Pitt Secures Commitment from UNC Transfer Jonathan Powell
Pitt men’s basketball has begun the rebuild of its roster for the 2026-27 season.
It started early Saturday afternoon with a commitment from BYU transfer Dominique Diomande, and now the Panthers have added a commitment from North Carolina guard Jonathan Powell, On3 and Pittsburgh Sports Now has learned.
Powell — a 6-foot-6 rising junior from Centerville, Ohio — makes the pledge while on an official visit at Pitt that runs through Sunday.
Powell spent his sophomore season last year at UNC after starting his career at West Virginia. He appeared in all 33 games for the Tar Heels this season averaging 16.4 minutes per game. He scored 4.8 points and averaged 2.4 rebounds per game. Powell shot 38.1 percent from the floor and 36.5 percent from deep this season.
In his lone season at WVU, Powell started 23 games, averaged 8.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game. He sank 64 3-pointers on the year and had the lowest turnover percentage in the Big 12.
Powell was a four-star recruit coming out of Centerville High School, where he scored 19.7 points per game as a senior. He scored 17 points in the state championship game that season.
The Panthers have kicked off its portal haul by adding some lengthy wings to the roster with Powell at 6-foot-6 and Diomande, a rising redshirt sophomore, at 6-foot-7.
Pitt has four players that currently remain on the roster with guard Macari Moore, wing Henry Lau, walk-on Benjamin Mayhew and walk-on Jajuan Nelson. The Panthers have seven more roster spots to fill out the 15-player limit.
Follow along with all of Pitt men’s basketball’s roster movement here.
