After six players left the Panthers through the transfer portal, and with four graduating, head coach Jeff Capel and staff have been tasked with rebuilding nearly the entire roster. After securing their seventh transfer commitment Tuesday, the early results are encouraging, with 247Sports ranking the Panthers' transfer commits the fifth best in the nation, behind Louisville, Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana.
Tuesday brought Mercer grad transfer, 6-foot-10 Canadian center Armani Mighty. He average 13.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game last season for the Bears, and led the Southern Conference in shooting percentage (.645) and blocks per game (1.7).
Mighty joins Dominic Diomande of France (BYU), a redshirt-freshman 6-7 strong forward, and 6-3 combo guard Colin Hawkins (Gardner-Webb), a junior, who is a tough defender. He averaged 8.2 points last season in 27.3 minutes per game.
Among the other transfers, there are three four-star players, led by senior 6-9 power forward Baye Ndongo (Georgia Tech). Ndongo averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in 2024-25, and was close last season, with 11.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game.
6-3 sophomore point-guard Naithan George (Syracuse) and sophomore 6-5 shooting-guard Jalil Bethea (Alabama) are the other 4-stars. Bethea was a five-star recruit out of high school but played limited minutes his freshman season under head coach Nate Oats. George was a workhorse for the Orangemen, averaging 33 minutes a game before an injury cost him the second-half of the season. In 18 games, he averaged 11.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
The Panthers' other transfer commit is three-star sophomore, 6-6 point guard Jonathan Powell (UNC).
The transfers join two highly touted incoming freshmen, each from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.: 6-8 power forward Chase Foster, ranked as the 37th-best player in the 2026 class and seventh best at his position; 6-3 shooting guard Jermal Jones, ranked 17th-best at his position, 111th-best overall.
THE ASYLUM
Panthers nab seventh transfer
After six players left the Panthers through the transfer portal, and with four graduating, head coach Jeff Capel and staff have been tasked with rebuilding nearly the entire roster. After securing their seventh transfer commitment Tuesday, the early results are encouraging, with 247Sports ranking the Panthers' transfer commits the fifth best in the nation, behind Louisville, Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana.
Tuesday brought Mercer grad transfer, 6-foot-10 Canadian center Armani Mighty. He average 13.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game last season for the Bears, and led the Southern Conference in shooting percentage (.645) and blocks per game (1.7).
Mighty joins Dominic Diomande of France (BYU), a redshirt-freshman 6-7 strong forward, and 6-3 combo guard Colin Hawkins (Gardner-Webb), a junior, who is a tough defender. He averaged 8.2 points last season in 27.3 minutes per game.
Among the other transfers, there are three four-star players, led by senior 6-9 power forward Baye Ndongo (Georgia Tech). Ndongo averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in 2024-25, and was close last season, with 11.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game.
6-3 sophomore point-guard Naithan George (Syracuse) and sophomore 6-5 shooting-guard Jalil Bethea (Alabama) are the other 4-stars. Bethea was a five-star recruit out of high school but played limited minutes his freshman season under head coach Nate Oats. George was a workhorse for the Orangemen, averaging 33 minutes a game before an injury cost him the second-half of the season. In 18 games, he averaged 11.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
The Panthers' other transfer commit is three-star sophomore, 6-6 point guard Jonathan Powell (UNC).
The transfers join two highly touted incoming freshmen, each from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.: 6-8 power forward Chase Foster, ranked as the 37th-best player in the 2026 class and seventh best at his position; 6-3 shooting guard Jermal Jones, ranked 17th-best at his position, 111th-best overall.
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