Pitt BB Recruiting
Pitt Offers 2022 Forward Jalen Reed; Teammate of Judah Mintz
Pitt basketball’s Class of 2022 got off to a big start with the commitment from Oak Hill Academy (VA) 4-star guard Judah Mintz.
The Panthers are hoping to get another player from that storied program as they’ve extended an offer to 2022 3-star forward Jalen Reed. The 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward has also received offers from Xavier, Texas Tech, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Houston, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Florida and DePaul.
Reed spoke on Monday afternoon with Pittsburgh Sports Now about his phone call with Jeff Capel last week and more about himself as a player.
Jalen Reed goes coast-to-coast and finishes with AUTHORITY 🤬
🎥 @ProSkillsEYBL @jayreedd #PeachJam #Poster
— The Circuit (@TheCircuit) July 23, 2021
“The offer from Pitt was unexpected, honestly,” said Reed. “I was playing a game with my friends and I said hold on, I got a call from a Pittsburgh number. It ended up being the head coach at Pitt and we ended up having a 20 minute conversation and during that conversation, I felt like we got to know each other a little bit and he ended up offering me. It was good news but totally unexpected. At Peach Jam, I played pretty decent, I think they saw me there and I think they were also asking around about me. It was exciting to get that news from Pitt and I was really happy.”
Having talent like Reed and Mintz will make Oak Hill Academy a powerhouse this season. Reed tells PSN that he heard from his teammate following the news from Capel.
“Judah actually texted me after the offer came, he was a little late to the punch. He texted me and said that Coach Capel would be calling me. By the time he sent that, I had already gotten the offer. I texted him back and he said ‘are you interested in Pitt’ and I said ‘for sure’.”
Courtesy Jalen Reed
At the recent AAU Peach Jam Tournament, Reed was mentioned by Rival’s Jamie Shaw as one of the Top Five Breakout performers. Here’s some of Shaw’s thoughts on Reed:
“What is not to like about a 6-foot-10 center who can run and move like a guard and jump like a wing. Reed has a very unique set of skills to go along with excellent bloodlines. Reed is a late bloomer, someone who is still growing into his frame and his body. Reed has a huge upside, bigs just do not move like him. He rebounded the ball well here, he showed ball skills from different spots on the floor, and he showed defensive acumen.”
Reed gave his own description of the strengths of his game to PSN and things he’s working on for this coming season.
“The way I can move for my size, I believe I move very fluidly,” said Reed. “Being the height and weight that I am, I feel like I handle the ball well and can really attack the defender from the perimeter, which I believe is the biggest strength of my game. I can also knock down jump shots so I believe I’m a very versatile player. I mainly take advantage of mismatches. Me being the size that I am, they usually put a bigger guy on me who can’t really move his feet like me so I attack a lot from the top of the key and finish.”
“This coming season, I really want to focus on my jump shot and shooting all-around. Also, this year I want to show people that I can play from the wing.”
Reed tells PSN that he’s in the process of trying to arrange some visits for the upcoming months. He just wrapped up an official visit to Florida on Friday and Saturday and made an unofficial visit to Ole Miss on Sunday.
