Jeff Capel announced on Thursday that Au’Diese Toney will join Xavier Johnson in departing the program. Johnson’s exit was announced on Wednesday, and Toney’s followed less than 24 hours later.
“We have come to the mutual agreement that Au’Diese [Toney] will be leaving the Pitt men’s basketball program effective immediately,” Capel said in a statement. “We appreciate his efforts the past three seasons in our program and wish him well as he looks to continue to grow on and off the court.”
The news of Toney’s departure, like Johnson’s, was unexpected. However, in Johnson’s case, there was pre-existing public tension between the player and coach, as Capel had benched Johnson over technical foul troubles and vented about the issue in a press conference.