Virginia 2020 Guard Joe Bamisile Recaps Visit to Pitt

Wednesday night wasn’t a successful night on the court for Pitt, but they scored some points with a highly regarded recruit.

Class of 2020 shooting guard Joe Bamisile from Chesterfield County, Virginia made his first unofficial visit in order to see the Pitt program and start to build a relationship with the coaching staff.

Bamisile (6-foot-4, 195 pounds) is a highly skilled guard that’s biggest strength is scoring, something that would be a welcome addition to Pitt’s roster.

“I really like how the Pitt coaches were during our tour and how they explained everything,” Bamisile told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “They really wanted me to understand the program and also understand the connections they have. They’re really trying to build a new culture for Pitt basketball and I liked how they were trying to get me ingraciated into that.

“I felt super comfortable. Even after the game and even though they lost, I asked them if I could go out and get some shots up from the court and the coaches were all for it. They let me get some reps up after the game and I just felt real in my skin there.”

Courtesy of Joe Bamisile

Assistant coach Milan Brown is Bamisile’s chief recruiter, but he also had the chance to have a nice conversation after the game with Jeff Capel, which he appreciated.

“Coach Brown was the main guy that I was around most of the time,” said Bamisile. “He did a really good job explaining things to me. Obviously I’m a recruit but I felt like he was trying to make me feel like I was already one of the guys which I really appreciated. He was showing me around but at the same time was trying to not make it seem like a foreign place to me and wanted me to feel like it was home.

“Then I talked to Coach Capel for about 20-30 minutes at the end. Obviously, he was upset with how the game went but he even said he was able to be calm talking to me and I appreciated him being able to manage being mad and taking the time to talk to me about the program and the things that he intends to do moving forward. He told me that he’s just trying to bring in more talented guys and that I could be one of those guys that comes in and help them out immediately.”

I asked Bamisile that after watching Pitt play if his game would fit into Capel’s style of play and if his skillset could provide instant help to their roster.

“Oh yeah. When I watch basketball, I’m very analytical,” he said. “I see little mistakes like if a guy catches a ball and isn’t ready to shoot. I think if I was on the court with my current skillset, I’d be able to help impact the game a lot immediately for Pitt.”

The good news for Pitt is that Bamisile enjoyed the visit and admits Pitt is a program that he’s interested in and will check out again.

“Yeah for sure,” said Bamisile. “For me, I just want to go to a place where I can play my game. That’s one thing that Coach Capel talked to me about. He said he doesn’t yank people out of the game when they’re trying to make plays because then you’d never be able to basketball that way. He’s big on letting kids playing their game. Pitt is definitely a place I’m going to keep in mind down the road.”