Erie star William Jeffress chooses Pitt; 2020 class ranked 13th nationally

William Jeffress’ basketball journey began in the second grade when he scored half of his AAU team’s points in a game against the Pittsburgh Storm. His team lost, 45-6.

“We were in second grade and they were in fourth grade, and they handled us,” Jeffress said, unashamedly. “We hit two 3s. I banked one in.”

From that point and for the next nine years, basketballs kept leaving Jeffress’ hands and ending up in the net, leading the McDowell High School standout to Pitt. He signed a letter of intent with the Panthers on Tuesday.

After playing three seasons as an underclassman and averaging 23.2 points and 8.3 rebounds, he will graduate from McDowell early as its all-time leading scorer (1,673) and rebounder (578). Jeffress’ national rankings include 33rd by ESPN, 58th by 247sports.com and 75th by Rivals. He is Pitt’s highest-rated recruit since Steven Adams in 2012, according to ESPN rankings.

While winning a gold medal last year with the USA U16 National Team in Belem, Brazil, he compiled an impressive list of scholarship offers from former NCAA champions Virginia and Villanova, plus Baylor, Memphis, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Penn State, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

Jeffress is the fifth member of Pitt’s 2020 recruiting class, now ranked 13th in the nation by 247Sports (fourth in the ACC behind Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State). Pitt is 20th in the nation and fifth in the ACC, according to Rivals.com.

Jeffress, 6-foot-7, 200 pounds, is more than a month shy of his 17th birthday, but he’s been playing against older athletes his entire life.

“Will is a versatile and skilled player with a big upside at only 16 years old,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said in a statement.

Jeffress said his game grew thanks to the competition.

“There is no other way to get better than to be challenged,” he said. “Growing up, my dad (a basketball Hall of Famer at the University of New Haven, Conn.) always has put me into positions where I was pushed. I was pushed around. I was forced to get better. It was almost a sink-or-swim scenario.

“He only put me in those positions when he knew I could step my game up and continue to grow and develop. Playing up, you might get bullied around. They might be faster, bigger, stronger, but at the end of the day, your development, your progress as a player is growing exponentially faster than if you were playing at (your level).”

Asked if he will be able to withstand the rigors of ACC basketball, he said without hesitation, “I think I’m ready.”

McDowell coach Kevin O’Connor said the tone at practice changed as soon as Jeffress joined the varsity as a freshman.

“We started to practice harder,” he said. “I never saw anybody compete from Day 1 like William.

“He’s a born leader, captain as a freshman on a 6A team, pretty unheard of.”

Jeffress took several college credits and handled a heavy academic load so he could reclassify and graduate this year after his junior season. Jeffress is in the top 15 of his class with a 4.19 GPA.

“He’s never satisfied,” said O’Connor, who also is Jeffress’ English teacher. “The unique thing about him, he always wants a challenge.”

O’Connor, a Keystone Oaks graduate, said he’s pleased Jeffress chose Pitt.

“I’m from Pittsburgh. I might have pushed him,” O’Connor said. “To be so good and so young, he’s going to make an impact.”

Jeffress received another slight nudge from McDowell graduate James Conner, a Pitt All-American and current Pittsburgh Steelers running back.

Jeffress said Conner reached out via text message in recent weeks, but “He wasn’t pushing me toward Pitt.”

“He said, ‘Take your time on your decision, make the choice that’s best for you. Go do what you need to do and be great.’ ”

Jeffress said he chose Pitt partially because it’s close to home — his mother, Andrea, is a UPMC physician in Erie — but also after a 45-minute conversation he had with Capel when he was 14.

“Jeff Capel was one of the first coaches to call me,” Jeffress said. “Coach Capel believed in me. He had 45-minute sit-down conversation of his vision of where I would be as a player, where his program is growing and just his belief in everything that he preaches, just trying to get Pitt back to where it used to be.”

Jeffress’ only regret through high school is not getting to finish the season.

McDowell (23-3) won the District 10 championship and was poised to meet WPIAL champ Butler and Purdue commit Ethan Morton in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals when the tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“We were both looking forward to the matchup, the atmosphere and the mutual respect we have for each other,” Jeffress said. “That was going to be one of the matchups for the ages, could be one of the biggest games anybody’s seen around here in a while.”

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