Pitt Forward to Undergo Second Surgery, Miss Remainder of Season
Pitt men’s basketball will go the remainder of the season without one of its key rotational forwards.
Redshirt sophomore center Papa Amadou Kante will undergo an arthroscopic right knee procedure and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, per a press release Friday morning.
The news comes as Pitt continues to deal with a thin frontcourt as center Dishon Jackson is still out indefinitely with a medical issue and sophomore Amdy Ndiaye no longer with the program.
“We’re disappointed for Papa to have this setback after working so hard to return to the court after missing the 2023-24 season with a knee injury,” head coach Jeff Capel said in the release. “He’s shown tremendous resilience throughout his time in our program and we know he will attack this process with the same determination.”
As Capel alluded to, Kante is set to miss a significant period for the second time of his collegiate career. He suffered a knee injury in 2023 and underwent surgery on September 22 of that season.
Kante had played in eight games for the Panthers this year before being sidelined with knee inflammation that has kept him out indefinitely up until this point.
In those eight games, Kante averaged 2.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He recorded double-digit rebounds against Youngstown State (10) and Bucknell (11). Last season, he appeared in 22 games with 2.1 points and 1.1 rebounds per game.
With Kante officially out, Pitt will continue to rely on veteran Cam Corhen to play a majority of the minutes at center with 7-foot freshman Kieran Mullen providing minutes off the bench.
Pitt is 7-7 and 0-1 in the ACC on the season and returns to action against Clemson (11-3, 1-0 ACC) Saturday at the Petersen Events Center.
