Local talent ......

[wbrpanther]

great time to get a guy like Capel to Pitt with the amount of local talent right now.

Brandon Stone-2018/19
Oscar Tshebwei-2019
Maceo Austin- 2019
Ethan Morton-2020
Also the Jeffress kid from Erie who some say may turn out to be the top player in the country in the class of 2021.

 

[joeydavid]

You forgot Tre Mitchell for 2019. He's a top 100 kid that holds an offer from Pitt. I believe Capel told him his offer was still good.

 

[wbrpanther]

You forgot Tre Mitchell for 2019. He's a top 100 kid that holds an offer from Pitt. I believe Capel told him his offer was still good.

Totally slipped my mind. He was going to be the first guy I mentioned.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Might be the best 4-5 year period for Hoop talent here in decades.

 

[DiehardPanther]

Might be the best 4-5 year period for Hoop talent here in decades.

The best recent group of local players in the same class would be Luther, Cam Johnson, Rowan, and Minnie.

 

[pittizit]

great time to get a guy like Capel to Pitt with the amount of local talent right now.

Brandon Stone-2018/19
Oscar Tshebwei-2019
Maceo Austin- 2019
Ethan Morton-2020
Also the Jeffress kid from Erie who some say may turn out to be the top player in the country in the class of 2021.

Re Jeffress... His old man loved Capel when they visited Duke..ya never know

 

[Pittparade]

Three sophomores at Sewickley Academy and Johnson at OLSH.

 

[wbrpanther]

Re Jeffress... His old man loved Capel when they visited Duke..ya never know

It’s your job to stay on the old man. Try not to piss him off too much though lol.

 

[PANTHERKEITH]

Re Jeffress... His old man loved Capel when they visited Duke..ya never know

Jim

Renewing your tickets for hoops

 

[R-M-U-h-o-o-p-s-f-a-n]

The best recent group of local players in the same class would be Luther, Cam Johnson, Rowan, and Minnie.

Minnie is a very talented offensive player & shot blocker but his “issues”/off the court problems drove Toole insane. Good to see him playing well at EMU tho.

 

[joeydavid]

DeJuan Blair, DJ Kennedy, T Pryor, Herb Pope and Jon Baldwin could have been the core of a NCAA championship team. Throw Kane in there for scoring off the bench.

The best recent group of local players in the same class would be Luther, Cam Johnson, Rowan, and Minnie.

 

[below0w]

The best recent group of local players in the same class would be Luther, Cam Johnson, Rowan, and Minnie.

Surely it was Dejuan Blair, Herb Pope, Terrelle Pryor and DJ Kennedy back in '07.

 

[joeydavid]

DeJuan Blair, DJ Kennedy, T Pryor, Herb Pope and Jon Baldwin could have been the core of a NCAA championship team. Throw Kane in there for scoring off the bench.

The best recent group of local players in the same class would be Luther, Cam Johnson, Rowan, and Minnie.

 

[DiehardPanther]

DeJuan Blair, DJ Kennedy, T Pryor, Herb Pope and Jon Baldwin could have been the core of a NCAA championship team. Throw Kane in there for scoring off the bench.

Recent - as in the last 4-5 years. Yes - that group was better, but that was 10 or more years ago.

 

[BFo8]

DeJuan Blair, DJ Kennedy, T Pryor, Herb Pope and Jon Baldwin could have been the core of a NCAA championship team. Throw Kane in there for scoring off the bench.

Some good players there to be sure, but laughable to suggest they would be the core of an NCAA championship team.

Seriously?

 

[HopSkipJump]

Some good players there to be sure, but laughable to suggest they would be the core of an NCAA championship team.

Seriously?

Mixed with Fields and Young? Its laughable you think otherwise. This was the best period in Pitt basketball history.

 

[below0w]

Some good players there to be sure, but laughable to suggest they would be the core of an NCAA championship team.

Seriously?

