A few weeks ago, Pitt got some unfortunate news in that starting guard Cameron Wright had surgery and would be out until December.

Now his potential replacement is gone, too.

Guard/Forward Durand Johnson will miss the entire season due to a suspension as announced by head coach Jamie Dixon on Friday. No reason was immediately given, so let the speculation fly. He will stay with the team and practice, but will not play in any games.

Johnson averaged 8.8 points per game last season before tearing his ACL.

The news comes shortly before the team's opening game against Niagara at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night. And like the news about Wright, DJ's suspension really helps take the wind out of the sails for the basketball season.

Johnson was, in part, expected to help fill the void left by Wright. The Panthers will now seemingly rely more on sophomores Chris Jones and Josh Newkirk.

Johnson's injury is significant as he was one of the few sparks off the bench last year up until his injury that forced him to miss much of the season. He'll now have not played in a regular season game for nearly two years by the time he gets back next year.