Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Recruiting Notes - Wednesday, October 30th, 2019

   The Pitt' men's basketball team scrimmages against Slippery Rock University tonight at 7 p.m. at the Peterson Events Center, and tickets are free for those who may be interested in attending. For Pitt, tonight's matchup represents the team's final live-game action before the regular season begins at home against the Florida State Seminoles on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

   Tickets for next week's season opener are available through the Pitt Athletics site, and are going for as low as $35. Starting the season at home against a great conference opponent should create an exciting atmosphere! Before game time, however, there's plenty of recruiting news to report.

  • Of Jeff Capel's 2021 targets, few are as intriguing as shooting guard Bryce McGowens, the younger brother of current Panther Trey McGowens. McGowens, who is ranked no. 51 in the Rivals150, took a visit to Pitt this weekend:
    • As a prospect for the 2021 class, Bryce McGowens would have the opportunity to play with his older brother for one year if he were to commit to Pitt. That would be pretty cool, eh?
    • The younger McGowens has also recently visited Georgia and Clemson, and is hearing from other top schools including Xavier, Florida State, South Carolina, and Ole Miss. As his junior year continues, I expect that his recruitment will continue to blow up.
  • With Pitt having missed out on 2020 point guard RJ Davis, who committed to North Carolina last week, Capel and staff have turned their attention to another target: Rivals150 point guard Jalen Terry from Flint, Mich.
    • Terry, who is currently ranked as the no. 48 prospect in the Rivals150 for the 2020 class, de-committed from Michigan State University two weeks ago. Terry recently received a visit from Louisville head coach Chris Mack, and took an official visit to LSU this past weekend. 
    • It's not clear how long Pitt has been involved with Terry, or how much interest he might have in the program. LSU was his first official visit, and with four remaining, it will be interesting to see whether Pitt is in consideration for a campus visit.
  • Beyond Terry, Pitt has several other potential point guard targets remaining on their board including three-star prospect Shakeel Moore, who visited Pitt in September. Of note, Moore attends the same high school as another high-profile Pitt target--Josh Hall.
  • Hall, a five-star small forward, is finishing up his official visits and plans to commit in the very near future and sign during the upcoming early signing period. He recently visited NC State and DePaul, and Pitt may be able to land a visit before he commits:
    • While most of the experts are projecting that Hall will land at NC State, a great official visit can always change the calculus with recruits. Given the timeline for Hall's commitment, it would be huge for Capel to get Hall on campus. The opportunity to be Hall's final visit could be a huge advantage for Pitt, and we'll have to keep our eye on whether Pitt can line a visit up with the elite wing prospect.
  • Corey Evans has news on Earl Timberlake's upcoming commitment as well, suggesting that the five-star Timberlake could commit at any time. While Evans suggests that Pitt, Seton Hall, Providence, and Miami are all still in on him, he says that he'd still put his money on Miami to ultimately land Timberlake. With the early signing period looming in the next few weeks, expect Timberlake to commit sooner rather than later.
  • Craig Meyer from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an interesting interview with new Pitt guard Ryan Murphy, and among the interesting bits are his comments on why he chose Pitt. Murphy says that his relationship with the Capels, in addition to their reputation among other friends of his who have been recruited by them, drew him to ultimately commit to the Panthers.
    • Murphy specifically mentions asking his former AAU teammates Derryck Thornton and Chase Jeter about Capel, and highlights the positive things that they had to say about him as a coach and person. The impressive thing about that? Both Thornton and Jeter ultimately transferred away from Duke. Despite their decisions to leave Duke, Thornton (USC, Boston College) and Jeter (Arizona) still felt positively enough about Capel to sway Murphy toward Pitt.
    • Murphy's comments represent the perfect example of how important relationship-building is in college basketball recruiting. Sure, every college coach is a good recruiter, and they are all able to build positive relationships with the kids that they are recruiting. But to be able to maintain the kind of positive impressions widely throughout the game and on the AAU circuit can really be an asset for this coaching staff and for this Pitt program. Expect that to pay dividends in Pittsburgh the longer that Capel is at the helm.
  • Meta note: At the end of these posts, you'll start to see a link or two to some cool, new items on Fanatics. Since the Pitt Lead is new partner of Fanatics, they're supporting the blog and helping to provide some financial support for the work that I do here. I appreciate your readership and support! If you wind up purchasing anything from Fanatics, feel free to tag @PittLead on Twitter using the hashtag #BlueEra to let us know!
    • To that end, if you're looking for some new Pitt gear to celebrate the start of the college basketball season, Fanatics has some great stuff among their newest items, including an awesome Pitt script crewneck sweatshirt and replica basketball uniform shorts. 
    • Fanatics is also offering free U.S. shipping on orders over $34, and up to 65 percent off on NCAA apparel through Wednesday night for those looking for a good deal!
Well that's it for today's recruiting news. Happy hump day, and Hail to Pitt!
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Monday, October 14, 2019

