Cleveland (OH) Holy Name HS guard Dwayne Cohill (6-foot-4 inches, 170 pounds) was contacted by Pitt several months ago and he recently completed an unofficial visit to Pitt to take a closer look at the program.
He walked away pleasantly surprised.
“I got to Pitt and played five or six games with the team. It was great. Then we went to eat and I got to spend time with the coaching staff. They were all great people,” said Cohill. “They showed great hospitality and were very respectful. I enjoyed my time and got to meet Coach (Kevin) Stallings. It was great.”
The 2018 guard prospect arrived at Pitt without a scholarship offer. To his surprise, that quickly changed. “I was a bit surprised when they offered,” he said. “They had only been recruiting me for about a month or two. I didn’t know what kind of precaution they take with giving out offers and everything. So I was expecting to come down here to see the school and everything and go from there. But I mean, I played. They offered me something. I was happy.”
“Coach Stallings told me that they needed a guard to come in and play right away next year. He them then told me I had an offer from Pitt.”
Cohill has received nearly twenty scholarship offers. Pitt, Ohio State, Northwestern, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Xavier, Clemson, West Virginia, UNLV and Tulsa are amongst the large group vying for his services.
Cohill was asked about his strengths on the basketball court. He stated, “From day one, I feel like I come in and make an impact with the program. Whether its defense or scoring, I can make an impact. I feel like I’m probably one of the best leaders there. I mean like wherever I end up I’ll be the best leader that I can be. I like to win so that’s what I want to bring to the program.”
Pitt will enter the season with a young and talented team as the majority of the roster consists of true freshmen. Cohill was asked about his experiences playing the young roster during his visit. He stated, “They were really great guys. I enjoyed meeting them. I mean, I’m day one just trying to build a new tradition and everything, so just coming and being able to play with younger group of guys who may not have as much experience, we’ll have some turmoil and everything and we’ll have our ups and downs, but we’ll be able to grow. So it’ll be nice to start something new right there.”
Kevin Stallings and staff were hoping to make a positive impression on the visit. Was there mission accomplished?
“Yes. Definitely. (Pitt) really helped themselves. Just being able to get down and see campus and meet the entire staff and meet the players and everything. It helped me a lot. I’m starting to get near the close of my recruitment down and everything. It helped make Pitt one of the top schools, I mean, it helped a lot.”
Harry Psaros can be found on Twitter at @PittGuru
