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After the way the 2014-2015 season has wound down, Panther fans could have used some good news going into tomorrow's NIT game against George Washington. They got it today with the commitment of PF/C Corey Manigault for the 2016 class.
#H2P WE HERE! pic.twitter.com/t3SUogBxxz
— Wop (@CoreyDoeee) March 16, 2015
Corey picked Pitt less than 24 hours after getting an offer from Georgetown. He chose Pitt over other offers from Miami, Rhode Island, Temple, VCU, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, UMass, Xavier, and Maryland. Manigault is a consensus top 150 recruit, and is ranked as high as #79 by 247 Sports. He's a four star prospect by ESPN and 247, and a three star by Scout and Rivals. Corey joins 4*/5* Mustapha Heron for 2016.
The junior Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI informed Scout that he has committed to Jamie Dixon and his staff at Pittsburgh.
"It’s a great place to be for bigs," Manigualt told Scout. "Over the last few years they’ve developed their bigs. Coach Dixon knows what he’s does doing and I like him as a person and as a coach."
Corey mentioned his relationship with Pitt assistant Marlon "Smoke" Williamson as a big reason for his commitment along with feeling like the program is a family.
"The family feel and the bond the players have together [stood out]," Manigault added. "They treat everyone like family and I like how they play.
Pittsburgh assistant Marlon "Smoke" Williamson has been recruiting Manigault since he was a coach at UMass. That factored heavily into his recruitment.
"Coach Smoke, when he was at UMass he offered me," he said. "That was before I played varsity game. He’s been interested in me since I was in high school. He’s been a big fan of my game and I’ve been a big fan of him. I like what he’s doing. He’s a good coach."
Coach Dixon is still on a number of 2015 prospects, and if he can close on some of them then Pitt is in great shape moving forward. It's still very early on, but Pitt's 2016 class is now rated #2 on 247. We'll have a little bit more of an analysis on him later, but for now, welcome to Pitt, Corey.