During Virtual Visit, Jeff Capel Offers 2021 5-Star Wing Aminu Mohammed

The Pitt basketball staff has been pursuing five-star 2021 wing Aminu Mohammed for the last month and that continued Sunday afternoon when Jeff Capel held a virtual visit with him and his guardian Shawn Harmon.

Aside from getting to know each other more, the news out of Sunday’s talk was that Capel formally offered Mohammed a scholarship to Pitt, which was basically a formality. Mohammed (6-foot-4, 175 pounds), from Greenwood Laboratory High School in Washington D.C. is one of the top 20 juniors in the country and top four 2021 forwards.

Because he’s getting pursued by some of the top programs in the country, Sunday’s meeting was more about Capel really introducing himself and the Pitt program to Mohammed and Harmon, who PSN had a chance to talk with following their time with Pitt.

“Coach Capel was very thorough with his presentation and was very informative in terms of the opportunity that would be offered and what Aminu would get out of the program,” said Harmon. “Sometimes in this business it’s not always about what you know, but who you know and the different ties and connections you have in the industry. Hearing Coach Capel talk about that was impressive.

“He also had it laid out in terms of his experience and also presented the experience of his staff. His brother was a top 10 recruit so being able to relate to Aminu from that standpoint and being able to explain some experiences he went through himself was helpful. That was good to hear since he went thru what Aminu is currently going thru. We thought that was very informative.”

Courtesy of Aminu Mohammed

Along with formally introducing them to his program, Capel also spoke directly to Mohammed about how he could develop him and the role he’d play in the Panther program.

“The one thing that he hit on early on was asking Aminu how he sees himself as a player, what were some of his strengths and weaknesses,” said Harmon. “Coach also talked to him about being a two-way player, meaning he had the ability to dominate both offensively as well as on the defensive side of the ball. He felt that would be an elevation for him in terms of his games.

“Coach Capel wasn’t promising anything and said I’m not going to promise you anything other than we’re going to try and add to your journey in terms of what your pursuits are as a player and do our best to help you ensure that you reach those goals. He said that he was excited to meet him, spend time with him and would love to have him in the Pitt program.”

Harmon told PSN that he talked with Capel about getting back together at a future time and having another virtual meeting.