When Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke hired Jeff Capel in March of 2018, she knew that recruiting was perhaps Capel's greatest asset.
That asset was on display Tuesday morning, when four-star power forward William Jeffress announced, via Instagram, that he would be committing to play for the Panthers.
Jeffress is a 6-7 product from Erie, Pennsylvania. He attended Erie-McDowell High School, the same school that produced the former Pitt and current Steelers running back, James Conner.
According to 247 Sports, Jeffress is the 58th-ranked player in the entire 2020 national recruiting class. He is the top-ranked player in the state of Pennsylvania.
Jeffress chose the Panthers over Baylor (Big 12), Penn State (Big Ten), Stanford (Pac-12), Memphis (American), Vanderbilt (SEC), Northwestern (Big Ten), Virginia (ACC), Notre Dame (ACC) and Villanova (Big East).
That list of ten included three of the previous four national champions, with Villanova winning titles in 2016 and 2018 and Virginia winning it all in 2019. Simply put, Pitt was up against a handful of competition, but was able to pry Jeffress away. This is a testament to the foundation Capel is building entering his third season in Pittsburgh.
Thanks to Jeffress' commitment, Pitt finds themselves with the 4th-ranked class in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and 13th in the entire nation. For context, Kevin Stallings' second and final recruiting class (2017) was 51st in the nation. Jeff Capel's first two years saw (2018, 2019) saw him land the 32nd and 49th overall classes, respectively.
Jeffress joins center John Hugley as the two four-star recruits of the class. Three-star recruits include power forward Noah Collier, center Max Amadasun and shooting guard Femi Odukale.
Combine all this talent with the veterans of the current roster, including Justin Champaigne (upcoming sophomore), Xavier Johnson and Au'Diese Toney (both upcoming juniors) and Pitt will have a very formidable ACC roster.
With the commitment of five-star guard Jalen Hood-Schifino in the 2022 recruiting class, Pitt will be oozing with talent for years to come under Capel.
Jeffress is the highest-rated recruit for the program since Jamie Dixon landed five-star center Steven Adams prior to the 2012-2013 season. Jeffress ranks only behind Adams (2012-2013), Dante Taylor (2009-2010), Jalen Hood-Schifino (2022-2023) and DeJuan Blair (2007-2008) as the highest recruit in program history.
In 2020-2021, Pitt is expected to return to postseason play for the first time since they were defeated by the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, 47-43.
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