Former Kansas Jayhawks basketball guard Bobby Pettiford will transfer to East Carolina
Kansas sophomore men’s basketball guard Bobby Pettiford has chosen East Carolina as his transfer destination.
Pettiford, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Durham, North Carolina, made the announcement Monday on Twitter. He had entered his name in the transfer portal on March 22.
“Rebirth, ECU let’s do it,” Pettiford wrote Monday in a social-media post.
Pettiford on Sunday had narrowed his list to East Carolina, Georgetown and Florida State.
Pettiford averaged 12.1 minutes a game while playing in 32 of the Jayhawks’ 36 contests this past season. He was bothered by injuries in both of his seasons in Lawrence, averaging 2.2 points a game with 43 assists to 36 turnovers during the just-completed 2022-23 season for 28-8 KU.
He hit 31 of 58 shots for 53.4% and was 3-of-10 from three-point range.
Pettiford arrived for summer school before his freshman season sidelined by three torn ligaments (he also had a severe bone bruise) in his left-ankle area. He had sustained the injury in mid May back home in North Carolina.
He played in just 14 games for KU in the 2021-22 season. He had a lingering abdominal injury that hampered him basically the entire campaign, until he had surgery late in the season to repair a core muscle in his pelvic area.
He was bothered by a hamstring injury at various junctures of his sophomore season.
Pettiford in 2020-21 averaged 19.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game for 12-4 South Granville High. As a junior, he earned all-state honors averaging 21.8 points, 7.4 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 2.9 steals in helping South Granville to a 30-1 record and the NCHSSAA Class 2A state semifinals. During his sophomore year he averaged 19.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals. He played for the CP3 AAU program.
Last week, former KU forward Cam Martin announced plans to transfer from KU to Boise State.
According to Jonathan Wagner of On3.com, “Pettiford joins an East Carolina team that finished 16-17 overall and 6-12 against AAC opponents in 2022-23. It was the first year under head coach Michael Schwartz, and the team took great strides and played well down the stretch.
“Pettiford will look to carve out a meaningful role for himself at East Carolina, and he will have an opportunity to do so. The Pirates return Jaden Walker, who started at point guard for the second half of the season, and Kalib LaCount, who played sparingly, but lost Javon Small to the portal.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2023 at 2:16 PM.
