Pitt Hoops Inks Four in Early Signing Period

PITTSBURGH – Head coach Kevin Stallings, in his first season at Pitt, announced Thursday the signing of Terrell Brown, Marcus Carr, Aaron Thompson and Jared Wilson-Frame during the early signing period. The Panthers’ four-man class is currently listed 25th overall and sixth in the ACC in 247Sports Team Rankings.

(Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics)

“We came into this recruiting season knowing we needed a big class,” said Stallings. “We have been able to add, to this point, four guys that are ACC level players and guys that fill needs for us. We feel really good about the combination of academic abilities; character of the kids we have signed as well as what they will bring skill set wise to our basketball team. We have added some ball handlers, scoring and size. There is more to go on this class, but we are certainly excited about the four guys we currently have in the fold.”

Brown, a 6-10 power forward from Barrington, R.I., averaged nearly 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in helping BABC to the EYBL Finals at the 2016 Nike Peach Jam. Listed as the No. 1 player out of Rhode Island, he shot over 53.0 percent from the field on the EYBL circuit. Brown will play his final season of high school basketball at the Tilton School in New Hampshire, the alma mater of current NBA players Georges Niang and Nerlens Noel. Brown, whose grandfather Vic Soares was a basketball standout at Rhode Island, also has USA Basketball experience, competing for a spot on the 2014 U17 World Championship Team.

“Terrell is a guy that we identified in April, right after we got the job, and made him a priority,” said Stallings. “We really like his upside at almost 6-11 with a 9-3 standing reach. He is a guy that can come in and really add some athleticism and skill to our frontcourt, which again we identified as one of our primary needs going into this recruiting season.”

Carr, a 6-2 combo guard from Toronto, is listed as a top-25 shooting guard in the class of 2017 and the No. 3 two-guard out of the state of Florida, where he plays for Montverde Academy, one of the top prep teams in the country that has produced college stars Ben Simmons and D’Angelo Russell. Carr missed the entire 2015-16 high school season with a knee injury. Carr, the younger brother of South Carolina’s Duane Notice, helped Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2015 U16 Americas Championship. He averaged 6.2 points and 2.8 rebounds over four games of the tournament. Carr also averaged 7.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game to help Canada to a silver medal finish at the 2016 Adidas Nations event.

“Marcus is a guy that I had recruited while at Vanderbilt,” Stallings continued. “He is a guard who is equally as good with or without the ball. He is really good at making other people better with his passing but is also a very good shot maker. He is one of those guys that offensively brings a lot to the table in terms of his versatility and things he can do with the ball.”

Thompson, a 6-2 lead guard from Fairfax, Va., averaged 9.3 points per game to lead Paul VI to a 22-11 record and state championship game appearance. He earned second team All-WCAC honors along with current Panther Corey Manigault in each of the past two seasons. Thompson, ranked as the 11th-best recruit out of Virginia, averaged 7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game in leading Team Takeover to a 10-6 mark during the 2016 EYBL circuit. Thompson’s older brother, Anthony, plays basketball at Holy Cross.

“Aaron is another guy that I had recruited at Vanderbilt,” said Stallings. “He’s the kind of competitor that I want to have in our program. He is an elite defensive player with elite toughness and came from the same AAU program as James Robinson. He is a guy, that while different from James, brings a lot of the same winning qualities that from my understanding James was able to bring to Pitt Basketball.”

Jared Wilson-Frame, a 6-5 guard from Bridgeport, Conn., is ranked second among junior college recruits for the 2017 class according to 247Sports. Wilson-Frame currently plays for Northwest Florida State College, where he averaged 15.4 points, 2.6 three-pointers, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Raiders last season, helping the team to a 27-6 overall record. This season, Wilson-Frame looks to lead the preseason No. 1 Raiders to a NCJAA Championship. The 6-5 guard is off to a strong start, averaging 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and shooting 55.6 percent from beyond-the-arc over his first two games.

“Jeremy [Ballard} saw Jared in the national junior college tournament a year ago as a freshman,” added Stallings. “When we assessed the needs and size of this class, he was one of the first junior college players we thought about and called on. He is a wing player with a lot of ability and great physicality at 225 pounds. He has extraordinary range on his jump shot as well as the athleticism to finish at the goal.”