Justin Champagnie wasn’t supposed to be dunking the ball. Not this soon, at least.

“Wait a second, man,” said Pittsburgh assistant coach Jason Capel. “The doctor hasn’t cleared you to do this stuff yet.”

Champagnie laughed. He dunked again. And again. The freshman was “dunking the hell out of the ball,” Capel remembered.

It was October 2019, Champagnie’s first day back on the court since injuring his knee playing pickup basketball a month earlier. The initial fear was a torn ACL. When it turned out to be just a sprain, Capel said Champagnie’s mindset was “Alright, get out of my way.”

Twenty-eight games into the season, Champagnie leads Pittsburgh (15-13, 6-11 Atlantic Coast) in scoring with 12.3 points per game game and rebounding (7.1 per game). After his offseason injury scare, he’s sixth in scoring and third in rebounding among ACC freshmen, and he’s doing it as a three-star recruit overlooked by his dream school: Syracuse.

“It feels good because, growing up, I was always told I could never make it to college basketball,” Champagnie said.

A native of Brooklyn, Champagnie, along with his identical twin, Julian, attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School and played AAU basketball for New Heights Youth, Inc. From his freshman to junior years, he improved from a “sub-par player” to a “hot commodity,” Rodney Frazier, Champagnie’s AAU coach said.

By his senior year, Champagnie was ranked No. 111 nationally and No. 3 in New York, according to 247sports. His college offers included Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Dayton, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Temple and VCU. Frazier said Champagnie was heartbroken that Syracuse didn’t offer him.

The Panthers’ coaching staff said they were intrigued by Champagnie’s athleticism, attitude, upside and toughness. “You can’t be soft in Brooklyn,” Capel said.

Despite originally planning to play with his brother, Julian, in college, Champagnie said he felt at home on his visit to Pittsburgh and wanted to change the program’s narrative around. In 2018, Jeff Capel — Capel’s brother — replaced Kevin Stallings as Pitt’s head coach. Pitt needed an “influx of talent” after going winless in the ACC, Jeff said.

Champagnie committed in March of his senior year, but his brother chose St. John’s. When he arrived at Pitt, Champagnie “proved himself” at the team’s summer exhibition tour of Italy, Capel said. Then, his knee injury came, setting him back before the season opener. But since then, he’s won two ACC freshman of the week awards.

“I think he’s gotten better since the beginning of the year,” said Jeff Capel. “He’s gotten better shooting the basketball, better understanding how to play different spots, the intensity — just all these things that are required to be good.”

In high school, Frazier always told Champagnie he can’t just be a scorer; he has to do all the marginal things that help the team win games — take charges and play smart team defense. Champagnie’s third in steals and second in blocks on the team this season.

“I just try to come out here and play my game, you know?” Champagnie said. “Just try to do what my team needs me to do, and sometimes I score the ball, and sometimes I rebound the ball.”

But Champagnie said he knows he still has much more to improve, and has experienced the typical freshman highs and lows. He scored one total point against Rutgers on Dec. 3 and Louisville on Dec. 6 but scored 50 combined points in back-to-back games against Notre Dame Georgia Tech in February. Through the occasional adversity, he remains “cool, calm and collected,” said Frazier, who speaks with Champagnie daily.

Capel said Champagnie still needs to commit to every possession. In his mind, it’s a matter of when, not if, Champagnie reaches his full potential.

“You look out there,” Capel said, “and, as a coach, you say ‘Justin, you have to be in a stance. Justin, you could have got this deflection. You should get this rebound.’ And then you look up, and he has 20 and 10.”

Published on February 26, 2020 at 1:42 am

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