Kevin Stallings is close to finalizing his 2018 class but that hasn’t stopped him from targeting a number of talented 2019 players. Pitt assistant coach Kevin Sutton drove to Kennedy Catholic High School (Hermitage, PA) to observe a pair of talented 2019 prospects, 6-foot-4 inch, 175 pound guard Maceo Austin and 6-foot-9 inch, 230 pound power forward Oscar Tshiebwe. At the end of their practice, Sutton approached both players and officially offered them a scholarship.
Pittsburgh Sports Now caught up with the sharp shooting Austin to discuss his new scholarship offer.
“We had an open gym last night. Coach (Kevin) Sutton approached me afterwards and offered me a scholarship,” said Austin. “He said he loves the way I play and he thinks I would fit in well with Pitt’s style of play. I wasn’t expecting the scholarship offer so it was surprising.”
“I really like Pitt. They have a young team but they are building and ready to do some good things in the ACC again. I know they are trying to get all of their guys (on the team) ready. I like the school, the campus and the area. It would be cool to play there. I like the ACC conference. It would be a great league to play in. It would definitely get you ready for the professional level.”
Austin has received scholarship offers from Pitt, West Virginia, Duquesne, Penn State, Richmond, St. Joseph’s, UAB and Akron. He averaged 19.5 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game last year at Kennedy Catholic.
When asked about his strengths on the basketball court, he stated, “On defense, I like to block shots, get steals, and get out of transition and play. My half-court offense, I like pick and rolls and ball screens. I have been working on my shot and it’s improved a lot. I like to take it to the cup and finish with the left. I can finish around the rim or just dunk it.”
Pittsburgh Sports Now recently spoke with Director of ITPS Sports Nate Perry, who had some enthusiastic words about the highly rated shooting guard, “Maceo Austin is a two-time state champion. I would say he’s a born leader. He takes control of the team. There are players that have it and some that don’t. I see that in Maceo. He’s 6-foot-4 inches tall and he was measured at Tennessee Elite Camp with a 6-foot-10.5 inch wing span. So that’s a plus. He can play one through three. … His jump shot has improved drastically since last year, he needs to keep working on that. Maceo needs to keep working on his left hand. He’s very athletic and will dunk on you. He can hit the three as well. He has a great pull up jump shot for his age, he’ll go to that. One thing we’re really focused on this spring and summer with him is the all-around game where he has to guard the best guard on the other team, and we made him.”
Austin is excited about the Pitt offer but he’s cognizant he has some time before having to make an immediate decision. “Honestly, I’m still just waiting to see who else might offer. I’ll go on more visits and try to get more comfortable with the schools that have offered me. I would like to get to know the coaches and campuses a bit better.”
Harry G. Psaros can be found on Twitter at @PittGuru
