Various RSNs (including YES, NESN AT&T Sportsnet Pittsburgh) or ACC NE/WatchESPN.
Even though Pitt has lost three straight to VT. Even though Buzz Williams has done a solid job of building the Hokies out of wreckage into a top-25 team. A team built to sustain success with solid recruiting and development. It is still weird to think of VT as a good basketball team.
Basically they are what Pitt once was.
We can argue ceilings. We can argue limitations. We can argue talent.
But it shouldn’t be up for argument as to where the Hokies are right now is a place Pitt needs to get to, before striving higher.
Pitt needs to get some depth, build the talent and develop players. All the things Buzz Williams has done at VT.
To that end, despite the losing streak. Despite the piss poor performance in the last game. Despite the frustrations at being close but not closing. Despite all that, it hasn’t been a bad week.
Pitt finally got some verbals for the 2019 class.
Gerald Drumgoole is a high 3- to 4-star small forward. The very definition of a rising senior as there is a good chance he could crack the top-100 players on Rivals by the spring (right now, he’s at 133). At 6-5 to 6-6 and 200 pounds he’s got a strong frame and has a good outside shot.
Drumgoole plays at one of the top prep schools, La Lumiere. Here’s an article on his time there.
Drumgoole had a host of prep schools vying for his services, including Vermont Academy and Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. However, Stewart made sure he was on La Lumiere’s radar.
“We heard a lot about Gerald, of course, from Isaiah and them both being Rochester kids and teammates on Albany City Rocks,” Holmes said. “We got to get out there and watch him play in the spring and summer with City Rocks.”
Holmes said that Drumgoole fit what they were looking for: “A guy with a very good IQ, very skilled and could shoot the ball. He was a competitor and played with a chip on his shoulder — that’s what we try to identify in guys. And he’s a good kid. He was taking care of his studies coming from a school like Irondequoit, and it all kind of came to fruition.”
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Stewart is a McDonald’s All-American and is a favorite to land a spot in the Jordan Brand Classic in Brooklyn in April. Drumgoole’s stock has never been higher; he received offers from almost every Power 5 conference before committing to Pitt.Could they have achieved these feats if they stayed in Rochester?
“No, nobody came to watch games at McQuaid,” Stewart said. “A lot of people aren’t going to come to little Rochester to watch, so for Coulibaly, a long-armed southpaw, is mobile, runs the floor well and is a solid athlete. A power forward, Coulibaly is an aggressive scorer that can effectively score both facing the rim and with his back to it. Coulibaly can make mid-range jump shots, and although he will shoot threes, he’ll certainly need to improve his shot if he’s going to continue to fire them up from deep. Coulibaly is a good rebounder and will get his hands on shots due to effort, timing and lengthme personally I felt like McQuaid could only take me so far, and since I’ve been here I’ve developed my
His teammate mostly agreed.
“I don’t think I would have as many schools taking notice, but I definitely think my coach (Irondequoit’s Chris Cardon) would’ve helped me through the process as much as he could, and he did do that, which I thank him for,” Drumgoole added.
That was followed up yesterday with a front court piece in Karim Coulibaly. A native of Mali, he is attending a prep school in Scotland, PA. A 6-8 center, he’s giving Pitt some more depth up front. He had offers from BC, Virginia, Cinci and Penn State. If you couldn’t tell by those offers, Coulibaly has toughness and a mindset to play defense. Something Pitt really needs for the frontcourt.
Not that he has no offensive game.
Coulibaly, a long-armed southpaw, is mobile, runs the floor well and is a solid athlete. A power forward, Coulibaly is an aggressive scorer that can effectively score both facing the rim and with his back to it. Coulibaly can make mid-range jump shots, and although he will shoot threes, he’ll certainly need to improve his shot if he’s going to continue to fire them up from deep. Coulibaly is a good rebounder and will get his hands on shots due to effort, timing and length.
And Pitt has some big recruits at the game for today. Also, primarily for the frontcourt.
But the reconstruction project requires several new faces, and Pitt is serving as host to 6-foot-11, 215-pound prospect Ibrahima Diallo of Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif. Plus, class of 2020 twins Julian and Justin Champagnie, are visiting. They are 6-7 and 6-6 small forwards from Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The twins are intriguing but not as much as Diallo’s size. Diallo potentially could join the 6-8 Coulibaly next season to give Capel the presence in the paint he lacks and desperately needs.
Sorry not to talk much about the game at hand, but I’m trying to stay positive.
