Pitt basketball notebook: Senior guard Jamarius Burton eligible right away

Coach Jeff Capel said Thursday that the NCAA has approved a transfer waiver for Pitt senior guard Jamarius Burton, who is transferring for the second time in his collegiate career. Because of his second transfer, Burton needed the waiver to be eligible this season.

Pitt is Burton’s third school in three seasons after he played at Wichita State in 2018-19 and 2019-20 and Texas Tech last season.

A 6-foot-4 guard, he averaged 4.3 points in 19 minutes per game at Texas Tech. In two seasons at Wichita State, he averaged 7.9 points and 3.4 assists and shot 38.1% (24 of 63) from the 3-point line in 2019-20.

The hope is Burton’s presence in the Pitt backcourt will help mitigate some of the production and experience lost over the past two seasons when Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens transferred.

“We want him and need him to be a really good player,” Capel said. “I think he has tremendous leadership qualities.

“He comes from two really outstanding programs that have won, have been in the postseason each year. Both of the programs embody toughness, togetherness and things like that, and, hopefully, those are the things, being an older guy, he can help instill here in our program.”

Back to normal

Capel is pleased that, with covid-19 restrictions loosening, he and his staff were able to resume face-to-face recruiting June 1. He said it’s important for Pitt because it gives prospects a chance to see the city.

“We are not a program with a lot of recent success,” he said. “One of the things I have found is that it’s really important to get kids on campus.

“Not a lot of people have been to Pittsburgh. I would say about 90% to 95% of the time, when we’ve been able to get kids on campus with their families, the thing we inevitably hear all the time is, ‘This place is not what we thought it would be. It’s so much better than we anticipated.’ ”

He also enjoys the return of off-campus recruiting.

“We’ve been pretty busy. It’s been awesome to go out and see these young people play,” Capel said. “It seems to be getting back to a little bit of normalcy.”

The entire Pitt team, with five new players on the roster, has returned to campus for summer school.

“I’m anxious to work with them. I’m anxious to get to know them,” he said. “I’m anxious to get to see who we are right now and try to anticipate who we can become by November.”

Keeping up with Champagnie

Capel said he speaks to Justin Champagnie “all the time,” as the former Pitt forward prepares for the NBA Draft on July 29.

“Justin will always be a part of our program, be a part of my life,” Capel said. “I love the dude, happy for him, excited for him.

“He’s shown himself well (in pre-draft workouts).”

Happy for Coach K

There was no surprise inside Capel’s office when word reached him that his former coach, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, is planning to retire after the upcoming season.

“In conversations with Coach, I could tell it was getting close. Just little comments he would make,” Capel said. “I’m happy for him. I told him he has earned the right to go out his way. I wish him nothing but the best, except for how many times we play them this year.”