Women’s Basketball Signs Transfer Forward Ioanna Chatzileonti
8/17/2023 3:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh women's basketball team bolstered their front court with the signing of transfer forward Ioanna Chatzileonti, as announced by head coach Tory Verdi Thursday afternoon. She will have two years of eligibility remaining for Pitt.
"I am very excited to announce the addition of another experienced post player," stated Verdi. "Ioanna will give us more depth in the front court while her knowledge of the game and experience will help us immediately."
Chatzileonti, a 6-foot-4 post presence, spent her first three seasons at Kansas where she averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds on 45% shooting during her time as a Jayhawk. Last season, she appeared in 11 games this past season (with five starts), posting averages of 7.1 points and 5.9 rebounds before missing the latter half of the season with an injury.
Her best collegiate season came in 2021-22 as she started of 27 of 29 games while averaging a career-high 9.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists. She capped her sophomore campaign shooting 46% from the floor while chipping in with 26 blocks and 17 steals.
In the summer of 2022, Chatzileonti competed for Greece at the FIBA U20 European Championships, helping her country to a fifth-place finish. She led the way for the Greek squad as she ranked third in the tournament in scoring (18.3 ppg) while also pulling down 9.9 rebounds across the seven games. She also finished off her tournament showing with four double-doubles to lead the squad.
As a freshman, she earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team after averaging 8.1 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting 46% from the floor and notching a career-high 34 blocked shots. She also earned back-to-back Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Week honors during her impressive first season.
The Athens, Greece native was a four-star recruit in the 2020 recruiting class. Prior to arriving in Kansas, Chatzileonti helped the Greek national team to a FIBA silver medal in 2019.
Chatzileonti becomes the fourth transfer to sign with the Panthers for the upcoming 2023-24 campaign joining Bella Perkins, Jala Jordan and Rapuluchi Ayodele.