Pitt Lands Commitment from Max Amadasun, Awaits John Hugley's Decision

   Pitt secured the verbal commitment of three-star center Max Amadasun for its 2020 recruiting class. The impressive recruit stands at 6 feet 10 inches tall, and has a 7 feet 1 inch wingspan.
   Amadasun, who took his official visit to Pitt the weekend of Oct. 11, gives Jeff Capel and Pitt some much needed depth in the frontcourt for the 2020 season and beyond. With senior forward Kene Chukwuka and graduate transfer Eric Hamilton set to finish their college basketball careers at the conclusion of the upcoming season, Amadasun will join Karim Coulibaly and Terrell Brown as the only returning bigs on Pitt's roster for the 2020-21 season.

   A native of Brooklyn, New York, Amadasun represents the second Pitt commit in the 2020 class to go along with Rivals150 forward Noah Collier. Amadasun and Collier represent a strong start to a 2020 class that has gotten off to a quick start. Pitt did not receive its first commitment for the 2019 class until Gerald Drumgoole committed on Feb. 11, 2019, just two months before national signing day.

   Amadasun chose Pitt over other Division-I basketball programs including from the University of Massachusetts, Old Dominion, Penn State, Rhode Island, and St. John's.

   Following today's commitment, Pitt ostensibly finds itself with just one more open scholarship for the 2020 class, while they continue to pursue several Rivals150 prospects, including guard RJ Davis, center Cliff Omoruyi, and wings Earl Timberlake and Josh Hall. 

   The number of open scholarships that Pitt has to offer may shrink yet again later this week with the potential commitment of forward/center John Hugley, who is set to announce his college decision on Friday, Oct. 18. 

   This does, however, open up some questions about Pitt's 2020 class. Does Amadasun's commitment make it less likely that Hugley will commit to Pitt?

   Well, not necessarily. Pitt has been targeting Hugley for nearly all of Capel's tenure at Pitt. He is clearly a take for Pitt, and I doubt that Pitt would take Amadasun over Hugley, with "over" being the operative word. I believe that Pitt always intended to take multiple big men in the 2020 class given the desire to build depth that Pitt has in the frontcourt moving forward.

   If there were any concern that Amadasun's commitment would deter Hugley from coming to Pitt, I suspect they would not have taken the commitment today with Hugley set to announce his own decision in just a few days. 

   Is it possible that Pitt took Amadasun's commitment because they believe that Hugley will be committing elsewhere on Friday?

   It is certainly possible, but unlikely. Hugley is considered to be a strong Pitt lean, with all of the experts predicting that Hugley will commit to Pitt later this week. Hugley's commitment to Pitt became all the more likely late last week with Hugley's other top suitor, NC State, taking a commitment from center Ebenezer Dowuona. 

   By my math, NC State now has just one open scholarship remaining, and having already taken two frontcourt players in the 2020 class, they may no longer have room for Hugley.

   This is all to say that I believe that if Hugley decides to commit to Pitt, Pitt will gladly take his commitment. Hugley, who is ranked at no. 94 in the Rivals150, would likely be expected to contribute to Pitt's rotation more quickly than Amadasun, who is less highly-touted and viewed as more of a project in the short-term.

   However, I do believe that a Hugley commitment on top of the Amadasun addition would preclude any further frontcourt additions for Pitt's 2020 class, including high-profile targets like Omoruyi.

   Pitt may have at least one more scholarship available for the 2020 class, with speculation that sophomore guard Xavier Johnson may declare for the NBA draft following the upcoming season. With that in mind, even if Hugley commits later this week and Pitt's open scholarship count for 2020 technically falls to zero, expect them to continue to pursue prospects like Davis, Timberlake, and Hall.

