For the second time this month, Jeff Capel and his staff hosted a player for an official visit.
During the first week of June, four-star guard Judah Mintz made an official visit to Pitt and last week the talented guard committed to the Panthers program. Earlier this week, Pitt hosted a big man from New Jersey.
Class of 2022 three-star power forward Dominick Barlow (Dumont, New Jersey) arrived in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to begin his official visit and returned home this morning. Barlow is 6-foot-9, 205 pounds and holds offers from Rutgers, Providence, Siena, Saint Peter’s, Quinnipiac and Farleigh Dickinson.
Pitt was Barlow’s first Power Five offer when officially offering him back in April and have been recruiting him consistently since then. Pitt assistant coach Tim O’Toole has been his lead recruiter. Barlow’s strengths are his athleticism, high motor, his defense and ability to shoot from the outside.
While he made the drive back to New Jersey, Pittsburgh Sports Now spoke with Barlow about his first official visit and first experience visiting Pitt.
“It was great, I really liked the city,” Barlow told PSN. “My first impression of meeting Coach Capel for the first time in person was that he is a really down to earth guy and is really trying to build a great basketball program at Pitt. I also found that he is a really easy guy to talk with and connect to. Something that really impressed me was just how beautiful the city was as a whole. I’ve been to Pittsburgh before when we went to see a football game there but getting the chance to really get out and see the city, I never expected the city to be that beautiful. Also, the city just seemed to have great people. Everyone was so friendly, everyone was saying hello, it was just so easy to talk with everyone. It was just a really good time.”
Barlow arrived on Tuesday and walked us through what his visit consisted of and things that he got to do and experience.
“The first day, we went around Pitt and saw everything that they have in the basketball facility, which was really cool,” he said. “I also got to meet the academic advisor and then we went out to eat and coach was really introducing me to everyone. Then on the second day, we really drove around the city and showed me some of the famous spots and I got to go see the Cathedral, which was really nice. Then later, we went to the gym and I was able to get some shots up. It was a time that I won’t ever forget.”
Before ending his visit, Barlow told PSN that he had a good conversation with Capel, who let him know that the Pitt program wants him and that it’s a place that he could excel at.
“He showed me a lot of Justin Champagnie, a guy that he believes that I can be very similar to,” said Barlow. “We talked about why I could be great at Pitt and about the versatility I have, my length and my ability to want to defend. He also gave me a lot of advice which I appreciated and think was very important.”
Barlow says that he wasn’t just ready to commit and that his focus now is on some upcoming tournaments and will possibly look into making a couple more visits.
