Delalic on Pitt commitment: 'I just felt it'

The Pitt basketball program had been looking for another piece to add to its 2024-25 roster. The Pitt coaching staff had been monitoring the transfer portal closely and had been reaching out to players down that avenue, but assistant coach Tim O’Toole had another plan.

Amsal Delalic is a 6-foot-8 wing who committed to Pitt last night, and it’s a recruitment that happened basically in a two-week window. He is a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina and averaged 13.9 points per game this past season playing professionally in his home nation. Delalic was slated to do a mini tour of college campuses and originally Pitt was not on that itinerary, but a few calls from O’Toole set things in motion.

“I had different options,” Delalic told Panther-Lair.com after his commitment. “I had Creighton and I went to VCU and Pitt came from out of nowhere and I was happy to go on another visit.”

After taking visits to Creighton and VCU, his advisor informed him that Pitt was very interested and wanted him to make a third visit on his US college tour. That visit took place earlier this week, and it resulted in Delalic committing to Pitt before even boarding his flight back to Bosnia.

“I really felt everything I needed to feel to make the commitment,” he said of his decision. “Everything was just in place: the people, coaches, and it really felt like home, like back in Bosnia, so it was something that I couldn’t resist and everything just fell into place.”

After seeing multiple college campuses over the past week, he fell in love with the city, the campus, and really just the idea of living in Pittsburgh.

“It has a lot of stuff to offer,” he said of his new college home. “I was actually surprised with how it looked and it looked very nice, or let’s say perfect in some ways. It isn’t a boring city at all. It’s very fun, very alive, and very friendly. The people are nice and it’s something that fit in with me and I don’t know, I just felt it. It was amazing.”

The visit was an introduction to the Pitt program in many ways. He got to tour the city and see the facilities, but he was also able to connect with some of the current players on the team. Delalic said he got to spend some time with guys like the Diaz Graham twins, Papa Amadou Kante, Cam Corhen, and Brandin Cummings.

“I’ve gotten to know a little bit of the guys and all of the coaching staff, the strength and conditioning coach, so everyone in general and it was a pretty nice experience,” he explained.

Delalic has been playing professionally for years, but recalled watching college basketball when he was about 16 years old. He told himself if he ever had the opportunity, it’s something he wanted to pursue. Delalic just wasn’t sure if that route would be realistic, but after a strong season as a 20-year old, colleges took notice and really this whole process came together rather quickly.

“I was very surprised with three visits I had with three great schools and just coming and visiting them was just unbelievable,” Delalic admitted. “I mean, the whole experience and all that is was different than it is back home in Bosnia. The facilities, the usage, all of the equipment, just everything that every school had to offer was way, way better for me to progress to make myself even better and to make whatever team I go to better and I’m thankful that it is Pittsburgh in the end.”

The expectations for Delalic will be fairly high once he arrives in Pittsburgh. He will be a 21-year old freshman who has experience playing against older players, so the adjustment competition wise is something Jeff Capel and his staff are hoping he can overcome quickly. Their message to him was that they needed a talented player to offset the losses of Bub Carrington and Blake Hinson.

Delalic is proficient outside shooter, making 41.5% of his attempts from deep this past season. He also grabbed 4.6 rebounds and is a skilled passer. All of those traits should allow for him to come in and make an immediate impact.

“They needed someone with great shooting, and not just that, but the whole package,” said Delalic. “I can bring, not just my shooting, but my playmaking. So just reading, helping my teammates and there’s just a lot of things that I can bring to the table. In one way that kind of surprised them, but that’s how they started to recruit me.”

Delalic will be back home for the next few weeks and will be moving into Pittsburgh around mid-June, where he will begin classes and training with the team to get ready for his first season of college basketball.