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Tuesday, October 8, 2019

News and Notes - Tuesday, October 8th, 2019

And just like that, we're now less than one month away from Pitt basketball's season opener! We'll be counting down the days, here at the Pitt Basketball Lead. Until then, there's plenty of Pitt basketball news to report:
  • The news of the day is that former Pitt basketball star Ronald Ramón is rejoining the Pitt basketball program in a new role, as Assistant Director of Operations, according to Pitt Athletics:
  • As head coach Jeff Capel noted in his press release on the addition of Ramón, it's important to have a guy involved who has a history with the program like Ramón does. And for many Pitt fans, it's great to have a guy back who elicits such great memories like this one:
  • According to Capel, Ramón's role will involve alumni relations, community service event planning, and coordination of recruiting visits. Especially as it pertains to recruiting visit coordination, it will be great to have recruits in contact with a former Pitt player who can attest to his experiences as a student athlete at Pitt. 
    • That goes not just for his experiences on the court, but also for his experiences with, say, Pitt's life skills program, which is a major distinguishing factor between Pitt athletics and the athletics programs at other schools.
  • The Pitt Basketball team just finished up with a busy weekend, as they headed out to Greensburg and Seven Springs to kick off this fall's training camp:
  • Pitt started off with a practice at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg branch campus, and then hit a high school gym for practice on Saturday on their way to Seven Springs for some team-bonding activities:
  • Speaking of those team-building activities, it looks like they had a good chance to have some fun both nights. The team went bowling on Friday night, and enjoyed an escape trail, a rock-paper-scissors tournament, and other fun team-building activities throughout the weekend:
  • I think this is great, personally. It's always a good thing to see the team create an opportunity to gel together before the season starts. And importantly, it seems like they're having fun together. That will come in handy once they start playing games.
    • Speaking of playing games, just a reminder that Pitt has a secret scrimmage in just 11 days, on Oct. 19, against the University of Maryland Terrapins.
  • Pitt's Blue & Gold Madness event, which will include both the men's and women's basketball teams, is also coming up this Friday, Oct. 11, at 7 PM at the Pete. Stay tuned! We're hoping to have more details to report on the event leading up to Friday for those who may be interested in attending.
  • Speaking of the Pitt women's basketball team, isn't it impossible not to like head coach Lance White? He just seems like a really fun guy, and he is bringing a lot of great energy to a team that badly needed it:
  • White, who was named the head coach of the Pitt women's basketball team in April 2018, led Pitt to an 11-20 overall record in the 2018-19 season, with a 2-14 ACC record--a nearly identical record as the 2017-18 season, in which Pitt finished 10-20 with a 2-14 ACC record.
  • Still, there's plenty of reason for optimism surrounding Pitt women's hoops. White seems to be an excellent recruiter, and just a few weeks ago landed a fantastic prospect in four-star Tracey Heuston, who is the 78th overall recruit in the country according to ESPN:
  • This year figures to be a fun year for both the men's and women's teams, and I'm really looking forward to watching both progress this season, starting with Blue & Gold Madness on Friday. 
That's it for today's news everyone, stay tuned for more content. Hail to Pitt!
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Thursday, October 3, 2019

Pitt Pod Episode 3 - Recruiting Updates, Early Signing Period, Upcoming Pitt Basketball Events

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Recruiting Notes - Thursday, October 3rd, 2019

Once we hit basketball season, I plan on ramping up my Throwback Thursday feature, where I highlight fun, important, or otherwise noteworthy moments in Pitt basketball history. I'm excited to share deeper dives on the moments that made us all fans. To that end, feel free to reach out to me with any of your favorite moments in Pitt basketball history so that I might be able to cover them. Onto the recruiting news of the day:

