On Wednesday, Adrien Stevens picked up a phone call from Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, who had some good news to share.
Capel let Stevens know that the Panthers were officially offering him a scholarship, adding to his outburst of offers that began in June, just over one month ago. Since June 10, Stevens has added 14 offers from Division One schools, a list that now includes the Panthers. This summer, he has been competing for WeR1 on the AAU circuit after wrapping up his sophomore season for The Bullis School in the Spring.
“It was exciting, it was a blessing,” Stevens told Pittsburgh Sports Now about his offer. “It’s big time, for sure. ACC school. I know a couple of people that went there. My middle school basketball coach actually, he went to Pitt and he always talks about them and watches them play basketball. He’s a fan of them. It’s just a really cool thing to experience.”
Stevens first saw Pitt assistant coach Milan Brown over a year ago, as Brown traveled out to the DMV to watch his preseason high-school practice. Then, Capel recently watched him at DMV Live, playing for his high school team in June. On Wednesday, the Panthers made their interest clear as they offered.
Stevens is a 6-foot-4, 195-pound combo guard who is originally from Potomac, Maryland. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 120 player in the class of 2025, and as a three-star prospect.
“I feel like my defense creates for my offense,” he said. “I like to take what the defense gives me, as far as my offense and being efficient, making the game easy for me and my teammates. I like to get after it on defense, you know, making the big-time plays like steals, blocks, keying in on the guy in front of me. I take defense personally.”
Stevens said that he hears from Maryland, Virginia Tech, St. Joseph’s, Penn State, Providence, Xavier, and Marquette most often. He plans to visit Virginia Tech unofficially on August 2. Besides that visit, he is open to more visits in the near future as his recruitment moves along, and is excited to check out some football atmospheres this fall while on different campuses.
The Panthers have also recently offered Niko Bundalo, Tyler Jackson, and Kiyan Anthony since the contact period opened in the 2025 class. With Jackson and Stevens both coming from the DMV area, the Panthers staff, and Brown specifically, have continued to go back to the talent-rich region when looking for future Panthers.
“I know it’s a cliche thing, like, a lot of people say the DMV breeds athletes,” Stevens said. “But I feel like it’s the truth. Every night you’re playing against somebody, multiple kids that are going places. It’s just special. I feel like every game we’re playing against top-tier players. It’s just special.”
