Shortly after the news of Rihards Vavers’ commitment, Memphis picked up another commitment out of the transfer portal with the addition of Brandin Cummings. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard spent the last two seasons at Pittsburgh, appearing in 50 games, and Evan Miya listed Cummings as a four-star transfer portal prospect.
Cummings signed with Pitt as a three-star combo guard in the class of 2024, and he chose the Panthers over offers from South Carolina, Maryland and Oregon. 247Sports ranked him as the No. 19 combo guard in the class and the No. 5 player in Pennsylvania.
As a freshman, Cummings averaged 6.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 31 games, but he saw a much larger role as a sophomore. The guard averaged 10 more minutes per game, and he averaged 12.5 points, 2.1 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 19 games before suffering a season-ending injury.
Cummings went from being an interesting piece off the bench to having a usage rate of 24.9 percent as a sophomore.
Cummings combined for 37 points in the first two games of the season as a starter, but he missed Pitt’s third game with an ankle injury before returning and playing 32 minutes in a road game against West Virginia. After struggling to return from the injury, Cummings was moved to the bench and only made one start in the next 10 games.
During that stretch, the guard recorded a career-high 34 points off the bench in a home game against Hofstra before being reinserted into the starting lineup against Villanova. Throughout the season, Cummings continued to struggle with injuries, and he played only 12 minutes against Clemson on January 31 before missing the rest of the season.
Jon Rothstein reported on February 19 that Cummings would miss the rest of the season due to ankle surgery, but he should be healthy by the start of the 2026-27 season.
Cummings shot 42.4 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from deep during his sophomore season, but he showed the ability to make open shots behind the arc. The guard doubled his three-point attempts per game from his freshman year to his sophomore year, and it’ll be interesting to see if the shooting improves with the Tigers. It should be noted that Cummings dealt with his ankle injury all season, and it’s unclear how much he was affected by the injury even when he was on the court.
Cummings played a significant role for Pitt last season, and he’ll look for an even bigger role with Memphis. The guard has shown that he can score at all three levels, and he’ll have an opportunity to thrive in Hardaway’s offensive system.
Cummings is the second player to commit from the transfer portal, and he becomes the sixth player committed to next season’s roster.