As Pitt head coach Jeff Capel prepares for Tuesday night’s matchup against Virginia, one of the top names on his scouting report is a very familiar one.
Ryan Dunn is Virginia’s leading rebounder. He is averaging nine points and seven rebounds per game in his sophomore campaign, one year after playing just 13 minutes per game as a rookie. The 6-foot-8 guard/wing has blossomed into an elite ACC player, and has even climbed up NBA Mock Drafts recently. So what makes him so special?
“I’ll tell you what man,” Capel said on Monday. “I don’t know if in all of my time being involved in the coaching part, if I have seen a guy that jumps off the screen defensively like he does. It’s incredible when you watch him. I haven’t seen that. I’ve seen some guys jump off offensively, and athletically, and things like that, but man, the things that he does defensively. You can put him on anybody. He literally can guard anyone. He blocks shots, his reaction time, his concentration, his focus, his ability to sit down and guard guys away from the basket, so guarding guards, guarding post guys, his defensive instincts.”
Capel’s familiarity with Dunn comes from Dunn’s high-school recruitment, in which the Panthers’ staff was heavily involved. Pitt hosted Dunn for a crucial official visit after he dropped a top-schools list of Pitt, Virginia, Minnesota, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Maryland, South Carolina, and Boston College. Here is what Dunn had to say about the visit shortly after.
“It was way better than what I expected, the facility was nice, the gym, everything,” Dunn told PSN about Pitt. “All the gear, jerseys, everything it was all real nice. It was just different seeing a power five school with everything, but overall, everything was nice at Pittsburgh. It felt like home. I don’t know if I am a city person, but I feel like Coach Capel can be a good coach for me, so if I do decide to go to Pitt, I feel like that can be a good place for me.”
Spoiler — he did not decide to go to Pitt. Instead, Dunn took his talents to Charlottesville, joining Tony Bennett’s squad shortly thereafter. There, he has become an elite defender and a high-level prospect for the pros.
“When we recruited him, I thought he was just a guy that had incredible upside, thought he was talented,” Capel said. “Incredible upside. You saw the athleticism starting to come. He was such an unbelievable kid with a great family, so, look, I’m happy for him, I’m happy he’s having success. I don’t want him to have success Tuesday night, but just getting to know him during that recruitment process, he was a great kid with an unbelievable family.”
Dunn and the Cavaliers will host Pitt on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.
He made the right choice. He received great coaching that he would not have gotten in Oakland, that’s for sure
At Pitt, Dunn could have been developed into an elite screener.