On Wednesday night, 2025 guard prospect Omari Witherspoon out of Washington, D.C. committed to Pitt over Maryland and Vanderbilt.
He announced his commitment live on 247 Sports’ YouTube channel.
Witherspoon is a 6-foot-4 guard out of Saint John’s College Prep in D.C. — the same high school that current Pitt Panther Ishmael Leggett went to. Witherspoon received an offer from the Panthers in July, and weeks later, narrowed his recruiting list down to ten schools. He then visited several schools on his list, including West Virginia, Maryland, and finally, Pitt, before cutting his list down to just three schools. Now, he has locked in on the Panthers and becomes the first prospect in the class of 2025 to verbally commit to Pitt.
Witherspoon is a 6-foot-4 guard out of Saint John’s College Prep in Washington, D.C. He is now a four-star prospect according to 247 Sports, jumping from No. 191 in the nation all the way up to No. 104 overall according to 247’s latest rankings update.
So, rankings aside, what’s the scouring report on Witherspoon?
247 Sports and MADE Hoops scout Colby Giacubeno, who has seen Witherspoon play numerous times throughout his high-school career, joined The Pittsburgh Basketball Show on Tuesday to discuss that very topic.
“His rise in the timeframe in which he did so, his build, his length,” Giacubeno began. “In those terms? People are going to throw this out a lot as time goes on, but he kind of reminds you of Bub in that sense. Not the same type of game. Omari, I wouldn’t say is, and there aren’t a lot of people that are the shot maker like Bub was, especially last year for Pitt. But, what Omari is, he’s a really tough two-way presence of a guard who can play on or off the ball. I would envision him playing a little bit more on the ball at the college ranks. Not so much in a sense of ‘Hey, you’re our primary option, you’re who the offense is going to run through.’ Omari even knows that. It’s moreso, hey, I’m the initiator. Let me get us into sets, I can start the break….”
“…If you watch him with his Saint John’s team, obviously, you see him with his AAU team D.C. Premier, he’s going to do a lot of the ball handling, the majority of it. Saint John’s, he’s going to split it up. That’s where you can really see the versatility. That’s where a lot of the high-major programs really saw his value. The modern-day of the basketball, what teams are emphasizing. It’s versatility, position-less basketball, and that’s what Omari brings. He’s just an efficient playmaker. He’s got the size at the guard position, and then just really good instincts off the ball defensively. Presence on the glass. Just kind of a do-it-all guard that just needs polish in pretty much every area that a lot of freshmen do…”
Breaking Down Omari Witherspoon’s Skill Set with Basketball Scout
Witherspoon is the lone high-school player currently committed to the Panthers. There are six other prospects that currently have Pitt on top-school lists: Meleek Thomas, Amari Evans, Davion Hannah, Nikola Bundalo, Derek Dixon, and Isaiah Denis. Denis, Dixon, Evans, and Thomas have all taken official visits to Pitt already, and Hannah is scheduled to visit Pitt on October 19, later this fall.
Witherspoon joins the list of talented DMV-area guards to recently join Jeff Capel’s program, following Bub Carrington and Leggett.
Up next on the recruiting calendar is the date September 27 — the date on which Dixon will commit to a program. Pitt is squarely in the mix for Dixon, alongside North Carolina, Virginia, Arizona, and others.