  • We start today's recruiting notes with five-star wing and Pitt target Earl Timberlake from DeMatha Catholic in Maryland. The news has started coming pretty quickly for Timberlake, beginning with a cancellation of an upcoming visit to a major program, courtesy of Corey Evans:
    • Obviously, any time a recruit cancels a visit to a program like North Carolina, that's going to be good news for the other schools involved. In this instance, as Hammett notes, the potential beneficiaries appear to be Pitt, Providence, Seton Hall, South Carolina, and Miami.
    • While Jim Hammett of Rivals suggests that Timberlake will visit Seton Hall this weekend, according to Adam Zagoria, Timberlake took his Seton Hall visit this past weekend. 
    • It would appear that Pitt finds itself in a top-five situation for Timberlake, given his decision not to visit two of the other top-seven (Alabama and North Carolina). Not a bad spot to be in for a five-star, top-25 overall recruit, eh?
  • But today's news regarding Timberlake didn't stop there: shortly after announcing the cancellation of his North Carolina visit, Timberlake also announced a commitment date:
    • Indeed just a couple of hours later, Timberlake announced that he'll pick his college basketball destination on Nov. 4 between a top-five that does include Jeff Capel's Pitt Panthers.
  • So does Pitt have a real shot with Timberlake? It's possible, but Timberlake's recruitment has been very hard to read up to this point. In fact, no Rivals experts have made predictions yet. On 247sports, it appears that both experts who have put in their Crystal Balls have guessed that Timberlake will pick Miami. That includes the pick of Jerry Meyer, who has been correct on 44 of his 48 predictions for the class of 2020. What's more? Both of those experts put their predictions in this morning, as this information was unfolding.
    • Of course, this does not mean that Pitt doesn't have a chance with Timberlake, even if Miami is the current favorite. Especially with one month to go before he commits, Capel and Pitt will have plenty of time to put the finishing touches on their recruitment of the talented wing.
    • To that end, we will keep an eye out for any contact between Capel and Timberlake, and keep Pitt fans in the loop to anything that we learn.
  • It has also been reported that Pitt will be receiving an official visit from another five-star wing: Josh Hall. 
    • That's pretty huge news for Pitt. Hall recently announced his top 12 schools and included Pitt, but to give Pitt one of his official visits should have fans feeling pretty good about where Pitt stands with Hall, since recruits are allowed to take only five official visits. 
    • Does that mean that Pitt will ultimately wind up in Hall's top five? Not necessarily, since he may wind up taking unofficial visits to some schools beyond the five official visits that he takes. 
    • Moreover, since he's planning to start his visits in November, don't look for a commitment any time soon: he'll miss the early signing period in November and won't sign until April, 2020.
  • Pittsburgh Sports Now has also provided an interesting update on top target RJ Davis. While North Carolina received a big commitment earlier this week from five-star point guard Caleb Love, Davis is still planning to take his upcoming official visit to North Carolina.
    • This would seem to indicate that Davis is still considering North Carolina, despite the fact that they recently took a more highly-ranked recruit at his position. 
    • Love's commitment surely can't help UNC in their pursuit of Davis, but you can never rule a school like North Carolina out until the player has committed.
    • According to the PSN article, Davis plans on committing before the early signing period in November, which means that he should be committing shortly after his UNC visit. Ostensibly, the finalists are Pitt, Marquette, Georgetown, and North Carolina, while Pitt and Marquette have long been rumored as the teams to bear.
  • Finally, Pittsburgh Sports Now dropped another potential bombshell this morning:
    • Typically, when Pittsburgh Sports Now tweets out paw prints, it's because they've received news of an expected commitment. So, who could they be referencing? It could be John Hugley, who has announced that he will commit on Oct. 18. It could be Davis, who is wrapping up his own commitment. 
    • Our guess is that it's Hugley, who took his official visit to Pitt last weekend, and an unofficial visit to Pitt two weekends ago. 
      • To that end, all five experts who have weighed in on Rivals are predicting that Hugley will commit to Pitt when he announces in two weeks.
  • As if that isn't enough news, Pitt will be visiting two more top prospects today, including 2020 prospect Cliff Omoruyi:
  • While there is still so much in flux for the 2020 class, head coach Jeff Capel will be visiting a 2021 four-star frontcourt player today in Rivals150 center Adama Sanogo. 
    • It just goes to show the lengths to which coaches need to go to build and maintain relationships with recruits. It would surely be easier to focus on the 2020 class with a few scholarships remaining open, but Capel's reputation as a strong relationship-builder precedes him, and building these relationships over an extended period of time will surely benefit Pitt in the long run.
    • We're already seeing this approach bear fruit with players like Hugley, Davis, and Hall--players that wouldn't have even looked in Pitt's direction two years ago before Capel's arrival.
Well, that's the recruiting news for the day, Pitt fans. Keep an eye out for more news throughout the day and week, as well as a new episode of the Pitt Pod to be dropped later today. And consider giving us a follow on Twitter @PittLead. Hail to Pitt!
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Recruiting Notes - Tuesday, October 1st, 2019

