There was no point in waiting.
St. Joseph point guard Raven Pitt visited Wagner College several times over the last few months, spoke with the coaches, met with potential teammates, and as far as she was concerned, there was no other option. She just had to make it official. Pitt did just that earlier this month when she committed to Wagner, cementing her college hoops future.
“I just felt like Wagner, they showed a lot of interest in me, and I really liked the school,” Pitt said. “It’s close, so I like that and they showed a lot of interest in me, the coaches they were really nice. I really liked the way the program was looking, so I just thought, ‘Well, why not?’”
Pitt immediately felt a connection to the school after taking her unofficial visit earlier this year. It didn’t take long for her to realize that she’d also found the perfect basketball program for her as well. After all, she’s always wanted to play at the next level and Wagner offers a bit of everything – a quiet campus, close to home and, most importantly, top tier competition at the Division I level.
“To play college basketball is something I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” Pitt said. “It’s very exciting. It’s really a blessing to be able to say that one day I’ll be able to play Division I. For most basketball players, that’s their dream, and I’m going to be able to live it.”
Pitt has plenty of reason to be confident. She helped lead St. Joseph to a Brooklyn-Queens “B” championship in the program’s inaugural season, setting the tone in the backcourt.
Pitt was the undisputed leader of the squad this winter, but much like her college choice, landing at St. Joseph was a bit of a “why not” decision. She transferred to the school from Valley Stream on Long Island and it took a bit of pushing to convince Pitt the change was worth it.
“[St. Joseph head coach Mike Toro] was persistent. He really wanted me to go [to St. Joseph],” Pitt said. “At first we shot it down, but he kept going because he really wanted me to play there. So I just made the jump.”
The decision turned out to be worth it. Throughout the postseason, Pitt took on some of the top players in the city, racking up points against them no matter where she was shooting from. In addition to Wagner, her performances drew interest from Long Island University, Southern New Hampshire and Miami of Ohio.
“It wasn’t really a surprise to me,” she said of the scouts’ attention. I knew I was going to play college basketball, it was just a matter of where and what school showed me the most interest.”
Now that her college choice has been made, Pitt has her sights set on the remainder of her high-school career. St. Joseph fell short of a city title this past season, and she and her teammates aren’t willing to accept anything less this coming year.
“I’m just getting ready to work out, going to practice with the team and getting ready to play high school ball again,” Pitt said. “I’m just trying to be the best I can be.”
