June 15 is always a fun day in the basketball recruiting world as college coaches are allowed to directly contact rising juniors for the first time.

The Pitt staff reached out to numerous 2022 prospects and a few of those recruits received offers from the Panthers, and one of those prospects was 2022 guard Mason Manning, a Mississippi native who currently resides in Pittsburgh.

“Pitt is a really good program, Coach (Jeff) Capel is great and I like what he does for his kids," Manning told Panther-Lair.com. "He is always working on getting his players better and I am big on that.”

Jeff Capel’s message to Manning was simple.

“He loves my game, and he wants me to come play for him. He likes how I play defense, he likes how I can get my own shot and he likes how I can get my teammates the ball.”

Since he has been in Pittsburgh, Manning has gotten a chance to see Pitt in person, including a few of the Panthers' basketball games.

"I was able to go to two games last year," he said. "It is a good campus. There is nothing to complain about. I watched Pitt games growing up.”

Manning has heard from a ton of other high-major schools this week, and he said the offers from Maryland and Seton Hall stood out.

“I really like the coaching staff [at Maryland]," he said. 'They do good things with their point guards and since I am a point guard I think they can help me a lot.”

He also likes what Seton Hall has done with their guards in the past.

“I like what they do with their guards, they develop good guards.”