— Max Amadasun (@max_amada) October 14, 2019
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.
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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