Pitt Predicted to Land Blue-Chip Local Recruit

Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel could have a major recruiting win coming his way.

Stephen Thompson | Mar 26, 2024

Pitt v Virginia Tech / Ryan Hunt/GettyImages

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are the favorite to keep a blue-chip recruit from their own backyard in Western Pennsylvania and playing for his hometown team.

Andrew Barth, a basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals, made a "FutureCast" prediction for five-star 2025 shooting guard Maleek Thomas and believes the Panthers have the best chance of landing his commitment. Barth, who has been accurate on 34 of 35 "FutureCast" predictions, gives Pitt a 69.8% chance to land Thomas.

Kentucky (9.4%), Auburn (7.5%) and Kansas State (7.5%) are the only other schools with a greater than 2% chance of getting Thomas to give a verbal commitment, according to Barth. Thomas took official visits to Auburn, Kentucky, Michigan and Pitt and has been a frequent unofficial visitor to Panthers games at the Petersen Events Center.

Thomas averaged 22.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.5 assts and 3.2 steals per game as a junior for the WPIAL and PIAA champipn Lincoln Park Leopards. Rivals ranks Thomas as the No. 7 player in the class of 2025. He and three-star 2024 Pitt commit Brandin Cummings combined to create one of the most lethal high school backcourts in Pennsylvania and the country.

The Panthers have three scholarships open heading into 2024. Thomas is just a junior right now but it's possible he coule reclassify and join the next class of Pitt recruits - Cummings and three-star forward Amdy Ndiaye - headed to Pittsburgh.

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Published Mar 26, 2024

STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper. He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press. During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general. You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work: