On Wednesday, good news came in a pair for the Pitt men’s basketball program.
Class of 2022 recruits and twins Jorge and Guillermo Diaz-Graham have signed national letters of intent to join the Panthers, a move that bolsters Pitt’s frontcourt while helping fill out a roster that came into the day with five open scholarships for next season.
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Standing at 6-foot-11 and 7-feet, respectively, Jorge and Guillermo provide some needed size for a team that previously featured just two players taller than 6-foot-7 — sophomore standout John Hugley and junior-college transfer Fede Federiko, who committed to the program on April 21.
“In Guillermo and Jorge, we are adding a pair of talented forwards with well-rounded skill sets that not only complement one another but also our current roster of players,” head coach Jeff Capel said in a statement. “They have both shown excellent shooting ability out to the 3-point line as well as a strong overall feel for the game. They have each steadily improved their strength and overall athleticism since arriving in the United States last year and are poised to make an impact at the college level. We are excited to add them to our program and help them continue to develop their games”
Both natives of Spain, Jorge and Guillermo played last season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Their late arrival to the United States explains some of their relative anonymity despite the college interest they generated, as neither player has a star rating from Rivals.com. 247 Sports has each of the twins as a three-star prospect, while On3 Sports rates them much higher — with Jorge as the No. 76 player nationally in the 2022 class and Guillermo as the No. 89 recruit.
At IMG, Jorge averaged 15.5 points per game (a team high), 5.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game and shot 44% from 3-point range while Guillermo averaged 12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game and shot 32% from beyond the arc.
The twins took an official visit to Pitt’s campus late last month. Their commitment to the Panthers came shortly after they completed a visit to Massachusetts, where new head coach Frank Martin, a fluent Spanish speaker, was aggressively pursuing them.
In addition to Pitt, the twins held scholarship offers from, among others, Providence, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Utah and George Washington, according to 247. They’ll be the first brothers to play together for the Panthers since Orlando and Oliver Antigua in the mid-1990s.
Both Jorge and Guillermo have been described as having fluid, inside-out games, with strong outside shooting numbers and an ability to create off the bounce, traits that could present mismatches for Pitt’s opponents and pair them nicely with Hugley, who is more of a traditional low-post presence at 6-foot-9 and 270 pounds. Jorge told On3 that he plays “like a big guard.” Guillermo played last season for the Spanish national team in the FIBA U18 European Challengers tournament.
With the commitment of the Diaz-Graham twins, who become the first high school players in Pitt’s 2022 recruiting class, the Panthers have three open scholarships for next season.
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: May 4, 2022, 7:34 p.m.