Well, there has been speculation since Pitt’s recruiting class for 2011 went to five with only three open spots that at least one of the recruits would have to attend prep school. That has now happened with Jaylen Bond announcing that he will do a year of prep and something else.
“While I look forward to playing basketball at the D-I level, I feel that, as someone who is 17 years of age, an additional year of development will allow me to enter my freshman year of college better prepared to contribute at a high level from the start,” Bond said in a statement released by PW coach Jim Donofrio.
“I have great respect and appreciation for the University of Pittsburgh, the coaching staff, and the players, and thank them for their belief in me,” Bond said. “This decision was made after a lot of thought by both myself and my family, and I am confident it is the correct one.”
In announcing that he is attending prep school, Bond has de-committed from Pitt.
This can be taken to mean one of many things:
1) It’s a mere formality since he is no longer bound by the NLI, and will eventually re-sign with Pitt.
2) Bond has re-opened his recruitment, but merely wants to make sure Pitt is still committed to him.
3) Bond decided/needed to attend prep school, but Pitt/Coach Dixon indicated that he might want to look at other schools.
4) Bond had to attend prep school, has had second thoughts about attending Pitt and is now looking at other options.
I’m sure there are other scenarios, but these are the most obvious ones.
It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for Bond. He injured his hip in a PIAA AAAA quarterfinal game — a hard foul that sent him to the ground.
With Bond and another teammate unavailable, Bond’s team lost in the semis to Chester.
No matter what, the best of luck to Jaylen Bond in his upcoming decision.
First off, a center participating in a dunk contest is rare. It just shows the athleticism the kid must possess. Second, I agree with Chas that the giant band-aid over his eye – not sure how someone could miss that – had to affect him, especially with what he was trying to do on the first attempt. Lastly, I didn’t really care about the result, because odds are a guard or SF would win anyway. Plus, how many tomahawks, windmills or 360s are necessary in a real game? Just give me a nice two-hand slam and the 2 pts.
The big takeaways for me were the comments by Williams and Bardo:
* His offensive game is still very raw. Probably a big reason he chose Pitt. Defense-oriented team that has a reputation for developing big men.
* He has a huge wing span. Love those long, athletic guys. He, Taylor and Zanna should give Pitt quite an inside rotation.
* He fits the Pitt system well. ‘Nuff said.
A couple of nice in-your-face blocks and a slam or two on the other end tonight, and people will forget all about the dunk contest.
I think that it is not a good thing IF (and I say IF) you recruit a kid the entire year(s) and seal the deal with less than 3 months remaining before he arrives on campus and then pull a offer because you have over recruited the numbers. Look we all know the story of Khem Birch deciding to come early and how that put us in a difficult situation numbers (scholarship) wise but we definately don’t want to create a perception that we will recruit a kid and them leave him at the alter int he 11th hour. From the kids perspective he likely pass up a ton of solid D1 options thinking he was going to be a panther.
This one leaves me feeling a little uncomfortable.
He’s a good player and I wish him the best. The fact is, though, that he was the lowest ranked of our 5 incoming recruits and played the position we least need to worry about – PF, where we have Nas for 1 more yr, Zanna for 3 more yrs, and Birch for however long he stays, not to mention that Richardson. So, it seems to me his departure would make the most sense for Pitt as well.
I’m wondering if Gibbs is doing Dixon a solid by testing the NBA waters. Now that Pitt’s only one scholarship over, if Gibbs gets a bite in the NBA that helps everyone. That being said, I really hope Gibbs stays — we’ll need his senior leadership big time (not to mention skills) next year. I’m comforted by the fact that he may not have the NBA size/speed necessary to be drafted.
J.Johnson really seems into Pitt, btw, so I think it’s hard to see him decommitting. My guess is the next to go will be someone on the current roster who doesn’t see a future here and still has a future to salvage.
Note that this is pure conjecture (I didn’t hear it from a cousin of a studemt manager.)