It's hard to say because Pryor and Baldwin never played college basketball, but all of those guys were great players. That group of 5 plus Fields and Young would have been an insane team. You can argue that there are too many "what ifs", ie, would Herb Pope have been able to focus in Pittsburgh, what would the impact of those additions be on team chemistry, etc, but I don't see how that isn't a championship calibre core on paper.

Let's look at it another way, what if we had simply added one of them to our existing roster? DJ Kennedy, for example, would have been a massive upgrade over Jermaine Dixon. Kennedy averaged 13 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 08-09. Add him to that Elite 8 team and who knows what might have happened? Dixon was appalling in the tourny that year. We lost to Nova by 2 points. That team was really close, it's a plausible scenario.

 

[joeydavid]

When Pryor committed to Pitt he was ranked as the top small forward and #8 overall by scout. Pope was #15 when he committed to Pitt. Blair was unstoppable in college. Kennedy a very good 4 year player. Baldwin was a top 50 player at one point.

Unstable home lives and football ambitions got in the way.

Some good players there to be sure, but laughable to suggest they would be the core of an NCAA championship team.

Seriously?

 

[Pittx9]

DeJuan Blair, DJ Kennedy, T Pryor, Herb Pope and Jon Baldwin could have been the core of a NCAA championship team. Throw Kane in there for scoring off the bench.

They could've been. Baldwin and Pryor were going to be football players though, if anything they'd be the ones coming off the bench once football was over. And we would've had to win the football recruiting battle for Pryor.

 

[joeydavid]

They both were talked into playing football in college. Pryor committed to play basketball at Pitt before he started to getting benefits to play football at tO$U.

They could've been. Baldwin and Pryor were going to be football players though, if anything they'd be the ones coming off the bench once football was over. And we would've had to win the football recruiting battle for Pryor.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The local talent has been so much better than the 90s/early 2000s. Its not Philly of course, but it seems like there is an ACC-level player almost every year. I mean it seems like we used to go 5-10 years between that level of player. And there's usually 2-3 players like a Cam/Luther who are that A10/fringe ACC type.

I have wondered why the local talent base has picked up. I wonder if it is because less kids are playing football so more are concentrating on basketball only? Maybe a kid like Ethan Morton would have been a QB, TE, or LB?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The local talent has been so much better than the 90s/early 2000s. Its not Philly of course, but it seems like there is an ACC-level player almost every year. I mean it seems like we used to go 5-10 years between that level of player. And there's usually 2-3 players like a Cam/Luther who are that A10/fringe ACC type.

I have wondered why the local talent base has picked up. I wonder if it is because less kids are playing football so more are concentrating on basketball only? Maybe a kid like Ethan Morton would have been a QB, TE, or LB?

I dunno. Same with Carmody who would have also been a QB. Maybe you are on to something, but one thing we are seeing more of, that there was a drought of almost 20 years of only importing a Danny Fortson to alter, is we are seeing 6'7" and taller kids who have some skills again coming out of here. That is what always blew my mind, where are the big kids at?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

The local talent has been so much better than the 90s/early 2000s. Its not Philly of course, but it seems like there is an ACC-level player almost every year. I mean it seems like we used to go 5-10 years between that level of player. And there's usually 2-3 players like a Cam/Luther who are that A10/fringe ACC type.

I have wondered why the local talent base has picked up. I wonder if it is because less kids are playing football so more are concentrating on basketball only? Maybe a kid like Ethan Morton would have been a QB, TE, or LB?

I dunno. Same with Carmody who would have also been a QB. Maybe you are on to something, but one thing we are seeing more of, that there was a drought of almost 20 years of only importing a Danny Fortson to alter, is we are seeing 6'7" and taller kids who have some skills again coming out of here. That is what always blew my mind, where are the big kids at?

True about the big kids. Forget Fortson, who was from Altoona, I think the only ACC-level players over 6'9 in the last 30 years have been Kevin Salvadori and Herb Pope. You'd think at some point there had to be a kid who grew to 6'10 and decided basketball was for him.

 

[joeydavid]

Western PA never had the infrastructure to develop high skill levels in basketball. That has changed over the last 10 years.

