Justin Champagnie earns ACC Freshman of the Week honors

Pitt wing Justin Champagnie was named the Freshman of the Week by the ACC on Monday afternoon after leading Pitt past Georgia Tech with the first 30-point game of his collegiate career on Saturday.

Monday marks the second time in three weeks the Brooklyn native has been recognized by the conference, as he was previously honored on Jan. 27, after coming up with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double; an assist on a game-winning shot by Ryan Murphy; and a game-sealing steal in Pitt’s 74-72 victory over Boston College on Jan. 22.

This time around, Champagnie put on the best performance of his Pitt career to date, as he helped the team overcome depth issues by shouldering a disproportionate load on offense and scoring 41 percent of the Panthers’ points in their 73-64 defeat of the Yellow Jackets. His performance marked the fourth time in program history that a freshman scored 30 or more points in a game. The other three 30-point games came from Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson in January 2019.

In addition to 30 points, the 6’6” wing came up with two steals, one block and nine rebounds, coming one board shy of what would have been his sixth double-double of the season. It would have also been his second straight, as he logged 20 points and 11 rebounds in Pitt’s 80-72 loss to Notre Dame last Wednesday.

With 24 games in the books, Champagnie ranks second on the team in scoring, as he is averaging 12.6 points per game. He has also become a consistent contributor in ACC play, as he has scored in double figures in eight out of 11 games since the turn of the new year, including five of his last six. And Champagnie’s rebounding has remained reliable, as he still leads the team with 7.3 per game.

Now, with seven games left on the regular-season schedule, Champagnie will look to extend his run of impressive play and potentially lead the Panthers to their first tournament berth under Jeff Capel.