It was an eventful weekend for the Pitt basketball program.
The Panthers got a commitment from 6-9, 220-pound forward Talib Zanna of Bishop McNamara High in Md.
Zanna was born in Kaduna, Nigeria and has only been playing in the U.S. since the fall of 2006. He came here to pursue his dream of play college ball in America. He is not ranked in the Top 150 and is not well known but becomes the third forward to commit for 2009. Dante Taylor of National Christian, and J.J. Richardson of Missouri City, Texas also committed.
“Talib came here as a sophomore,” Bishop McNamara coach Marty Keithline said. “He’s a five man, a back-to-the-basket player. He has a good hook shot, shotblocking skills. He’s developed a 15-foot jump shot, expanded his game since he’s gotten here. He’s developed into a multi-faceted player.
Zanna averaged 15 points, 13.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks as a junior. He also had offers from St. Joe’s, Oklahoma, Villanova , Boston College and Providence.
Meantime, Pitt lost another player when it was announced Darnell Dodson, a 6-foot-6 guard from Greenbelt, Md., would not re-enroll next year at Pitt.
Dodson initially enrolled at Pitt in the summer of 2007, but was told by the NCAA Clearinghouse that he was not qualified. Dodson then enrolled at Miami-Dade Junior College and hoped to return to Pitt in ’09.
But Dodson cannot play at Pitt or any other Big East school because of a rule that states a non-qualifier out of high school who enrolls at a conference school cannot re-enroll at the original school or any other school in the conference after attending a two-year institution.
“He was at Pittsburgh, but there was a problem and he’ll probably open up his recruiting,” MIami-Dade coach Matt Eisele told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com. “There’s still an outside chance he will still go to Pittsburgh.”
Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon is also slated to have a home visit Tuesday with St. Anthony standout Dominic Cheek.
(Photo courtesy Scout.com)
