Julian Champagnie passes on Pitt, commits to St. John’s

Pitt target Julian Champagnie revealed that he was down to a final five of Cincinnati, Pitt, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Washington State on Tuesday, and the following night, he announced that he had committed to St. John’s in his hometown in somewhat surprising fashion.

Champagnie appeared to be a Pitt lean, as he had previously said he would join his brother, Justin Champagnie, in Pittsburgh. However, he said that before the two split up, with his brother committing to Pitt independently. Champagnie then drew interest from St. John’s, which is under new leadership in Mike Anderson after the departure of Chris Mullin.

The 6’6” small forward starred alongside his brother at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, New York, where he averaged 17.2 points per game during the 2018-19 season. He holds a three-star rating from Rivals and drew 19 offers over the course of his recruitment. However, he never received a star rating from 247Sports or ESPN.

Champagnie's decision is not necessarily a negative for Pitt, as the team is backed up at small forward, with Justin Champagnie and Gerald Drumgoole both coming in at the position in the 2019 class. Capel and his staff have also been in hot pursuit of multiple frontcourt targets with the Panthers in dire need of help at center and power forward. And with just three scholarships left, it's unlikely the staff saw signing Champagnie as the best use of a limited resource at this time.

At the moment, Josaphat Bilau, Nigel John and John Ojiako are all uncommitted frontcourt targets who remain on Pitt's radar.