Peter Filipovity doesn’t plan on being a Black Bear next year.
The University of Maine’s 6-foot-7 senior forward was the team’s leading scorer (14.4 points per game) and rebounder (7.6 rpg) this season, and entered the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon, his agent Daniel Poneman announced.
Filipovity’s decision comes five days after being named to the America East’s all-conference second team, and just three days after UMaine’s crushing exit from the America East conference tournament.
The Hungarian will complete his undergraduate education at UMaine this May, and evidently plans on using his fifth year of eligibility elsewhere. Filipovity gained his fifth year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and due to NCAA rules changes does not have to sit out for a year after transferring.
The 22-year-old expressed his uncertainty about his future at UMaine on Senior Day on March 5. “I might go back to Europe, I might play here, I don’t know,” Filipovity said after scoring a game-high and career-high 27 points against No. 2 Massachusetts-Lowell.
Head coach Chris Markwood wasn’t totally surprised about Filipovity’s decision, and expressed his gratitude for the player’s coachability and work ethic during his time at UMaine.
“Nobody wants to lose the production Petey brings, but I’m a realist — I knew it was coming,” Markwood said. “I had a good, long conversation with him. He’s been very successful, has a bonus year, and wants to see what’s out there. I loved coaching him — we want to develop guys and help them have success.”
Filipovity came to UMaine from Utah State University Eastern prior to the 2021-22 season, and experienced year-over-year improvement during his time in Orono, culminating in his all-conference recognition this year.
Filipovity scored just 4.8 points on 12.1 minutes per game as a sophomore, and 9.2 points on 19.8 minutes per game as a junior. This season, Filipovity started all 32 games for the Black Bears, playing 27.1 minutes per game and shooting 56.2 percent from the field. He also tacked on 1.2 steals and 0.9 assists per game this year.
This story was updated to correct the number of days between UMaine’s playoff loss and Filipovity’s entering the transfer portal from four to three.