Pitt Lands Oregon State Guard Damarco Minor
4/24/2025 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Pitt has signed veteran point guard Damarco Minor to its 2025 transfer class as officially announced Thursday afternoon. Minor averaged 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 83.5 percent (66-of-79) from the foul line in 33 games (32 starts) at Oregon State last season.
"Damarco is a throwback guard who plays with toughness and aggressiveness on both ends of the floor," said head coach Jeff Capel. "He has a strong feel for the game and competes at a high level every time he hits the floor. He strong on ball defender and rebounds extremely well at his size. Damarco will be a key piece of our backcourt with his play as well as his leadership."
Minor scored in double figures 16 times, with a pair of 20+ point games, in his one season at Oregon State. He had a pair of 10-assist games and posted five or more assists in a game 17 times.
The Chicago, Ill., native began his Division I career at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and has totaled 1,308 points, 620 rebounds, 361 assists, and 127 steals in his career. He is 446-of-1101 (.405) from the field and 312-of-362 (.862) from the foul line in 99 career games (98 starts).
In 2023-24, Minor earned NABC All-District and First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors after leading the team in scoring (15.5 ppg.), rebounds (8.5 rpg.), and assists (3.1 apg.). He led the team in scoring 12 times and in rebounds 17 times, while scoring 20 or more points in a game seven times. He also led the Cougars and ranked second in the OVC with 11 double-doubles. Minor became first player 6-0 or under since the early-1970s to average 8.5 rebounds or better in a season.
As a sophomore at SIUE, Minor averaged 14.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to garner OVC All-Newcomer team recognition. He scored in double figures 23 times with eight 20-point games and added four double-doubles on the season. Minor shot 87.6 percent from the foul line and knocked down an OVC record 47 consecutive free throws from Nov. 18, 2022 thru Jan. 12, 2023.
Minor began his college journey at South Suburban College where he led the team to a perfect 33-0 season, and the school's first NJCAA Division II National Championship. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game en route to garnering NJCAA Division II National Player of the Year and a First Team NJCAA Division II All-American accolades. He was also the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Two-Year College Player of the Year as well as the NJCAA Region 4 Player of the Year and NJCAA Region 4 Tournament Most Valuable Player.
Minor joins a Pitt transfer class that currently features former Iowa State starting center Dishon Jackson as well as talented rising sophomore guard Nojus Indrusaitis and 2025 First Team All-Sun Belt selection Barry Dunning, Jr. out of South Alabama.
The Panthers remain active in the transfer portal as they look to remake the roster with three scholarship returnees (Cameron Corhen, Brandin Cummings, and Amdy Ndiaye) from last year's team that was ranked as high as No. 18 in the AP Poll before struggling down the stretch to finish 17-15 overall and 8-12 in the ACC.
