A year from today, here is an early looking depth chart. And there is obviously a possibility some of these players are not here.
PG- Dior, Lowe
Sg-Leggett, Cummings
SF-Austin, Carrington, Barnes
PF-Jorge, Jeffress
C- Fede, Kante, G
So where do we go from here...
Obviously the big question mark looking at this is with Dior. And we need to be targeting a point guard for sure. There has been a bit of discussion regarding the twins, but I think if things break right for what the staff "hopes", is that Kante tries to transition to the 4 full time after a year in the system. The possibility of Kante and Alier Maluk on the same frontline mixed in with the twins and Fede would be a powerful future frontcourt lineup. And I think we are in pretty prime position with borderline 5 star Alier Maluk as a 6'10 center. What I don't know about Maluk, is how seriously he will consider reclassification. He will be 18 years old next summer. He is the athletic shot blocking center we need badly with Kante. And if he comes here, we are going to have a very strong team.
Kante's head coach from South Kent appears to think he is a future forward, he was boasting about Kante shooting 38% from 3 his senior year on PSN. Kante has the ability to put the ball on the floor and score off the bounce inside 10 feet and he is a finisher in the paint. that much is a given with what he did in summer league play as I watched him live about 15 times in full games. His shot just needs improvement and better consistency. Personally, I like G at center for now and I think he is going to be a lot better with strength and some weight gain after this summer. His brother seems a lot more of a 3 / 4 tweener to me but we are getting a bit crowded at the 3 as is. A Kante / Maluk frontcourt is something we used to see with the old school Jim Calhoun teams. Tall, Strong, powerful, Athletic, rebounding shotblockers on the backline owning the paint on defense and getting all the rebounds to push the transition offense with the guards.
So what else could happen here. Meleek Thomas is a potential future scoring point guard. Could he reclass up and take over for Dior. He already won a state title with Brandin Cummings who has been red hot and surging in the EYBL. Could / Would he join Cummings to try to lead Pitt into the final 4 and compete for a national title.
And looking at this roster, how sweet would this lineup be with Koa Peat who is an absolute stud at forward. And he is cousins with Jamarius Burton. This team already looks pretty strong on paper and Peat would be the best player on the team from day 1 by a mile. Will he reclass also?
There is 1 ship remaining in 2024 and Jeff Capel is big game hunting in 2025 with multiple guys maybe classing into 2024. Jalik Dunkley Distant is still out there as a PG / SG / W combo and picking up significant offers and interest, including from Sean Miller and Xavier who just offered with Arizona and Oregon lurking among others. Malachi Palmer has been better in the EYBL since switching teams. Kyle Greene has been respectable in the 3ssb. How much of a full court press do we apply with some of these 2024 players as opposed to going for the big dogs in 2025.
I think getting Kante was another great base hit by Jeff Capel, and we have been getting a lot of base hits with recruiting in the last 12 months. I would be very selective in 2024 from here unless we are getting reclasses from 2025. If we get a few home run recruits from 2025 or they reclass into 2024, we could be looking at a banner type of season.
We'll see how much Pitt steps up effort with 2024 kids as the summer progresses. But my wish list as of today I think starts with Maluk / Thomas / Peat followed by Dunkley Distant. Bethea would also be on my wish list but I dont think that is happening for us.
PG- Dior, Lowe
Sg-Leggett, Cummings
SF-Austin, Carrington, Barnes
PF-Jorge, Jeffress
C- Fede, Kante, G
So where do we go from here...
Obviously the big question mark looking at this is with Dior. And we need to be targeting a point guard for sure. There has been a bit of discussion regarding the twins, but I think if things break right for what the staff "hopes", is that Kante tries to transition to the 4 full time after a year in the system. The possibility of Kante and Alier Maluk on the same frontline mixed in with the twins and Fede would be a powerful future frontcourt lineup. And I think we are in pretty prime position with borderline 5 star Alier Maluk as a 6'10 center. What I don't know about Maluk, is how seriously he will consider reclassification. He will be 18 years old next summer. He is the athletic shot blocking center we need badly with Kante. And if he comes here, we are going to have a very strong team.
Kante's head coach from South Kent appears to think he is a future forward, he was boasting about Kante shooting 38% from 3 his senior year on PSN. Kante has the ability to put the ball on the floor and score off the bounce inside 10 feet and he is a finisher in the paint. that much is a given with what he did in summer league play as I watched him live about 15 times in full games. His shot just needs improvement and better consistency. Personally, I like G at center for now and I think he is going to be a lot better with strength and some weight gain after this summer. His brother seems a lot more of a 3 / 4 tweener to me but we are getting a bit crowded at the 3 as is. A Kante / Maluk frontcourt is something we used to see with the old school Jim Calhoun teams. Tall, Strong, powerful, Athletic, rebounding shotblockers on the backline owning the paint on defense and getting all the rebounds to push the transition offense with the guards.
So what else could happen here. Meleek Thomas is a potential future scoring point guard. Could he reclass up and take over for Dior. He already won a state title with Brandin Cummings who has been red hot and surging in the EYBL. Could / Would he join Cummings to try to lead Pitt into the final 4 and compete for a national title.
And looking at this roster, how sweet would this lineup be with Koa Peat who is an absolute stud at forward. And he is cousins with Jamarius Burton. This team already looks pretty strong on paper and Peat would be the best player on the team from day 1 by a mile. Will he reclass also?
There is 1 ship remaining in 2024 and Jeff Capel is big game hunting in 2025 with multiple guys maybe classing into 2024. Jalik Dunkley Distant is still out there as a PG / SG / W combo and picking up significant offers and interest, including from Sean Miller and Xavier who just offered with Arizona and Oregon lurking among others. Malachi Palmer has been better in the EYBL since switching teams. Kyle Greene has been respectable in the 3ssb. How much of a full court press do we apply with some of these 2024 players as opposed to going for the big dogs in 2025.
I think getting Kante was another great base hit by Jeff Capel, and we have been getting a lot of base hits with recruiting in the last 12 months. I would be very selective in 2024 from here unless we are getting reclasses from 2025. If we get a few home run recruits from 2025 or they reclass into 2024, we could be looking at a banner type of season.
We'll see how much Pitt steps up effort with 2024 kids as the summer progresses. But my wish list as of today I think starts with Maluk / Thomas / Peat followed by Dunkley Distant. Bethea would also be on my wish list but I dont think that is happening for us.
Last edited: