(File Photo: Source for Photo: HERSHEY, PA – DECEMBER 21: Roman Siulepa #13 of the Pittsburgh Panthers takes a foul shot in the second half during the college basketball game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Giant Center on December 21, 2025 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Pitt’s men’s basketball team has struggled this season, but one bright spot on the team is freshman Roman Siulepa, who was born and raised in Australia. Siulepa is averaging 10 points and five rebounds per game. Siulepa was swayed away from another sport that is popular in the country “down under,” which was rugby, because Siulepa was a well–known rugby player when he was in high school in Australia. Lamar Patterson, a teammate on his semi-professional team in Australia that once played for Pitt, convinced Siulepa to come to Pitt. Pitt faces North Carolina in Chapel Hill tomorrow, and Siulepa is coming off a great game against another blue blood of college basketball after Pitt lost to Duke on Tuesday in Pittsburgh, as he had a team-high nineteen points, three assists, four rebounds, a block and a steal.