Marquette excited to welcome Mitchell
Marquette basketball coach Steve Wojciechowski wasn’t able to get out and watch Stevie Mitchell play last season and hasn’t personally met him, but he knows Wilson’s all-time scoring leader pretty well.
“He’s a fantastic kid, (with) tremendous character,” Wojciechowski said Wednesday, hours after Mitchell made his commitment to Marquette official by signing his NCAA letter of intent on the first day of the national signing period. “He has a high basketball IQ. I think he’s one of the top (high school) guards in the country.”
Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Mitchel l never made it to Milwaukee for a recruiting visit and Wojciechowski didn’t have the chance to see the Berks Player of the Year in person during the summer and fall showcase circuits, which also were limited by the pandemic.
Golden Eagles assistant coach Dwayne Killings was at plenty of Wilson games last season and that’s enough for Wojciechowski, who is thrilled to have the All- State guard officially in his program. He anticipates him making a big impact when he arrives for the 2021-22 season.
“I love the fact that he can impact the game in so many ways offensively and defensively,” Wojciechowski said during a Zoom press conference. “He does a great job of putting pressure on the defense with his driving ability, and he’s a very creative finisher around the rim. He’s a high-level scorer.”
Mitchell averaged 22.3 points in leading the Bulldogs to Berks Conference and District 3 Class 6A championships and a 28-1 record before the PIAA Tournament was halted due to the emerging pandemic.
He set a program re
cord for points in a season (648) and became the first to average 20 points or better in consecutive seasons. He has 1,496 career points and is positioned to become just the sixth Berks player to reach 2,000.
He’s the front end of a two-man recruiting class, one Wojciechowski said he is hoping will anchor his future teams. Mitchell joins Kam Jones, a 6-4 off guard from Evangelical Christian School of Cordova, Tenn. Jones also had offers from Florida and Wake Forest.
The 6-2 Mitchell was recruited as a point guard. He had 14 Division I offers. His final seven schools included Villanova, Temple, Saint Joseph’s, Miami, Stanford and Georgia Tech.
“Both those kids will be high-level players in college,” Wojciechowski said. “They complement each other very well, because both can play with the ball or without the ball. Both of them can impact the game in a lot of different ways. And most importantly, they’re unbelievable kids from great families. We’re tremendously excited about them officially becoming members of the Marquette family.”
Jones committed to Marquette in late June; Mitchell committed in late July.
They will join what’s already a guard-heavy roster. Wojciechowski, who played guard at Duke, said he believes each committed to
Marquette because they’ve seen other backcourt players have success with the Golden Eagles.
“When these kids watch our program they see the prominent roles the guards have played on our team,” he said. “They’ve seen them get better year after year. And we’ve had a number of guys be recognized for that.”
How Mitchell will fit into the Marquette program remains to be seen; lots will happen within the program before he arrives on campus next year. Wojciechowski said he expects both of his latest recruits to make an immediate impact.
“They’re going to be thrown into the fire,” he said. “When you talk to the vast majority of kids in high school, that’s what they want. Every kid wants a chance to learn through action. They’ll handle themselves well (if that’s the case). Does that mean there’s not going to be times where it’s hard? Of course there will. They’re going to be learning on the fly. Hopefully that process will happen sooner than later because we’re gonna need them to (step in).”
Mitchell is ranked the No. 5 senior in Pennsylvania by 247sports.com, behind Jalen Warley and Franck Kepnang, both of Westtown School; Rahsool Diggins of Archbishop Wood; and Jordan Longino of Germantown Academy.