Top-100 recruit Judah Mintz backs off Pitt commitment

Top-100 recruit Judah Mintz announced on Wednesday that he would be reopening his recruitment. The announcement came less than 24 hours after Pitt fell in a 78-63 loss to the Citadel in its season opener.

“I would like to sincerely thank Coach Capel and his staff for the care, concern and respect they’ve shown me and my family,” Mintz said in a message posted on Twitter. “From day one, they welcomed me with open arms and have always been honest with me. While I genuinely appreciate the relationships I’ve developed with them, I still must do what I feel is best for myself moving forward. Therefore, after careful consideration and prayer, I have decided to reopen my recruitment.”

Mintz committed to Pitt on June 18 after drawing scholarship offers from 16 programs. At the time, Mintz chose Pitt over the likes of Florida, Georgetown, LSU, Marquette, Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State, Seton Hall, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, among others.

The 6’4”, 170-pound shooting guard is a consensus four-star recruit who is counted among the top 100 recruits in the 2022 class by all three major recruiting outlets. Rivals ranks him 68th in the nation and 14th among shooting guards, while 247Sports places him at 73rd nationally and 13th at his position. ESPN has the highest opinion of Mintz, ranking him 43rd in the class and 13th at his position.

Mintz is the second blue-chip recruit to commit to Pitt’s 2022 class and then back off of their pledge. The first was Jalen Hood-Schifino, who committed to Pitt on Dec. 30, 2019, and decommitted on July 27, 2020. Hood-Schifino has since committed to Indiana.