Pitt Freshman Sidelined Following Hand Surgery
Despite the recent wins on the recruiting trail, the Pittsburgh men’s basketball program has suffered a handful of losses to their current roster as more injuries pile up prior to the 2025-26 season.
This afternoon, Pitt basketball head coach Jeff Capel announced that the team has been without freshman forward Henry Lau since the start of official practices as he recovers from hand surgery.
“Henry [Lau] is hurt,” Capel said. “He had an injury to his hand, had surgery and he has been out. He has not practiced since we started official practice on the 22nd.”
Lau, a 19-year old international player from Sydney, Australia, committed to Pitt in early May and officially signed with the Panthers on May 16.
The 6-foot-7, 195-pound freshman was named as the Sydney High School Player of the Year after he averaged 28 points, 15 rebounds, six blocks and four assists per game during the 2023-24 season.
Following his breakout, the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL) signed Lau as a developmental player for the 2024-25 season.
Additionally, Lau played for New South Wales at the 2025 U20 Australian National Championships. He averaged 15.0 points, 1.4 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game, while shooting 52 percent from the field and 92 percent from the foul line.
Capel also announced that the Panthers have been without sophomore forward Amby Ndiaye for a period of time but hopes that he will be ready to go for the team’s exhibition against Providence on Oct. 19.
Lau and Ndiaye join Iowa State transfer forward Dishon Jackson as Panthers that are currently sidelined due to injuries.
Pitt announced that Jackson was out indefinitely due to a “medical situation” on Oct. 1 and provided no return date for the presumed starting center.
The three injuries at the forward position has left Pitt in a tough situation, with only 10 healthy scholarship players, as they gear up for the season.
“It’s been a little tougher with just 10 scholarship guys so we’ve had to make adjustments, but I have been pleased with how hard we’ve practiced and how much better we’ve gotten defensively,” Capel said. “We still have to continue to work to get better offensively, but their attitudes and their willingness to get better every day has been unbelievable.”
Despite the three injured forwards, Pitt has built depth at the position with players such as senior Cam Corhen, redshirt sophomore Papa Kante, transfer senior Barry Dunning Jr., Australian freshman phenom Roman Siulepa and freshman center Kieran Mullen.
While there is time to get some of their injured players back before the start of the season against Youngstown State on Nov. 3, the Panthers will be short handed when they host former Big East rival Providence for the team’s first exhibition on Sunday.
