Monday, September 30, 2019

Recruiting Notes - Monday, September 30th, 2019

This blog is dedicated to Pitt basketball and not Pitt football, so generally there won't be too much in the way of Pitt football coverage here. But if you watched the Pitt-Delaware game on Saturday like I did, all I can say is--a win is a win. Onto the next one. Now let's get to some basketball news:
  • Last week, as we mentioned in Friday's recruiting notes post, Pitt landed in five-star wing Josh Hall's top 12. Well, in that regard, it's been a very successful few days for Jeff Capel and Pitt, as they find themselves in the top 13 for another highly touted player:
  • That's right--Pitt makes the cut for Cliff Omoruyi's top 13 schools. Omoruyi is a four-star Center out of Roselle Catholic in New Jersey, and is currently ranked 54th in the Rivals150 prospect rankings for the 2020 men's basketball recruiting class.
    • Omoruyi is probably a name that Pitt fans remember, and they should, as he was on Pitt's campus for an unofficial visit exactly one month ago today. To date, he's taken three official visits (TCU, West Virginia, and Auburn), meaning he should have two remaining. With big names on his list of potential schools including Kentucky, Louisville, UConn, St. John's, and NC State, it will be interesting to see where Omoruyi elects to take his remaining official visits. 
    • I would be surprised if Pitt gets one of them, since he has already visited unofficially, and living in New Jersey, the trip to visit Pittsburgh costs less than the trip to visit some of the other schools on his list. Since the school covers the bill for an official visit but not for an unofficial visit, it would make sense for Omoruyi to save his officials for schools that are further away/have more expensive travel costs.
    • However, I wouldn't necessarily rule out Omoruyi taking another unofficial visit to Pitt, as he's already been to campus twice--once in April and once in August--and clearly has a good relationship with Capel and his staff. If Pitt can get him on campus again, that would be a great sign that Pitt has a real shot to land Omoruyi.
  • Another big piece of news on the mind of Pitt fans right now is Rivals150 frontcourt target John Hugley. Specifically, how did his official visit at Pitt go? Well, according to Hugley's social media accounts, it appeared to go pretty well:
  • Hugley is one of Capel's top targets and I'm sure that Capel would have loved to secure a commitment on the visit this weekend. Still, as you can see from the screenshots in Mike Wilson's tweet, a lot of Rivals experts have now declared their predictions for Hugley to ultimately commit to Pitt.
    • One thing to keep an eye on--Hugley has an upcoming visit scheduled for this weekend (Oct. 5-7) to Kansas State. Will he take that visit? Will he cancel? If he cancels the visit, I think that would be a very good sign for Pitt. 
  • The other official visitor this weekend for Pitt was 2020 Center Ebenezer Dowuona. I have not been able to find much about how Dowuona's visit went this weekend, but it was an official visit, so it probably went pretty well (schools tend to roll out the red carpet on officials).
  • With that said, I can't imagine that Pitt would take both Hugley and Dowuona, given the scholarship constraints of the 2020 recruiting class, which we discussed on Friday's podcast. 
    • If they were to take just one, there are a lot of interesting dynamics here. I think it's clear that Hugley has been a top target of Capel's for a very long time. Would they wait for his decision before accepting a commitment from Dowuona? Will they take whichever player commits first? Definitely a situation to keep an eye on.
  • Another top 2020 target for Pitt, Rivals150 guard RJ Davis, took an official visit to Marquette this weekend. It should be considered good news that he didn't commit to Marquette while he was on his visit, but his recruitment still appears to be very much in the air. He has another official visit to North Carolina scheduled for next weekend (Oct. 12-14).
  • Finally, a recruiting update that is related to Pitt in more than one way, as Bryce McGowens, a 2021 Pitt target and younger brother of guard Trey McGowens picks up a scholarship offer from another ACC program:
  • McGowens is currently ranked 51st in the Rivals150 for the class of 2021, and has received plenty of offers from ACC schools including Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Clemson, in addition to offers from South Carolina, St. John's, TCU, and Xavier. His recruitment should continue to blow up through his junior year.
That's all for today's recruiting notes, make sure to check back for more news, analysis, and podcasts throughout the week!
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Friday, September 27, 2019

Pitt Pod Episode 2 - Fall Practice Begins, and the Panthers Strike Early in the 2020 Recruiting Class

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Recruiting Notes - September 27, 2019

Happy Friday everyone! I'm sure I won't be the only one watching the Pitt-Delaware football game tomorrow afternoon, but until then, let's talk some Pitt hoops. Plenty to report from the recruiting trail:

  • For those of you who may not have yet heard, Jeff Capel and Pitt secured their first commitment of the 2020 class in Noah Collier, a 6'7" forward from Westtown, PA, currently ranked #148 in the Rivals150 rankings for the class of 2020.
  • This is an important get--not just because Collier represents the third Rivals150 commit of the Jeff Capel era at Pitt, but because of how and when the commit happened.
    • Unlike the 2019 class, which didn't see its first verbal commitment until February 2019 with the commitment of Rivals150 wing Gerald Drumgoole, Pitt is on the board early with Collier in September 2019.
    • That lifts a huge weight off of the coaching staff and fanbase, as many of us remember how the energy shifted around Pitt recruiting after several high-profile misses during the 2019 cycle. Scoring an early commitment will be big for Capel & Co.
  • Another important factor is Collier's excitement to recruit for Pitt. According to Stock Risers, Collier intends to recruit Rivals150 prospects RJ Davis, John Hugley, and Puff Johnson.
  • Speaking of Hugley, he's on his official visit to Pitt right now: 
  • Hugley also took an unofficial visit to Pitt last weekend. Visiting two weekends in a row surely can't be a bad thing for the Panthers. One thing to keep an eye on is that 2020 three-star Center Ebenezer Duowuna is also on his official visit to Pitt this weekend according to his Rivals page. 
    • Given that Pitt only has two open scholarships for 2020 at the moment, it is unlikely that Pitt would take both Hugley and Duowuna. Certainly there is a possibility that Capel pushes for a Hugley commitment by letting him know that the Panthers may need to explore other options sooner rather than later if they don't get a commitment from a big man. 
    • And who could blame Capel? After missing on several PF/C targets in a row last year, and with Eric Hamilton and Kene Chukwuka graduating after this season, it makes sense that they wouldn't want to leave their pursuit of a big man up to chance.
  • Pitt's top target RJ Davis is on an official visit to Marquette this weekend. 
  • Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski is a great recruiter, and it's widely thought that Pitt and Marquette are both in a strong position to land Davis. This will surely be a visit to keep in mind. Davis visited Pitt last weekend, and has a visit scheduled to North Carolina for the weekend of October 11.
  • In other news, five-star wing Josh Hall, currently ranked #25 in the Rivals150 released his top 12 today and Pitt is in it:
  • And if you didn't catch today's episode of the Pitt Pod, where we discuss recruiting and the beginning of fall practice, check it out: https://pittlead.podbean.com/e/pitt-pod-episode-2/
That's it for now, Pitt fans. We'll have more next week. Hail to Pitt!
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