Capel lands four-star combo guard Mintz as first 2022 commit

Pitt basketball needed a win this offseason with the losses its roster suffered. From losing five players to the Transfer Portal, seeing Justin Champagnie go to the NBA Draft, and missing out on five-star center Efton Reid after considerable efforts to land a star, Jeff Capel was overdue to land a solid commitment from a talented recruit.

Friday, he got his man in four-star combo guard Judah Mintz of Washington D.C., who announced his commitment to Pitt Friday on Twitter:

"From the moment we set foot on campus, the Pitt family embraced my family and I and treated us like we were already a part of theirs," Mintz wrote in the statement he posted on Twitter. "There is no substitute for the relationship I've built with coach Capel and his staff, and I couldn't be more confident in this life changing decision."

Mintz is a 6-foot-4, 175 lbs. combo guard with abilities in both scoring and defense that make him an interesting building piece for the Panthers' future. He's also the first commitment of Capel's 2022 class. Coming out of Gonzaga College High School, he played multiple roles for his team as a threat to score from outside, attacking the rim, and causing turnovers to create opportunities for teammates. 

Here's an example of that defense when he challenged a point guard at half court, displayed quick feet to cut off his dribble and then swiped the ball away before quickly looking up the court to find his man with a perfect assist on a dunk:

When you watch Mintz's highlights, you can see several instances of him having the court awareness you want out of a guard who can bring the offense up the court.

Since the dead period ended for recruiting earlier in June, Mintz only made three campus visits to Georgetown, Penn State and Pitt, despite also having offers from several other programs like Florida, LSU and Virginia Tech. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy his visit to Oakland:

Like Pitt's best transfer prospect from 2020, Nike Sibande, Mintz is a guard who can help run the offense but also create plenty of opportunities on his own. He can capitalize on open shots from a distance and also drive with confidence to the basket even in traffic. Here's an example of him doing the latter when he split two defenders on a layup off a fast break:

And he's not afraid of throwing the ball down in those situations either:

An explosive athlete who can be part of Capel's future is exactly what Pitt basketball needs.

There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the future with Femi Odukale after the progress he made in his freshman season and hopes to build around William Jeffress and the the return of John Hugley IV. But Capel needs to keep building to get Pitt basketball back to competing in the ACC.

As far as good news in June goes for basketball, this was a very good sign that Capel deserves more time to build a program from what he inherited.