Before he heads out this weekend to the Nike EYBL stop in Sacramento, Esa Ahmad, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Cleveland (Ohio) Shaker Heights, met Wednesday with coaches from Maryland and Pittsburgh.
Pitt director of basketball operations Brian Regan met with Ahmad at the high school.
“I guess he’s about to be the assistant [coach],” Ibby Ahmad, Esa’s father, told SNY.tv Thursday.
Ibby Ahmad said he’s friendly with former Pitt player Greg Bell, and “he called me once he heard about it.”
Maryland sent head coach Mark Turgeon and assistants Dustin Clark and Bino Ranson.
“They really want Esa and he’s a priority,” Ibby said. “They want to win with him. He’s going to be part of winning immediately. They said they don’t have anybody like him.”
Ibby said Esa may try to visit Maryland and West Virginia around the Nike EYL stop in Virginia.
“We’re probably going to do both of them in the same weekend hopefully,” Ibby said. “We’re going to try to visit both of them at the same time.”
Meantime, UNLV recently offered and Marquette, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Wisconsin and Indiana “want to get in on it,” Ibby said.
Ranked No. 89 in the Class of 2015 by 247 Sports, Ahmad has already visited Ohio State, Xavier, Dayton, Clemson, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Cleveland State.
Ibby previously told SNY.tv. Maryland, West Virginia, Clemson, Iowa State, Rutgers and Kansas State have been “pushing hard.”
Ahmad led Shaker Heights in points (26.5), rebounds (11.5), assists (3.5), blocks (2) and steals (2) per game and was named Associated Press Division I Player of the Year statewide in Ohio.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
And like ZAGS on Facebook