Just one day since our last recruiting notes post, and there's plenty to report on tonight. Onto the news:
  • Top Pitt frontcourt target John Hugley made a big announcement this morning, as he set a date and time for his commitment announcement:
  • Hugley's decision will come in 17 days, which is sure to leave Pitt fans in eager anticipation of the decision. However, there is good news, as Pittsburgh Sports Now is reporting that Pitt is one of the three schools that he's still considering--along with NC State, and Kansas State.
    • Pitt fans should keep their eye on whether Hugley takes his currently scheduled official visit to Kansas State this upcoming weekend (Oct. 5-7). If he doesn't go on the official visit, it's probably safe to say that the decision will come down to Pitt and NC State. If he does go, then it will be a long week and a half in limbo for the Pitt faithful awaiting Hugley's decision.
  • And for what it's worth, Rivals reporter Corey Evans stated today in his Twitter Tuesday article that he expects Hugley to commit to Pitt. 
  • At this point in time, it seems that Pitt fans should feel pretty good about Hugley's recruitment. However, with 17 days until Hugley commits, coaches from each school will have plenty of time to make their final pitches. While Pitt appears to be in the driver's seat for now, anything can happen. Stay tuned.
  • And in the world of recruiting news that is tangentially related to Pitt, five-star point guard Caleb Love will announce his decision college decision tonight at 8 PM: 
  • Love, currently ranked 21st in the Rivals150, is picking between North Carolina and Missouri. It's expected that he'll pick North Carolina.
  • How this relates to Pitt, of course, is that Pitt's other top target on the recruiting board, point guard RJ Davis, has an upcoming visit scheduled with North Carolina for next weekend (Oct. 12-14). 
  • If Love commits to North Carolina, is it possible that UNC's recruitment of Davis will end? Will he cancel his visit and decide to commit to one of Marquette or Pitt? We will have to keep our eye on the situation as it develops, starting tonight at 8 PM when Love commits.
  • One final bit of recruiting news today regarding 2021 Pitt target Bryce McGowens, whose recruitment continues to blow up:
  • Michigan has reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in five of the past six seasons, buoyed by National Championship appearances in 2013 and 2018. Naturally, McGowens getting major attention from one of the best programs in the country is huge news. We'll see if that turns into a scholarship offer at some point.
That's the news from the recruiting trail today, Panther fans. Hail to Pitt!
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News and Notes - Tuesday, October 1st, 2019

As we reach October, the change of seasons is about to hit in a big way. While it's going to be hot in Pittsburgh for the next couple of days, cooler fall weather is on its way by the end of the week. Enjoy the warmth while it lasts, and get ready to break out those sweaters. Onto the news:

  • Since we've finally arrived in October, we are officially in our final month of 2019 without college basketball! The season officially begins on Nov. 5 with a slew of high-profile games including Duke vs. Kansas at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. 
    • Pitt's season opener is the following night, Wed. Nov. 6 against conference foe Florida State at the Petersen Events Center. The game will be featured on ESPNU.
  • If you want to get your fill of Pitt basketball before the season officially opens though, you'll have a couple of opportunities this month. Pitt will be hosting Blue & Gold Madness at the Pete next Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 PM:
    • Pitt will also be hosting Slippery Rock University for a scrimmage on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at the Petersen Events Center at 7 PM.
  • Former Pitt women's basketball head coach Agnus Berenato announced that she's cancer free, one year after starting treatment for breast cancer:
  • Congrats to Coach Berenato on the fantastic news! Currently serving as the head women's basketball coach for the Kennesaw State University Owls, we at the Pitt Basketball Lead are wishing Berenato and the Owls a healthy and successful 2019-20 basketball season.
  • Coaching at Pitt from 2003-04 through 2012-13, Berenato became the winningest head coach in Pitt women's basketball history with 161 wins, led Pitt to its first three NCAA tournament appearances and its only top-25 AP poll finish ever in 2008-09. Berenato continues to leave a mighty strong legacy at the University of Pittsburgh.
  • In other news, Pitt women's basketball player Kyla Nelson will be having surgery today after receiving her own recent cancer diagnosis. We're sending thoughts and prayers to Nelson today, and hoping for her speedy recovery.
  • Basketball writer Brian Rauf ran down his ACC basketball preseason rankings last week for Busted Brackets, and predicted that Pitt will be the 8th best team in the ACC for the 2019-20 season. That would represent a major improvement for the Panthers, who won just three ACC games and finished 14th in the conference in 2018-19.
  • Pitt has certainly added its share of ACC-caliber players this offseason, including some much needed depth to the frontcourt with graduate transfer forward Eric Hamilton and incoming freshman forward Karim Coulibaly. Especially with the potentially long-term absence of Kene Chukwuka, both figure to see plenty of minutes this upcoming season.
So, Pitt fans, what are your thoughts? Is Pitt a middle-of-the-pack ACC team this year? Or are we still a year or two away from being a threat in the ACC once again? Feel free to let us know in the comments or on social media, where you can find us on Twitter @PittLead.
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Opinion: The City Game has run its course

   Following the Panthers' win on Monday night against Northern Illinois, Pitt men's basketball coach Jeff Capel gave a curt respons...