Pitt Basketball Recruiting: Jamel Artis ends up at Pitt ... finally

With the losses of Malcolm Gilbert, John Johnson, Steven Adams, and Trey Zeigler (combined with the graduations of Tray Woodall and Dante Taylor), Pitt finally took a step towards filling one of the many voids on their roster for 2013-14. Guard/forward Jamel Artis, long rumored to be headed to Pitt, finally will be a Panther.

Pitt and Artis have been linked together for quite a while. Back in August, we were expecting a decision from him soon. In November, there was still nothing, but it was believed he was leaning toward Pitt. Later, 24/7 tweeted the news that he had committed in March, but it was never confirmed by anyone at the time. But that changed today as PantherLair reported that he had committed.

The talk is that grades were the main reason for delay here as Artis was hoping to make the cut. But assuming those go through, he will be a Panther this fall.

Artis is perhaps mostly known as a small forward, but he can play power forward or guard as well. He's really one of those do-it-all type of players that Pitt has had over the years. With Lamar Patterson and J.J. Moore at small forward, I'm not sure how much he plays next year there. But he could possibly step in at power forward or guard if Pitt needs minutes from him there.

All three major recruiting sites Rivals, Scout, and ESPN, list him as a three-star recruit.

Based on all I've read on Artis (and considering he's been on Pitt's radar quite a while), expecting him to be a star may be too much. But it's fair to expect him to be a solid contributor for the team at some point.

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