RJ Davis and Earl Timberlake are the top 2 players on the entire board regardless of position. Do not over think this regardless of a need for a center. They are the 2 best players we are recruiting in the entire 2020 class. I said previously Im not making an A vs B list, but I will say who the Top 2 targets are and who the 2 best players overall we are targeting.
RJ Davis just visited Pitt with his entire family. Jeff Capel is doing a presentation at Stepinac high school September 20th and will meet again with RJ Davis and 5 star AJ Griffin. The Top 3 schools in order to land RJ Davis are Pitt, Marquette followed by Georgetown in that exact order as of today. Roy Williams is making a major run at Davis. North Carolina will, I repeat, will, take Caleb Love and RJ Davis together, Roy Williams likes Davis that much.
Love is a 5 star point guard currently. Love has UNC in his Top 3 and Ive heard from 3 different sources UNC, Louisville, and Kansas all think they lead for Love. UCLA is hanging around too in that top 5 for Davis. Jeff Capel has pushed the chips in with Davis and for reason, he will be an absolute star at the college level.
North Carolina sits in prime position for Jaden Springer and Zaire Williams. Their staff feels they land both right now. Im not going to be like some people and say North Carolina leads for 20 players in 2020 like the same people say they do every year. But UNC is closing in on these 2 from a source connected directly into the UNC program. Duke is the darkhorse for Williams. These 2 players going to UNC possibly / probably impacts the decision of Timberlake and Puff. A lot More so Puff with UNC.
Pitt is on the very short list of Earl Timberlake, much shorter than his final 7. Timberlake officially visits Pitt at the end of August as I said that he would, his 3rd visit to Pitt. Timberlake has already visited South Carolina and Providence. Timberlake plans to commit early as of now
RJ Davis shot 46.9% from 3 point range at all 3 sessions combined from the EYBL. He was the 2nd best 3 point shooter all spring and summer by 3 point percentage in the entire country and one of the top scorers all summer long at over 20ppg. Davis had an offensive spring and summer rating of 128, 7th highest in the entire country regardless of class.
Earl Timberlake averaged 17.3 points per game and 9.6 boards per game this summer. Timberlake is the best rebounding wing in the entire country and one of the top defensive players regardless of class. Timberlake finished 6th overall in rebounding regardless of position all spring and summer. Timberlake’s DR rebound percentage was 33%, 2nd highest of any player regardless of class all summer. Both of them were completely dominant. Both of them are Pitts top 2 targets regardless of position. Don't overthink it.
Puff Johnson’s top 4 is still the same as what I said months ago. Only difference is he is unlikely to go to North Carolina making it a Top 3. Pitt is right there still hanging around with Arizona and Notre Dame. I do agree Puff is closer to the bottom of the Top 100 right now as opposed to a Top 50 player. He got prelim hype from his brother but didn’t showcase it enough in my opinion. Puff averaged 4 boards per game this summer and that needs improvement. Puff is high on Pitt's board and Pitt has made up significant ground with Puff.
Pitt is not going to take 4 or 5 wings in 2020 regardless of how many top 5s or 7s on these school lists Pitt makes. Jalen Bridges is a wing as is Gordon. Bridges averaged 2.9 rebounds this spring and summer. Bridges is a good developing scorer and solid defensive player, but he cannot rebound and he would have gotten killed in the acc rebounding next year at the 4 and he currently isn’t close to being Coulibaly or Champagnie rebounding the basketball.
Again, Bridges can score and play defense, but he cant rebound well. Bridges has zero impact on Noah Collier who is a 4. Timberlake (does) and maybe Puff does have an impact on Bridges. I still am saying Pitt is a player for Jalen Bridges.
Elijah Taylor has been very sneaky good this summer averaging 12ppg and 7.3rpg for Team Final, the same team as Noah Collier. Taylor will be making an official visit to Pitt soon, I don't know the date yet. Taylor’s offensive rebound percentage was 17.9%, 3rd highest in the country at EYBL. Taylor also had an eFG% of 65.2%, 10th highest in the entire country. Intel is the three teams to beat are Notre Dame, Pitt, and Florida in that current order. Notre Dame is the biggest threat and the small team to beat. Pitt has a good chance and can make up ground when he visits. He has the very look of Bonzie Colson. I said previously he should be in the National Top 100. He is arguably much better. Both his high school and aau coaches are pushing the ACC schools. With education being a factor, Notre Dame will be tough to beat in the end. Taylor has already visited VCU and SH.
