Over the past week, the Pitt basketball program has hosted several recruits, with most coming for the Backyard Brawl football game against fierce rival West Virginia.
Perhaps the most important recruit on campus recently was Ty-Laur Johnson, a 6-foot guard out of New York Our Saviour Lutheran.
Johnson took an official visit to Pitt starting on that Thursday, taking in the Backyard Brawl alongside the Pitt staff and Ladji Dembele, a 2023 forward who played with Johnson at his previous high school, St. Benedict’s Prep.
“It was packed,” Johnson told Pittsburgh Sports Now.” I didn’t go to a football game in a couple years. I didn’t know that they were at war with West Virginia and everything.”
This trip was Johnson’s first time in Pittsburgh since he was a kid, and it was also his first official visit to any school in his recruitment process.
“I loved the environment,” Johnson added. “I didn’t think the city was like that. I’ve never really been to the city of Pittsburgh other than one time when I was little. So, when I went there, the city was great. It was like Manhattan a little bit, like a smaller Manhattan. It’s like home.”
Johnson toured the basketball facilities and went to the game with Panthers’ head coach Jeff Capel, who he got to know well during their few days together.
“It was really cool [talking with the head coach],” he said. “I didn’t know all that history about him. He went to Duke, he played there, he coached there, that was all really cool to find out.”
“I definitely loved the coaches,” he said. “The facility was really nice, and I think my favorite part was walking in the city. Everybody is calm, having fun there.”
As mentioned earlier in the story, Johnson visited the city with fellow class-of-2023 prospect Ladji Dembele, a 6-foot-8 forward from NJ who is also on Pitt’s radar.
“That’s definitely my guy,” Johnson said about Dembele. “That’s my right-hand guy. We play together really well. I know where he likes the ball on the court, and he definitely helps me. We’ve definitely talked about playing together [in college] too.”
As for Johnson’s recruitment, he currently only has one other visit scheduled, and that is an official visit to Ole Miss from Sept. 24-26. Johnson said that other than Pitt and Ole Miss, he is still talking to Fordham, Seton Hall, Miss State, Ole Miss, Memphis, NC State, VCU, Rhode Island, and some others. However, he said, those schools listed are the ones that are “going hard.”
So, after taking his first official visit, is there a leader in Johnson’s recruitment?
“It’s all pretty even right now,” he said.
Johnson also told PSN that he plans to commit to a school on his birthday, February 11.
This summer, Johnson played exceptionally well for his NY Renaissance EYBL team, earning EYBL MVP honors in the league’s Louisville event.
“I feel most confident in making decisions and getting into the lane,” he said about his game. “My shooting got much better, so I’m confident in that now. Defense, definitely. That’s it. I think I score really well and I am learning how to make better decisions.”
How do you go on an OV and know nothing about the coach’s background? It’s like going on a job interview and not researching the company. #smh