Jeff Capel captured the attention of college basketball fans across the nation earlier this week, getting a verbal commitment from five-star 2022 guard Jalen Hood-Schifino.
The 6-foot-4 Hood-Schifino currently plays at Lincolnton, N.C.'s Combine High School and is Pitt's first top-25 prospect since Steven Adams in 2012. Needless to say, there's some hype here ... which has caused concern among Pitt fans.
On one hand, sure, they're pumped to see Capel and company snag a player of Hood-Schifino's pedigree. Even better, he's a Penn Hills native and the nephew of both former Penn Hills and West Virginia player Drew Schifino and former Titans and Texans receiver Jake Schifino. Drew is one of the most prolific scorers in WPIAL history — registering 2,318 points in all and 30.2 per game as a senior when he led Penn Hills to the Quad-A state title game — setting the expectations high for Jalen when he returns home.
On the other hand, though ... Will he actually come to Pitt?
Hood-Schifino doesn't graduate until 2022, and the more he develops, the more attention he'll draw from the country's top-shelf programs. It's something Drew acknowledges, but he also gave reassurance to the Pitt faithful.
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