Forward Mylyjael Poteat Relates to Jeff Capel, Enjoys Pitt Visit

Last week, Pitt hosted multiple forwards for official visits, looking to strengthen its front court for next season.

One of those forwards, Mylyjael Poteat, caught up with Pittsburgh Sports Now and broke down his trip to Pittsburgh. Poteat is a 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward from North Carolina, who played in all 33 games in his freshman season at Rice Poteat averaged 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

“The visit went really well,” Poteat told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “My family and I loved everything we experienced. We were big fans of what we heard and saw throughout the visit. My favorite part was definitely getting to build relationships with the staff. The photoshoot was really fun too, they have a really great media team.”

While Poteat had never met Jeff Capel until this visit, he quickly took a liking to Capel and related to him in several different ways.

“Although it’s my first time meeting him, I felt like there was already familiarity,” Poteat said about Capel. “We had quite a bit in common that we were able to bond over; Being from, and growing up in North Carolina, liking the same NFL team, even talking about our liking of Marvel Movies. I felt that in a short period of time we were able to connect very well.”

The North Carolina native grew up in ACC country, but did not necessarily know much about the Pitt program prior to his trip to Pittsburgh.

“Being as young as I am, I didn’t really know too much about the rich, successful basketball history that Pitt has,” Poteat said. “We discussed that history, and the plan to bring that level of success back. Some of the things I liked most were the facilities and the city itself along with the staff, beginning with the Head Coach all the way down to the academic advisor.”

Poteat’s best game of his freshman season came against UAB in early January, when he scored a career-high 18 points on 5-for-5 shooting, and went 8 for 9 from the free-throw line. The Panthers’ staff is now targeting Poteat to play the four, and it has a plan in place for him to come in and make an impact alongside John Hugley down low.

“Throughout our conversations, Coach Capel wanted to stress to me the opportunity he sees for me to be able to make an impact,” he said. “He wanted my family and I to see the examples of players they have helped develop and the upside they see within my game. Overall they believe that Pittsburgh is a right place to help me achieve my dreams on and off the court.”

“We definitely talked about the idea of me playing together with Hugley. Their pitch is based on the opportunity they see for me to be able to make an impact at their program. They see and opportunity for me to help contribute to them turning the program around.”

Currently, the Panthers have Blake Hinson at the three/four position, as well as Hugley at the five. With that being said, the majority of minutes at the four spot are there for the taking. In addition to Poteat, Pitt is also focused on Eastern Michigan transfer Mo Nije, as well as the Diaz-Graham twins, Guillermo and Jorge, who both play forward positions.

So when will we find out where Poteat is headed?

“The last visit I will be taking is to Virginia Tech this Friday,” he said. “My plan is to make a decision within a few days after that.”