Kevin Stallings has been aggressively pursuing a number of talented 2018 basketball players. The latest player to receive a scholarship offer is versatile Conway, SC small forward Jimmy Nichols Jr. (6-foot-8 inches, 200 pounds).
“I got my scholarship offer from Pitt about a week ago,” said Nichols. “Coach (Sam) Ferry has been my main contact. Coach Stallings called me and presented the offer. I was really excited.”
“Coach Stallings told me about the program when he offered me. He told me there’s an opportunity for me to go there and play a lot of minutes.”
Nichols is an athletic 6-foot-8 inches tall and Pitt indicated to him that he’s been recruited as a wing. He was asked about his strengths on the basketball and court and he stated, “I can shoot. I can score. The coaches at Pitt told me if I come to their school then they’ll make me one of the best shooters, because of my form is where it’s supposed to be. They said I just need a couple of tweaks. They would like to develop me into a Kevin Durant type of player.”
Nichols has accrued quite a bit of interest from top basketball programs. Pitt, Georgetown, Miami, Rutgers, Nebraska, Arizona State, Old Dominion, Murray State, Tulsa, VCU and College of Charleston have extended scholarship offers. The majority of the major recruiting service have placed a ‘three-star’ ranking on him.
Although Nichols is wide open at the moment, he indicated that Pitt has one advantage: the ACC conference. “I would love to play in the ACC conference. It’s the highest level of competition in college basketball and I want to play against the best,” he said. “My goal is to get to the next level. I know that Coach Stallings helped get a lot of players in the NBA. I think playing in the ACC is my best shot at it.”
“I’m in close communication with the staff at Pitt. I’m hoping to get there for an official visit. I’m going to set up most of my visits in the fall. I need to get up there and learn more about the school and program.”
Harry G. Psaros can be found on Twitter at @PittGuru
