It wasn’t even light Friday morning when new Pitt basketball coach Jeff Capel was watching one of Western Pennsylvania’s brightest stars work out. By night time Friday, Capel had offered the player a scholarship.
Capel offer was for Ethan Morton, a standout sophomore point guard at Butler High School. Capel told Butler coach Matt Clement about the offer and Clement sent word to Morton as Morton was at the Pittsburgh airport, awaiting a flight to an AAU tournament this weekend in New Jersey.
Morton is ranked the No. 50 sophomore in the country by Rivals.com and is being recruited by a number of major colleges. He already has offers from Ohio State, Wisconsin, Duquesne and West Virginia, among others. Capel talked with Morton on the phone last week and came to Butler High Friday morning just to watch Morton go through a workout before school.
“I only talked to [Capel] a little today because I had to get to school,” said Morton. “But he was able to sit down and talk to coach Clement and my dad.”
Former Pitt coach Kevin Stallings also had offered Morton a scholarship. It’s a wise move for Capel to start recruiting Morton soon after he was hired. Players as good as Morton don’t show up in your Western Pa. backyard every year. This past season, Morton averaged 24 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals a game. He will head into his junior season with 930 career points.
“Obviously, I don’t know [Capel] super well yet, but you just know he’s so knowledgeable about the game,” said Morton. “He’s had so many different experiences, with being a head coach so young, then coaching under coach [Mike Krzyzewski]. He has a lot of knowledge and he’s been around a lot of success. He knows what it takes and I’m excited to get to know him more and hear about his plans and visions.”
But Morton was quick to point out that he isn’t close to having any personal college favorites.
“Pitt’s a hometown school and playing in the ACC is kind of close to my heart,” said Morton. “But I’m so wide open in this process. Everything to me is intriguing at this point.”
Morton is playing AAU this spring and summer for the New York Renaissance (RENS), a high-level team that plays on the Nike EYBL tour. The Rens fly Morton to New York for practice sometimes. Although Morton is only a sophomore, he is playing on the RENS’ 17-and-under team that is made up of mostly high school juniors.
Among the RENS players are guard Jalen Lecque, ranked the No. 14 junior in the country by Rivals, and center Kofi Cockburn, the No. 38 junior.
“It’s nice to know that four or five guys are going to play at a high, major level and you’re going to practice with those guys and go against those guys,” said Morton.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: April 7, 2018, 1:31 a.m.