The Pitt basketball program held ‘Courtside at the Cathedral’ last Friday. Perhaps the tallest individual in attendance was 6-foot-11 inch former Southmoreland High School power forward/center Brandon Stone. The 2019 prospect recently transferred to the Christ School in Arden, NC and his stock has grown exponentially. Pitt opted to join the pursuit when they offered a scholarship on Friday.
“I was really excited. Pitt is my first ACC scholarship and I grew up rooting for them,” said Stone. “When I was a kid I dreamed of playing for the Panthers.”
“We had a talked a bit prior to the event on Friday and I had a feeling an offer might be coming.”
Stone started playing organized basketball in the 8th grade. He has received scholarship offers from Penn State, St. Joseph’s, Houston, Duquesne, Robert Morris, Youngstown State, Stony Brook, Mount St. Mary’s and Appalachian State. West Virginia, Maryland and Butler have expressed strong interest. He averaged 25.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks last season.
“I think I fit Pitt’s style of play. I like that Coach Stallings has developed big men similar to me and got them to the next level. My goal is to improve my game and prepare for the NBA.”
Stone added, “Pitt’s staff like me as a stretch 4 (power forward). They believe I can come in and start or make a quick impact coming off the bench.”
Stone is a big man with a European skill set and he has started working with the strength and conditioning program at The Christ School and is already starting to see the benefits. “I’m up to 205 pound at the moment. I’ve added ten pounds and I continue to lift weights as much as possible,” he said. “I’m eating a lot as well. I know I need to add size to succeed in college.”
Pitt has offered 2019 guard Maceo Austin (6-foot-4 inches, 180 pounds) and power forward / center Oscar Tshiebwe (6-foot-9 inches, 240 pounds) from Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage, PA. Austin and Tshiebwe attended the ‘Courtside at the Cathedral’ event with Stone. The trio of players are affiliated with ITPS Sports. Stone was asked if they ever discussed coming to Pitt together and he stated, “We have talked about it. It would be really cool to have us all play together again.”
Stone was clearly excited about the Pitt offer but he’s not ready to end the recruiting process at the moment. “I’m not ready yet. I have WVU coming to see me practice and possibly a few more schools,” he said. “I may make my decision by August next year, maybe later.”
Harry Psaros can be found on Twitter at @PittGuru
