Pitt won't be contending for a Final Four this season, but the Panthers could be back among the top teams in the country by 2011 based on the way Jamie Dixon has been recruiting. I am told from my sources at Pitt that the coaches are absolutely ecstatic about landing John Johnson, the combo guard out of Girard College High in Philadelphia. Johnson is not on the national recruiting radar because he hasn't competed in many of the big AAU tournaments, but he is the second-best player in the Philadelphia area behind Rakeem Christmas, who is being touted as a can't-miss NBA prospect. I asked Jonathan Stewart, one of Johnson's coaches at Girard, if Johnson would be playing on the same AAU team next summer and he said that decision had not been made yet. If he plays on another AAU team that gets more exposure, Johnson will be one of the top 40 or 50 recruits in the country when it's all said and done, one source told me.
Even of Johnson remains with the same AAU team and does not get ranked high, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon does not care. They are certain he is a guy who is going to team very nicely with Isiah Epps in what should be a dynamic backcourt in 2011-12. Epps is considered to be one of the top 10 senior point guards in the country this season and will be a freshman at Pitt next fall. Throw in Ashton Gibbs, who would be a senior on that team, and you'd have one terrific guard rotation. Nasir Robinson will be a seasoned player by then as would Dwight Miller. By 2011-12, Dante Taylor would be a junior as would other forwards Lamar Patterson, JJ Richardson and Talib Zanna.
Of course, Taylor is a candidate to leave early for the NBA and you never know what could happen in the next two seasons. Still, with Epps and Johnson as backcourt mates, Dixon took a bog step toward ensuring future successes for the Panthers.
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Posted
Sep 18 2009, 09:45 AM
by
Ray Fittipaldo