Pitt has netted its second commitment out of the transfer portal on Saturday evening. [Jonathan Powell](https://247sports.com/Player/Jonathan-Powell-46125403) posted to social media moments ago that he has committed to the Panthers.
Powell checks in as 6-foot-6 guard who spent this past season in the ACC at North Carolina. He appeared in all 33 games for the Tar Heels and averaged 16.3 minutes per game. He registered 4.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and shot 36.5% from three-point range with 38 makes from deep.
The newest Panther will come to Oakland with two years of eligibility. He began his career in Morgantown of all places and posted 8.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game for West Virginia in the 2024-25 campaign.
He has actually played against his new school twice in his career. Powell netted 16 points and made four 3-pointers against the Panthers at the start of the 2024-25 season in a loss to Pitt in the Backyard Brawl at Petersen Events Center. He added five points and two rebounds when North Carolina handled Pitt in Chapel Hill back in February.
Powell's biggest asset will be his outside shooting. In 65 career college games he has 102 three-pointers and will be given the volume to continue to be a threat for the Panthers. He scored 15 points on the strength of four made 3-pointers in a 89-82 win for North Carolina over Virginia Tech late in the regular season.
As a high school recruit in the class of 2024, Powell was graded as a three-star by 247Sports, but was a four-star according to the Composite rankings and was the No. 138 player in the class. He is a native of Centerville, Ohio and was named the 2024 Division I Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year. Powell averaged 19.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game as a senior.
Prior to committing to West Virginia, Powell was actually pledged to Xavier. He also held scholarship offers from the likes of Alabama, Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and more.
Powell is the second transfer portal pick up of the day for the Panthers, a program in need of adding several players this offseason. Earlier on Saturday, Pitt secured a commitment from BYU transfer Dominique Diomande, a 6-7 forward who will come to the program with three years of eligibility.
As of Saturday evening, the Panthers lost a total of six players to the transfer portal and four to graduation. Pitt has a pair of players from this past season who have yet to announce their intentions in freshmen guards Henry Lau and Macari Moore.
The team must reinvent its entire starting lineup as the program heads into the ninth season under the direction of head coach Jeff Capel and will look to continue those pursuits into the weekend. Pitt is expected to play host to transfer portal options Hudson Mayes (San Diego), Michael Cooper (Wright State) and A'Lahn Sumler (Charleston Southern) in the coming days as well.