DJ Gordon announced he has things on hold for a commitment which I knew previously. So did Posh Alexander when rumors floated he was St. Johns bound after bogus rumors floated he was a SH lock. Recent games at Rucker have Posh getting the top of his head near the rim again showcasing that elite athleticism Ive been talking about since December. He is getting back into much better shape now and I expect interest to pick up again with his Top 5 and others starting to come in again outside his top 5 after recovering from the broken arm. Posh wants to see how things play out with certain teams including Pitt and Illinois. He has already visited SH and St. Johns.
Gordon, much like Bridges, cant rebound the basketball well. Pitt is not going to load the team up with a bunch of players playing the same position that cant rebound well when Pitt already has a rebounding problem.
Which takes me back to point 1, the top 2 targets on the board are Davis and Timberlake. Pitt can take 1 of Puff / Bridges / Gordon at most. 2 would be reaching with their skill sets. There is zero chance Pitt is taking all 3. Pitt already landed an elite outside shooter with Horton who is an average rebounding guard. I think Gordon is fairly rated being between 100-150 right now.
I noted a month or so ago Illinois was in solid position because of Oliver Antigua with Andre Curbelo. It looks like Andrew Slater recently got the same intel as me on his twitter feed. Only detail Slater left out on his twitter, Antigua was in Greece watching Curbelo at the Fiba World Cup earlier this summer. Myles Tate was supposed to visit Pitt in September. Tate wanted to be a 1a priority recruit and went to Butler because RJ Davis is the Top PG on Pitt’s board. Some players wait for certain schools, others don’t wait and want to be the top target. Davis, like Tate, wants to be recruited as the top target which is a big problem for North Carolina with Love. Its why Georgetown lost ground with him over the summer. Georgetown is still in contention for Davis. Tate wasn't waiting and went to Butler.
Hugley and Bridges are both visiting Miami at the same time. Timberlake is supposed to visit Miami the week prior. Pitt is still the leader for Hugley from what I know. Nothing is guaranteed in recruiting until an LOI is signed.
I strongly like Pitt’s chances with the players I have mentioned and talked about the last 6+ months for 2020. And once again the players I mentioned in this thread are not all the players Pitt is recruiting
Regardless of who else Pitt signs and our need for a center, if Pitt lands Davis and Timberlake this class is an absolute Grand Slam. I will reiterate what I previously said that Pitt is in major contention to get both of them and is in major contention for a monster 2020 recruiting class with the other players mentioned.
RJ Davis just visited Pitt with his entire family. Jeff Capel is doing a presentation at Stepinac high school September 20th and will meet again with RJ Davis and 5 star AJ Griffin. The Top 3 schools in order to land RJ Davis are Pitt, Marquette followed by Georgetown in that exact order as of today. Roy Williams is making a major run at Davis. North Carolina will, I repeat, will, take Caleb Love and RJ Davis together, Roy Williams likes Davis that much.
Love is a 5 star point guard currently. Love has UNC in his Top 3 and Ive heard from 3 different sources UNC, Louisville, and Kansas all think they lead for Love. UCLA is hanging around too in that top 5 for Davis. Jeff Capel has pushed the chips in with Davis and for reason, he will be an absolute star at the college level.
North Carolina sits in prime position for Jaden Springer and Zaire Williams. Their staff feels they land both right now. Im not going to be like some people and say North Carolina leads for 20 players in 2020 like the same people say they do every year. But UNC is closing in on these 2 from a source connected directly into the UNC program. Duke is the darkhorse for Williams. These 2 players going to UNC possibly / probably impacts the decision of Timberlake and Puff. A lot More so Puff with UNC.
Pitt is on the very short list of Earl Timberlake, much shorter than his final 7. Timberlake officially visits Pitt at the end of August as I said that he would, his 3rd visit to Pitt. Timberlake has already visited South Carolina and Providence. Timberlake plans to commit early as of now
RJ Davis shot 46.9% from 3 point range at all 3 sessions combined from the EYBL. He was the 2nd best 3 point shooter all spring and summer by 3 point percentage in the entire country and one of the top scorers all summer long at over 20ppg. Davis had an offensive spring and summer rating of 128, 7th highest in the entire country regardless of class.
Earl Timberlake averaged 17.3 points per game and 9.6 boards per game this summer. Timberlake is the best rebounding wing in the entire country and one of the top defensive players regardless of class. Timberlake finished 6th overall in rebounding regardless of position all spring and summer. Timberlake’s DR rebound percentage was 33%, 2nd highest of any player regardless of class all summer. Both of them were completely dominant. Both of them are Pitts top 2 targets regardless of position. Don't overthink it.
