This week, Jeff Capel extended a scholarship offer to another guard prospect in the class of 2025.
Capel offered Isaiah Denis, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Davidson, North Carolina. Denis is a three-star prospect on 247 Sports who is ranked as the No. 23 combo guard in the class.
“I first was talking to Coach Milan [Brown],” Denis told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “He reached out to me after the live period in Indianapolis for [Nike EYBL] session three. We just started to build that relationship since then, and he told me that they really like my game.”
Denis then mentioned that a former Pitt player’s name came up in recruiting conversations pretty quickly. A player that has a similar frame to Denis and one who may become a key recruiting pitch for the Panthers staff going forward.
“He [Brown] can see me coming in for the 2025 class kind of in that Carlton Carrington role,” Denis said. “They felt like I had some similarities to his game. They thought I would be a good piece to come in and kind of fill that type of role that he had.”
“That’s very important to me because I feel like he [Carrington] played in a certain role where I’m playing right now on my AAU team and my high school team, playing on and off the ball,” Denis said. “Just showing that versatility to do both and be a combo guard which is usually what guards are in the NBA now. Most guards are like combo guards, they are very versatile. Them saying that I can come in and be that type of guy, and I see myself playing that type of way when I get to the college level as well, so that’s big for me.”
After Brown set the table, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel came in and offered Denis.
“Two days ago, Coach Capel called me,” he continued. “He just started to build that relationship with me as the head coach and wanted to let me know that they were offering me a scholarship to come there because they really believe in me and believe I could be a factor on their team.”
This month, Denis has added offers from Mississippi State, Pitt, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Florida, and Texas A&M. Heading into this spring, he previously held offers from Indiana State, Charlotte, High Point, Arizona State, Georgia State, Radford, and UNC Greensboro. Clearly, his recruitment has exploded onto the high-major level.
“I think it was a long time coming,” he said. “During the high school season, I had a big high school season. Last June, I played in the Peach invitational tournament and picked up some high major interest there. They just didn’t offer. They just built that relationship during the high school season. Mississippi State would text me, Virginia Tech, and more. I knew the Ohio State assistant coach who was at NC State that was recruiting me to go there, until he got the Ohio State job. So it wasn’t like these schools were just calling me out of nowhere, a couple of them I already had a relationship with, they just wanted to see me get out and play after I had a good high school season. They got the head coaches out to see me play in the live period, and once that happened, I had a good showing in the live period and they were ready to offer.”
Denis says that he does not have any dates locked in for visits, but he is in talks to visit Tennessee and Wake Forest in June as well as Ohio State (for an official visit) in September. He plans to take another trip to Virginia Tech at some point as well. Lastly, he added that a visit to Pitt is in the works and that should get done “sooner rather than later.”
“I’ve been talking to Coach Milan and he’s been telling me a lot about Pitt,” Denis said. “Trying to keep me updated with it. I’m looking forward to getting up to campus soon just so I can see it for myself.”
