Pitt's 2012 Basketball Recruiting Grades An A

ESPN's Dave Telep confirms that Pitt has a pretty good basketball recruiting class coming in this fall. In a recent look at all of the Big East's classes, he rated the Panthers' class as an A.

This is a premium article so unless you're an Insider, you won't be able to view his thoughts on the entire Big East. But since his thoughts on Pitt were in the free intro of the article, here they are:

Imagine playing pro basketball in New Zealand. Not a bad gig, right? Imagine landing one of the best amateur big men in the world from the country where you played pro hoops. Jamie Dixon leveraged a relationship from his playing days to land center Steven Adams (New Zealand/Notre Dame Academy). Nerlens Noel referenced Adams as the best big man he faced this season. Mix in James Robinson (Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha) as Adams' set-up man and the Panthers injected themselves with a dose of talent.

The Noel thing hasn't gotten all that much hype, but the fact that Adams played perhaps the top recruit for 2012 better than anyone else has shouldn't be overlooked. The jury, to me, is still out on how much he'll be able to contribute offensively (despite his recent big games in the New Zealand Under 21 Tournament). But as a big body in the paint on defense, I think his impact there will be huge.

And not to mention, there's still the whole Trey Zeigler issue to sort out. While he doesn't fall under the heading of 'recruit', adding a player of his caliber as a transfer is huge. If he's eligible in 2012-13, that will give the team another potential star.

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