something the Panthers missed this season.
With Johnson’s departure Pitt has 2 open scholarships and another possible scholarship if Joseph Ochebu decides to call it a career. Is Durand’s departure a devestating blow? Not sure it rises to the level of devestating but it is a blow. From some accounts Durand was the best player on the court in Pitt practices this past year. Pitt lacks consistent scoring and Durand can definetly score the ball. I will without a rush to over react to wait to see who Dixon can land.
This is a pivitol stretch for Jamie Dixon and his Pitt program. He will need to land some quality recruits this summer to bolster the roster. If he fails to land quality players Pitt could find themselves falling behind in a talent rich ACC conference.