The extension of the Backyard Brawl for two additional years that was announced on Thursday was a nice surprise for Pitt and West Virginia fans that hoped to see the rivalry extended beyond the 2020-21 season.
But a couple of other individuals are pretty excited about the extension, as well.
Class of 2020 Pitt commit Noah Collier finished his high school career at Westtown School in West Chester, Pa., but Collier is a Mullica Hill, New Jersey native.
He’s going to be spend the next three years going against another South Jersey native: Class of 2020 West Virginia commit Taj Thweatt.
Thweatt, a Wildwood, New Jersey native, and Collier have known each other for years from facing off against one another in the New Jersey basketball scene, and now they’re going to be able to continue to see a lot of one another, starting with a little friendly trash talk on Twitter after the announcement.
“I’ve known [Taj] since we were younger,” Collier said to Pittsburgh Sports Now. “We’ve just always been in the same places for AAU.”
It’s certainly possibly that the 6-foot-7 Collier and the 6-foot-6 Thweatt could end up guarding one another in the rivalry, and with hometowns separated by just 60 miles, they’ll be giving a new definition to the Backyard Brawl.
