Pitt lands commitment from Nate Santos

At long last Pitt has picked up its first commitment for the class of 2021. Adam Finkelstein of ESPN tweeted Tuesday evening that Nate Santos has committed to Pitt. Santos is a 6'7" forward out of Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut. He also had offers from Creighton, Georgetown, Ole Miss, and more.

Santos added an offer from Pitt on March 29th and things progressed quickly between the two sides. Santos spoke to Panther-Lair.com following his offer and detailed his recruitment at that point.

“They really like my playing style and they think I can make an impact there for them so it is an awesome feeling," he said in a March interview. "The ACC is the best conference and Pitt is a great school so it is a blessing.”

Santos noted that his recruitment would come down to Pitt and George Washington and was hoping to decided rather quickly as of last week. Santos went from picking up an offer fro Pitt just a week ago to the first member of the Panthers' 2021 recruiting class.

Santos, a 6'7" wing, is expected to bring the ability to knock down outside shots. He is listed as a power forward in the Rivals.com database, but is certainly more of a perimeter player.

“I am a very versatile wing so playing at either the 2 or 3 position, I can make a lot of impact,” he said of himself during a March interview. “I can shoot it from deep and can overall just score the ball in a variety of ways. If I were to go [to Pitt], I would be going in and hopefully adding something they really need which is shooting. The coaches think I could go in and fill that role they need in helping them with outside shooting.”

Pitt's roster reconstruction is still an ongoing process. With the commitment of Santos, Pitt now has seven known scholarship players available for the 2021-22 season, along with some unknown parts like Justin Champagnie who could opt to return after testing the NBA Draft process and John Hugley, whose legal status is still undecided.

Pitt still has plenty of work to do in order to fill out the rest of the roster, however. The Panthers remain in the mix for high school prospects Efton Reid and Jaylen Blakes, and have stayed active looking in the transfer portal as well.