Judah Mintz announced that he has decommitted for the Pitt basketball program via his Twitter account today. Mintz is a 6'4" shooting guard from Washington DC that is set to play for national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy this season.
The news comes on the first day of the early signing period for college basketball. Multiple attempts by Panther-Lair.com to reach Mintz and those around him in the days leading up to signing day to see his signing plans were unsuccessful, though there was little to indicate he was set to open up his recruitment so soon.
Mintz committed to Pitt back on June 19th following an official visit to the school, his second trip to see the Oakland campus. He chose Pitt over other offers that included Florida, Georgetown, Maryland, Penn State, and Virginia Tech.
“The family feeling, the feeling that it was home, that was really the biggest part of my decision, to be honest,” Mintz told Panther-Lair.com following his commitment.
In the summer Mintz flourished on the AAU circuit starring for Team Durant. He rose his recruiting ranking to No. 68 in the country according to Rivals.com. Mintz looked like an anchor for Jeff Capel's recruiting efforts in the class of 2022, and was the highest-ranked player to commit to him as the head coach of Pitt.
In the months following Mintz's commitment, Pitt's efforts to add to the 2022 recruiting class have come up empty. Pitt hosted additional players like Dominick Barlow, MJ Rice, Ryan Dunn, and Daniel Skillings for official visits, but all have opted to pursue other options. Recently Pitt hosted Darren Buchanan for an official visit and he remains uncommitted. Buchanan is a AAU teammate of Mintz.
The news of the de-commitment comes one day after the Pitt basketball program opened the season with a 78-63 loss to The Citadel, a program out of the Southern Conference. It marks the fourth loss Pitt has lost to a mid-major program in the Capel era.
The 2022 recruiting efforts will have to shift focus to the spring with zero commitments and the early signing period already upon the Pitt staff in the recruiting calendar.