Places like the Scoring Factory, the I'm Possible coachs, etc can provide the necessary instruction to compete at a higher level.

The athletes have always been here but now they have access to instruction that other places always had.

The addition of the ITPS to the highest level of AAU should help with exposure for the local kids.

The local talent has been so much better than the 90s/early 2000s. Its not Philly of course, but it seems like there is an ACC-level player almost every year. I mean it seems like we used to go 5-10 years between that level of player. And there's usually 2-3 players like a Cam/Luther who are that A10/fringe ACC type.

I have wondered why the local talent base has picked up. I wonder if it is because less kids are playing football so more are concentrating on basketball only? Maybe a kid like Ethan Morton would have been a QB, TE, or LB?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Western PA never had the infrastructure to develop high skill levels in basketball. That has changed over the last 10 years.

Places like the Scoring Factory, the I'm Possible coachs, etc can provide the necessary instruction to compete at a higher level.

The athletes have always been here but now they have access to instruction that other places always had.

The addition of the ITPS to the highest level of AAU should help with exposure for the local kids.

I know, but you also have to have the "raw material". And again, lack of developmental programs, AAU programs, infrastructure doesn't account for the 30 year gap on lack of having some athletic 6'8" or taller kids who have a 412 or 724 area code in their phone numbers.

 

[joeydavid]

Just an example- I graduated with a kid who was 7'1". He liked and played basketball but never had a chance because of the available coaching.

Put the same kid in NJ back then and he's a high major. The infrastructure is a big deal.

I know, but you also have to have the "raw material". And again, lack of developmental programs, AAU programs, infrastructure doesn't account for the 30 year gap on lack of having some athletic 6'8" or taller kids who have a 412 or 724 area code in their phone numbers.

 

[LeftCoastPanther]

True about the big kids. Forget Fortson, who was from Altoona, I think the only ACC-level players over 6'9 in the last 30 years have been Kevin Salvadori and Herb Pope. You'd think at some point there had to be a kid who grew to 6'10 and decided basketball was for him.

That 7-footer from McKeesport was good enough to play for Pitt, but didn't want it and went to Akron.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

True about the big kids. Forget Fortson, who was from Altoona, I think the only ACC-level players over 6'9 in the last 30 years have been Kevin Salvadori and Herb Pope. You'd think at some point there had to be a kid who grew to 6'10 and decided basketball was for him.

That 7-footer from McKeesport was good enough to play for Pitt, but didn't want it and went to Akron.

Ironically, I mentioned him in another post today but forgot about him in this post.

 

[wbrpanther]

They both were talked into playing football in college. Pryor committed to play basketball at Pitt before he started to getting benefits to play football at tO$U.

Pryor got benefits? I am shocked. Shocked that the tOSU benefits were enough to sway him over the Nit benefits.

 

[billyberoux]

How did Nelly Cummings make out this year?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Just an example- I graduated with a kid who was 7'1". He liked and played basketball but never had a chance because of the available coaching.

Put the same kid in NJ back then and he's a high major. The infrastructure is a big deal.

Who? I mean come on, if a kid is 7'1" and had ANY kind of talent, there would be coaches all over him.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

That 7-footer from McKeesport was good enough to play for Pitt, but didn't want it and went to Akron.

Jonathan Marshall's son? Not sure he was Pitt level coming out of high school, but the playing time he got at Akron enabled him to develop more than he likely would have at Pitt. He could have ended up like Devontae Watson, who proved to be totally out of his element at Temple (but I'm assuming he got his degree).

 

[LeftCoastPanther]

Jonathan Marshall's son? Not sure he was Pitt level coming out of high school, but the playing time he got at Akron enabled him to develop more than he likely would have at Pitt. He could have ended up like Devontae Watson, who proved to be totally out of his element at Temple (but I'm assuming he got his degree).

Dixon offered and Marshall had redshirt written all over him. Not a killer loss but a kid who I think could have developed and would have been a senior on the 2013-14 team had he come and redshirted. That was a good team and Patterson, Zanna, Marshall would have been a tough front court.