Panther Recruiting Update: Steven Adams Has a Good Weekend

Every time that 2012 Pitt commit Steve Adams goes up against better competition, you cannot help but be more impressed with his skill level as his performances do not drop off in the slightest.  This time, in his first test against true elite competition, it was at the Adidas Nations event in Chicago.  Once again, Adams walked away as the week’s top rebounder while drawing continuous plaudits for his play on both ends of the court, especially on the defensive end.

Adams has defensive stopper written all over his game. (Lucas Wroe/Kangaroo)

Seeing Adams up against players such as Isaiah Austin, Paul Jurkin, and DaJuan Coleman this weekend gives an excellent impression of just how big he really is.  Adams is a legit 6’10″ with room to grow yet and, on top of that, has an excellent frame with broad shoulders, an exceptional wingspan and giant bear paw hands.  Scott Phillips from the Basketball Report tweeted that Adams was the same size as another 2012 prospect, Kaleb Tarczewski, and Tarczewski is listed at 7’0″ so there are no worries about an international fudging of the height numbers here.

On the offensive end of the court, Adams impressed (even though it was often difficult to pry the ball out of Cezar Guerrero’s hands this weekend) by showing a soft touch around the rim and excellent court awareness.  In fact, Steve’s high level basketball knowledge was a running theme all weekend.  He has an excellent of understanding of team play and where he needs to be at all times.  Defensively, Adams is simply elite as he shut down the best post players in the world this weekend without any need for a double team.  He is sturdy in the post and possesses excellent fundamentals while defending ball side and remains an excellent weak side help defender.  Pretty much the whole package, really.

There are, naturally, weaknesses to Adams game still as there is with any 17 year old.  His footwork on the offensive end, particularly in the post, is not anywhere near polished yet, but you can see where he has the ability to improve there as he has quick feet and good hand-eye coordination.  Conditioning is still a concern as well as he often struggled to keep pace with the ragged up and down style of play late into games.  Finally, his foul shooting remains Dudley-esque although given the touch that he displays around the rim you can expect that to come as well.

Overall the impression of Adams left this weekend in Chicago was significantly better than anyone could have expected, and I wouldn’t hesitate to put him right near the top of the 2012 recruiting class.  Naturally, Andre Drummond and Khem Birch remain a step above everyone else but when ranking the remaining post players you could put Isaiah Austin, DaJuan Coleman, Daniel Ochefu, Kaleb Tarczewski and Adams in any order.  Personally, I would be inclined to go Coleman, Adams, Ochefu, Austin, Tarczewski right now after watching Adams have his way with Austin this weekend, but you could move those top three around without getting much protest from me.  Any way that you slice it though Jamie Dixon walked away with an absolute steal when he picked up a commitment from Adams.

Other notes:

* Pitt 2012 target Khem Birch was exceptional at the Nike Global Games in Portland, OR this weekend picking up the International player MVP award and regularly posting 20/20 stat lines while averaging 22.7 ppg, 13 rpg and 4.3 bpg.  He is quickly looking like a one and done player and is an absolute must-get for the Panthers although the big boys like UNC, Kentucky, Florida, Arizona and Ohio State are pushing hard.  We all know about Khem though at this point and honestly I wish that there was more to say other than that he is terribly good and the clear number 2 player in the 2012 class, hopefully he will visit soon and give the staff a chance to start closing.

* Durand Johnson recently listed Pitt as a leader but is making a visit to Seton Hall soon.  He has never been a top target for the Panthers and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pirates land him while the Panthers waffle.

* Malcolm Gilbert is another 2011 target that has Pitt on the board right now.  Gilbert is a pretty raw offensive player but is a quality defender and shot blocker so he might be a good pick up if the staff is looking for a player to play behind Birch and eventually replace him.

* Kiski Prep big man Sim Bhullar did not have anywhere near the weekend that Khem Birch did for Team Canada at the Global Games but he is at least very, very tall.