Harvard commit Bennett Pitcher ready to put focus on basketball
DEERFIELD, Mass. (BVM) — Coming into Deerfield Academy at 6-foot-7, Bennett Pitcher got most of his college looks early on from his play on the football field. Over time, the now-6-foot-9 and one-half inch, 290-pound center has made sure his work on the court won’t be overshadowed.
“Definitely early on, I got recruited a lot more in football and I think that’s just kind of how it works,” Pitcher said. “There’s a lot more scholarships left at the end of roster spots, so they just recruit earlier. But by the time I was a junior, so last year, I thought it was pretty even and ultimately ended up choosing basketball just because I felt like that was where I still had the most potential to grow.”
On the football field, the four-star recruit garnered attention from many Division I programs including Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. Pitcher’s rare size and speed have been put on showcase with impressive numbers like his 4.77-second 40-yard dash time. Although the football offers came early, Pitcher knew his passion landed elsewhere.
After suffering stress fractures to his T1 and T5 vertebrae in the third game of the season, Pitcher would be forced to miss the rest of the junior football season and part of his basketball season. The impact put things in perspective for the former Big Green offensive lineman, deciding his focus would go solely to basketball in his senior year.
“I’ve played football and basketball since I was in third grade, so I’ve pretty much played them both my whole life,” Pitcher said. “This past year was the first year ever I didn’t play both.”
Even with the decision to forgo his final football season, Pitcher already has his future plans set up. Playing under his dad, Conrad, who is the head basketball coach at Deerfield Academy, Bennett has received major basketball interest, deciding to commit to Harvard back in June.
“I really like Coach [Tommy] Amaker, I thought he was a great coach that I could learn from for my next four years,” Pitcher said when talking about his reason for committing to Harvard. “I really like the whole staff as a whole, all the assistant coaches, the strength and conditioning coaches, the trainers. They all just seem like really down-to-earth people that are interested in helping me grow. Then obviously Harvard as a school, there’s nothing like it. An education like that sets you up in such a good spot in life, that it was an opportunity that I definitely couldn’t turn down.”
Committed to Harvard University Men’s Basketball ‘25 🏀 (Pending Admission) @HarvardMBB pic.twitter.com/YZmmvXG1YE
— Bennett Pitcher (@BennettPitcher) June 7, 2020
For Pitcher, the constant recruiting has been a mainstay during his high school career. He’s looking forward to moving his focus elsewhere now that he can check that off his list.
“It’s been really nice this summer and fall to not have to deal with all that,” Pitcher said when talking about the grind of recruiting. “Obviously, it’s really exciting when you’re talking to all these different schools and all these different coaches that you watched on TV. It’s kind of been nice to have the weight lifted off my shoulders now and just focus on playing basketball.”
As the Big Green senior heads into his final season, Pitcher knows this season may look a little different, but he still has some goals he wants to work on before he heads into Ivy League competition.
“Hopefully if we end up having any sort of season, I just hope that I’ll be able to shoot the ball a little bit better than I did the past year,” Pitcher said. “I’ve been getting in a lot more basketball shape post football shape. So you know, to play more minutes and also just be more effective when I’m on the floor all the time.”
With his mindset focused on perfecting his craft, he’s not overlooking his final opportunity to play under his dad.
“I loved it,” Pitcher said when talking about what it’s been like to play under his dad at Deerfield Academy. “He’s my AAU coach for most of my time growing up too, so I’ve played for him the majority of the times I’ve played basketball. It’s been really exciting and I wish we had one more normal season together. I mean I would be happy with even just one or two more games with him as my coach.”
