Former Pitt football star Damar Hamlin shares deep connections with Pitt basketball

While Pitt and Clemson played on the court, a special connection between Damar Hamlin and the Panthers basketball team was highlighted by the ESPN broadcast team. Hamlin played AAU basketball with current Pitt point guard Nelly Cummings, on a team that practiced in the same gym that the Panthers play their games in.

Damar Hamlin tied to Pitt basketball

Midway through the first half of Saturday’s game, the cameras caught a shot of Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi sitting in the stands of the game that led to a quick tangent about the story of Hamlin’s cardiac arrest over the previous week.

With Hamlin continuing his recovery in a positive direction, the broadcast shared a pre-game conversation they had with Curtis Aiken Sr. — a former three-year starter for the Panthers and long-time radio analyst for the program.

“As a matter of fact, [Hamlin] was an AAU teammate of Pitt point guard Nelly Cummings,” explained the broadcast team. “They played in this building for Curtis Aiken, they had practice here and then played games elsewhere. He coached a team… including Nelly Cummings and Damar Hamlin. Curtis was telling me before the game that Damar Hamlin was good enough to play Division I college basketball. Maybe not at the ACC level but he was that kind of hoopster as well as being one of the top football recruits in the country.”

The love for Hamlin at Pitt was extremely obvious all throughout the game in the stands as well, with countless fans wearing Pitt shirts with a heart around the number three — Hamlin’s number on the Buffalo Bills. Also before the game, fans were able to walk up to a large banner hung above the lower section of the stands and sign their names or provide well-wishes over the sign bearing the words “Pray For Damar.”