Mid-Major Transfer Forward Planning Pitt Basketball Visit

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers have worked this offseason on recruiting through the transfer portal, including targeting a top-rebounder.

Milwaukee junior forward Jamichael Stillwell entered the transfer portal and schools across the country reached out in hopes of securing his commitment.

Pitt was one of those schools and is one of three programs, along with USC and Oklahoma, that Stillwell is planning on scheduling a visit to.

“They talk about the toughness, that they need to bring some dog on the team, that is what they are looking for, Stillwell said in an interview with Jamie Shaw of On3. "They are saying how they can play small ball but not give up the rebounding. They talk about how I’d be a great fit.”

Stillwell also told Shaw that he wants to take visits before the Final Four and then narrow schools down afterwards before making a decision by early April.

He's received contact from a number of Power 5 programs, including ACC schools in Cal, Florida State and Georgia Tech, Big Ten schools in Illinois, USC and Wisconsin, Big East schools in Butler, Big 12 schools in BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and UCF, plus SEC schools in Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Stillwell hails from Atlanta and graduated from Elevation Prep in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds as a senior.

He started off on the junior college route, playing for Miami-Dade Community College, averaging 13.9 points and 8.4 rebounds in 29 games. He earned a spot on the All-Southern Conference First-Team, the D1 FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII All-Tournament Team and the JUCOrecruiting.com's Fab 50 Juco Freshman List.

Stillwell would then play his sophomore season for Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan. He averaged 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 27 games, including 14 double-doubles in the 2023-24 season.

He transferred to the Division I level for Milwaukee this past season and had an excellent showing. He earned Horizon League Newcomer of the Year and All-Horizon League First Team honors, averaging 13.0 points per game and leading the conference with 10.7 rebounds per game.

Stillwell has at least one year of eligibility, but may receive more depending on how JUCO years count towards eligibility, especially with Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia filing an injunction against the NCAA, which allows JUCO players an extra year of eligibility for next season, if they exhausted theirs prior.

Pitt lost one forward to the transfer portal in redshirt freshman Marlon Barnes Jr. They return scholarship forwards in rising seniors in Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham and Cameron Corhen, rising redshirt sophomore Papa Amadou Kante and rising sophomore Amdy Ndiaye.

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