:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/34550141/20140315_jdm_sx1_018.0.jpg)
For now, it appears that Panther fans can rest easy concerning basketball commit Mustapha Heron.
The 6'6" high school junior Heron is standing firm in his commitment to the Panthers. It has been widely believed for the past month that Heron could recant his commitment to Pitt and give a verbal commitment to John Calipari and Kentucky after the departure of assistant Barry Rohrssen, but Heron appears to still be headed to Pitt.
Heron's father and Rohrssen played professional basketball together so it was not challenging for Slice to get the commitment from the guard. Rohrssen's departure from Pitt in favor of Kentucky has made Panther fans anxious as they wait to see if Heron will remain committed to Jamie Dixon.
Corey Evans of Hoopsintel was able to catch up with the consensus top-30 recruit Wednesday night at NBPA camp, a camp for the top 100 recruits. From all reports, He put on a show of his talents and seems to be improving immensely. The more important news for Pitt fans, though, is that he's still apparently interested in the Panthers:
"I am 100% committed to Pitt," Heron told Evans. "I am working on building a better relationship with coach Dixon."
Heron is set to visit Pitt in the coming weeks and said that during his initial visit he was impressed with how the players and coaches interacted, calling it a "family."
On Wednesday, I reported that the Panthers had officially hired Marlon "Smoke" Williamson as an assistant coach as well as his connection to Cassius Winston, a 4-star guard from Detroit. Winston plays on the same AAU team that Williamson ran for nine years. If Heron holds true to his commitment to the Panthers and the if Williamson and coax Winston to commit to Pitt. The two of them joining with Maverick Rowan would make for a terrific recruiting class for 2016.
For now though anyway it looks like you can pencil Heron into that 2016 class.
Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics.
