Omari Witherspoon Commits to Pitt

[Vader_Storm]

He also got upgraded to a 4 star player and is now the 104th nationally ranked player in 247's updated rankings. That's now the 4th top 150 nationally rated ranking Witherspoon has made in the updated rankings.

A nice first commit for Jeff Capel and the future team.

Welcome to Pitt and the Pitt family, Omari!!!

 

[pierre93]

H2P!!!! Awesome

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Excellent!

 

[ThePanthers]

H2P!!!!!

 

[Vader_Storm]

Brand new 8 minute long highlight video from Under Armour this summer showing off the versatility of Witherspoon



For reference, Lamar Patterson, point forward at Pitt 3 years in a row




Lower the usage rate (on Witherspoon to cut down the turnovers) getting him away from the point guard position, but utilize him as a mismatch at either the 2 or 3 point forward type (Patterson / Wanamaker) to overpower players in a multitude of ways.

As I said in the other thread, his biggest offseason weakness according to Omari himself is weak stamina to consistently play at a high level on offense and defense. Fix the stamina issue, better results should come and a further rise in the national rankings before he gets to Pitt.

 

[BTisinDC]

Brand new 8 minute long highlight video from Under Armour this summer showing off the versatility of Witherspoon

View embedded media

For reference, Lamar Patterson, point forward at Pitt 3 years in a row

View embedded media

Lower the usage rate (on Witherspoon to cut down the turnovers) getting him away from the point guard position, but utilize him as a mismatch at either the 2 or 3 point forward type (Patterson / Wanamaker) to overpower players in a multitude of ways.

As I said in the other thread, his biggest offseason weakness according to Omari himself is weak stamina to consistently play at a high level on offense and defense. Fix the stamina issue, better results should come and a further rise in the national rankings before he gets to Pitt.

Am I remembering correctly that you said he only shot in the 20+% range from 3? That strikes me as a concerning weakness for a guard in our offense. I suppose you could argue that wouid improve somewhat with better stamina, but that's a bad number if I'm remembering it correctly.

 

[Vader_Storm]

Am I remembering correctly that you said he only shot in the 20+% range from 3? That strikes me as a concerning weakness for a guard in our offense. I suppose you could argue that wouid improve somewhat with better stamina, but that's a bad number if I'm remembering it correctly.

He shot 26% from 3 at under armour. You are right that is not good. This was a 16 game sample size.

However,

1) He played quite a bit of point guard as the number 1 scoring option on a team that lacked scoring, in other words, he was forced to carry the offense. His usage rate was too high and he was playing more point guard than he should have been at under armour. Take a look at Ashton Gibbs as a senior when you take all the senior led scoring talent and Wanamaker away from him the year prior and forcing him to be the man to shoulder the load. His shooting percentages dropped like a rock in water. I dont think he plays any point guard at Pitt.

2) There is evidence based off what he did in his high school season in the WCAC last year, he could be a 35% 3 point shooter when he isn't playing point guard, when his usage rate isnt sky high, and when he is presented more catch and shoot opportunities as opposed to trying to do everything off the bounce as a point guard / lead guard.

3) Stamina was an issue. But I cant tell you how much it effected his jumper. But if you watched enough film on him you could see he lost a gear in games because of it, and that likely resulted in worse shooting numbers.

4) I dont know his shooting percentage from last year at St. Johns, but there were games where he was making 3, 4 and even 5 threes in a game. That also tells me he is quite a bit better than a 26% shooter from 3.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Good pick up. Capel has a pretty good eye for guards.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

This would be exciting under the old model. In new-age college basketball, you still have to take a few of these kids but you never know if they'll be here more than a year. Capel has had a pretty good hit rate though.

 

[PittPharm2002]

This would be exciting under the old model. In new-age college basketball, you still have to take a few of these kids but you never know if they'll be here more than a year. Capel has had a pretty good hit rate though.

Better to simply say nothing