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Explosive 2021 Wing Deivi Jones Talks with Jeff Capel, Receives Offer

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Jeff Capel’s job of improving the talent and depth to the Pitt roster continued Tuesday evening as he extended an offer to an explosive scorer.

Class of 2021 three-star wing Deivi Jones from Teays Valley Christian School in Scott Depot, West Virginia was told on a phone call Tuesday night with Capel that he earned a scholarship offer from Pitt. Jones’ offer list also includes Cincinnati, Clemson, Houston, Illinois, Louisvlle, Maryland, Oregon and St. John’s.

Pittsburgh Sports Now spoke Wednesday morning with Jones’ head coach, Travis Tarr, who said despite the offer officially coming last night, the Pitt staff has been recruiting his star player for the last year.

“Coach Milan Brown is the one that initiated the phone call with Deivi because he’s been watching him for a while now especially with Coach Brown’s affiliation with Boo Williams Basketball/EYBL in Virginia, so he’s been on their radar,” said Tarr. “As far as the official offer, Deivi spoke with Coach Capel last night and he extended the official offer. I’m actually going to be speaking later today with Coach Capel but Coach Brown told me last week that Coach Capel would be reaching out to me sometime this week to talk about Deivi.”

Pitt is looking to add more pure scorers to their roster, especially ones that can shoot beyond the three-point arc and Tarr said that Brown fits that description.

“Deivi is an elite scorer with a college frame already (6-foot-5, 205 pounds),” Carr said. “Every college coach that’s offered him says that he’s an immediate impact player from day one and someone that they know can score the ball. Deivi came to us three years ago from the Dominican Republic and has matured physically and mentally since then. He’s a mature leader on the floor, in the locker room and is someone that his teammates want to be around and play with. He’s just a super competitor.

“In terms of his best attributes, he’s an extremely, extremely, strong player. He’s a down the hill player, shot over 44% from 3-point range, as he’s very capable of shooting the ball from 22-23 feet out. He already has a lot of strong offers and every coach that’s come in tells me that he’s a day one player. Our program isn’t a big power name that some of these high profile rankers and evaluators always look at so Deivi is earning everything that he’s getting and has been able to come up in the rankings because of his performance on the court. As far as what Coach Capel sees in him, he knows Deivi is someone that can come in and be coached well and someone that will come in and make an impact immediately scoring the ball.”

Tarr said that he’s talked with Jones about the recruiting process and the attention he’s going to be receiving from some elite programs and that’s he ready for it and something that he’s looking forward to. At this point, Jones has had virtual meetings or unofficial visits to programs such as Oregon, Maryland, Louisville, Kentucky, Illinois and West Virginia.

“Deivi is a real bright kid,” said Tarr. “This is something that he’s worked hard. He’s not someone that’s going to rush this and make a decision tomorrow. He’s going to take all the information in. He’s enjoying this and likes and respects all the coaches that he’s had contact with. He’s going to try and make the best decision for him and his family.

“He came to the United State to play basketball for his mom and sisters and brothers. Every decision that he makes and will make will be validated with his mother and sister back home. He will rely on and trust a lot of people close to him during this process, so he won’t be making a knee jerk reaction to anything. During every meeting he he’s taken, Deivi has taken notes and asks the right questions. All the coaches have spoken about his maturity, which is something that will be important to him in the end.”

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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