Former Temple, Houston guard Damian Dunn commits to Pitt from transfer portal
Pitt coach Jeff Capel filled another hole on his roster — the second in two days — when he received a verbal commitment Tuesday from former Temple and Houston guard Damian Dunn.
Dunn could be a replacement at shooting guard for Bub Carrington, who has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft. Getting a commitment from Dunn only two weeks since Carrington’s announcement gives him ample time to get acclimated with returning guards Jaland Lowe and Ismael Leggett.
— Damian Dunn ???????? (@Dam1anKD) April 16, 2024
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson competed against Dunn for three seasons when Temple and the Cougars were in the American Athletic Conference. He knows Dunn as well as any coach in the nation.
In a video produced by Houston Athletics, Sampson said Dunn, who will turn 23 next month, is impressive “just the way he carried himself.”
“He’s a tough kid, but he’s a mature kid. Basketball is his life. There is a methoridcal way that he plays. He’s got an old man’s game and that’s a good thing. A lot of NBA guys have an old man’s game.”
In his final three seasons at Temple, Dunn (a 6-foot-5 graduate transfer) averaged double-figure scoring, improving every year from 13.5 points in 2020-2021 to 14.9 in 2021-2022 to 15.3 in 2022-2023, when he finished 11th in the AAC. He suffered a foot injury as a first-year freshman in 2019-2020 and missed most of that season.
He was second-team All-AAC after the 2021-22 season and third team the following year. Among the Philadelphia Big 5 schools — expanded to six last season when Drexel joined Temple, Villanova, La Salle, St. Joseph’s and Penn — Dunn was one of the informal grouping’s top guards. He was named to the All-Philadelphia Big 5 first team in 2021-22 and second team in 2020-21 when he was Big 5 Rookie of the Year and a member of the AAC’s All-Freshman team
Dunn, a Kinston, N.C., native, transferred to Houston before last season and assumed a reserve role, making only four starts. Yet he was one of only five Houston players who appeared in all 37 games, helping the Cougars (32-5, 15-3) win the Big 12 regular-season championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. In his first game for Houston, he scored 14 points in a row on his way to 18 against Louisiana Monroe.
He shared team scoring honors with teammate L.J. Cryer in the NCAA Tournament victory against Longwood, scoring 17 points off the bench. But his role diminished in the next two games, and he played only 14 minutes and scored two points in a 54-51 loss to Duke in the Sweet 16. Soon after that, he entered the transfer portal.
Capel has been busy since the end of the season, seeking to fill vacated roster spots left by Carrington, forward Blake Hinson and center Federiko Federiko. Hinson’s collegiate eligibility expired, and Federiko is in the transfer portal.
Pitt received a verbal commitment Monday from 6-10 center Cam Corhen, formerly of Florida State. Capel still has two available scholarships.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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