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Jeff Capel and the Pitt coaching staff were busy on the recruiting trail on Monday, and their day ended on a high note, as they got confirmation that Noah Collier, a power forward out of Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, had committed to Pitt. Capel sent out what appeared to be a celebratory tweet around 5:30 p.m. ET, and Collier officially announced his commitment in an Instagram post about two hours later.
“I feel like Pitt has a great culture, and it could be a great place for me to develop as a person and player,” Collier told Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers regarding his decision. “I think we will have the pieces to make something big happen there. I can't wait."
The 6’7”, 200-pound power forward holds a four-star rating from ESPN as well as three-star ratings from 247Sports and Rivals. However, by all accounts he is a top-40 power forward in the 2020 recruiting class, as ESPN places him at No. 26 at his position, Rivals places him at No. 30 and 247Sports places him at No. 36.
Collier received 16 offers over the course of his recruitment and chose Pitt over the likes of California, Clemson, Maryland, Penn State, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Temple, UConn, Virginia and Xavier. California, Clemson and Pitt emerged as Collier's three finalists, with Clemson and Pitt garnering a significant amount of attention late in his recruitment. Collier took official visits to Pitt and Clemson over the last month, with his trip to Pittsburgh on the weekend of Aug. 30 and his Clemson visit taking place this past weekend.
This year, Collier took part in 17 Nike EYBL games as a member of Team Final, and he averaged 8.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game. He scored 10 or more points in eight of those games and was only held scoreless on one occasion. In addition, he collected multiple rebounds in 16 of the 17 games and logged a personal-best 12 rebounds against the Texas Titans on May 12.
At Pitt, Collier will provide the team with some much-needed support in its frontcourt, which Capel has been trying to build up since his arrival in 2018. Prior to Monday, Capel’s only frontcourt signings were Karim Coulibaly and Eric Hamilton, and he had swung and missed on a number of coveted recruits. So beating out several major programs for a talented in-state big signifies a huge win for Capel.