Puff Johnson’s top 4 is still the same as what I said months ago. Only difference is he is unlikely to go to North Carolina making it a Top 3. Pitt is right there still hanging around with Arizona and Notre Dame. I do agree Puff is closer to the bottom of the Top 100 right now as opposed to a Top 50 player. He got prelim hype from his brother but didn’t showcase it enough in my opinion. Puff averaged 4 boards per game this summer and that needs improvement. Puff is high on Pitt's board and Pitt has made up significant ground with Puff.
Pitt is not going to take 4 or 5 wings in 2020 regardless of how many top 5s or 7s on these school lists Pitt makes. Jalen Bridges is a wing as is Gordon. Bridges averaged 2.9 rebounds this spring and summer. Bridges is a good developing scorer and solid defensive player, but he cannot rebound and he would have gotten killed in the acc rebounding next year at the 4 and he currently isn’t close to being Coulibaly or Champagnie rebounding the basketball.
Again, Bridges can score and play defense, but he cant rebound well. Bridges has zero impact on Noah Collier who is a 4. Timberlake (does) and maybe Puff does have an impact on Bridges. I still am saying Pitt is a player for Jalen Bridges.
Elijah Taylor has been very sneaky good this summer averaging 12ppg and 7.3rpg for Team Final, the same team as Noah Collier. Taylor will be making an official visit to Pitt soon, I don't know the date yet. Taylor’s offensive rebound percentage was 17.9%, 3rd highest in the country at EYBL. Taylor also had an eFG% of 65.2%, 10th highest in the entire country. Intel is the three teams to beat are Notre Dame, Pitt, and Florida in that current order. Notre Dame is the biggest threat and the small team to beat. Pitt has a good chance and can make up ground when he visits. He has the very look of Bonzie Colson. I said previously he should be in the National Top 100. He is arguably much better. Both his high school and aau coaches are pushing the ACC schools. With education being a factor, Notre Dame will be tough to beat in the end. Taylor has already visited VCU and SH.
DJ Gordon announced he has things on hold for a commitment which I knew previously. So did Posh Alexander when rumors floated he was St. Johns bound after bogus rumors floated he was a SH lock. Recent games at Rucker have Posh getting the top of his head near the rim again showcasing that elite athleticism Ive been talking about since December. He is getting back into much better shape now and I expect interest to pick up again with his Top 5 and others starting to come in again outside his top 5 after recovering from the broken arm. Posh wants to see how things play out with certain teams including Pitt and Illinois. He has already visited SH and St. Johns.
Gordon, much like Bridges, cant rebound the basketball well. Pitt is not going to load the team up with a bunch of players playing the same position that cant rebound well when Pitt already has a rebounding problem.
Which takes me back to point 1, the top 2 targets on the board are Davis and Timberlake. Pitt can take 1 of Puff / Bridges / Gordon at most. 2 would be reaching with their skill sets. There is zero chance Pitt is taking all 3. Pitt already landed an elite outside shooter with Horton who is an average rebounding guard. I think Gordon is fairly rated being between 100-150 right now.
I noted a month or so ago Illinois was in solid position because of Oliver Antigua with Andre Curbelo. It looks like Andrew Slater recently got the same intel as me on his twitter feed. Only detail Slater left out on his twitter, Antigua was in Greece watching Curbelo at the Fiba World Cup earlier this summer. Myles Tate was supposed to visit Pitt in September. Tate wanted to be a 1a priority recruit and went to Butler because RJ Davis is the Top PG on Pitt’s board. Some players wait for certain schools, others don’t wait and want to be the top target. Davis, like Tate, wants to be recruited as the top target which is a big problem for North Carolina with Love. Its why Georgetown lost ground with him over the summer. Georgetown is still in contention for Davis. Tate wasn't waiting and went to Butler.
Hugley and Bridges are both visiting Miami at the same time. Timberlake is supposed to visit Miami the week prior. Pitt is still the leader for Hugley from what I know. Nothing is guaranteed in recruiting until an LOI is signed.
I strongly like Pitt’s chances with the players I have mentioned and talked about the last 6+ months for 2020. And once again the players I mentioned in this thread are not all the players Pitt is recruiting
Regardless of who else Pitt signs and our need for a center, if Pitt lands Davis and Timberlake this class is an absolute Grand Slam. I will reiterate what I previously said that Pitt is in major contention to get both of them and is in major contention for a monster 2020 recruiting class with the other players mentioned.