Onyebuchi Ezeakudo placed on scholarship by Pitt

Pitt guard Onyebuchi Ezeakudo has been a selfless contributor in a transitional year for the Panthers, and on Thursday, the walk-on from Fort Wayne, Indiana, received some good news, as he was placed on scholarship.

The program revealed the news to the public with a video of an excited Ezeakudo sharing the news with his mom during a phone call.

“This has been something that has been in the works for a while,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said in a statement. “It’s something that he’s earned. He shows up every day, and he’s all about Pitt. He’s thinking about how he can help Pitt, his teammates, and how he can help us be the best versions of ourselves.”

Ezeakudo joined the program in December 2018 and has served as a backup for the majority of his career since then. However, he made his first start last year, when Pitt played Clemson on March 6, and this year, with Pitt dealing with depth issues, Ezeakudo has made three starts. And in his first start of the 2021-22 season, he scored a career-high eight points against Virginia on Dec. 3.

The 6’1”, 200-pound guard has also appeared in a career-high 16 games and logged 16.9 minutes per game this season. And with Ezeakudo on scholarship for the remainder of the season, Pitt now has 13 scholarship players on its roster, which is the maximum.