Pitt Basketball 4-Star Target Announces Commitment Date

Hawthorne hails from Beckley, W.Va. and played for powerhouse Huntington Prep in Huntingon, W.Va.

He originally committed to West Virginia on Oct. 14, 2024, just 10 days after receiving his offer, and then signed his National Letter of Intent (NLI) a month later.

Hawthorne re-opened his recruitment on March 21, after West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries left after one season and took over as head coach of Indiana.

Pitt hosted Hawthorne on an official visit on April 29, placing them in his top six finalists.

He's already made official visits to Kentucky on April 16, Virginia Tech on April 18, the new staff at WU and Duke on May 2.

Hawthorne stands 6-foot-9 and possesses a 7-foot-3 wingspan, which benefits him on blocks, steals and rebounds, He is also quick, incredibly athletic and has great verticality, as he loves going up for big time dunks and alley-oops.

He also will shoot 3-pointers on occasion, but his best play comes from driving to the rim and going through contact for the bucket.

Hawthorne is a consensus four-star recruit and the top player in West Virginia in the Class of 2025, with 247Sports ranking him No. 33 in the nation and the No. 10 small forward, On3 ranking him No. 35 in the United States and No. 9 at his position and ESPN ranking him No. 81 in the country and the No. 23 small forward.

Pitt has three recruits in their Class of 2025, in four-star guard Omari Witherspoon from St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C., who signed his NLI, three-star center Kieran Mullen from Vancouver and who played for St. Thomas More High School, a boarding school in Oakdale, Conn. and Australian forward Henry Lau from Sydney.