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John DeGroat to play basketball at Pittsburgh

As a senior at Monticello High School, DeGroat was a 6-foot-5 low-post player and a low-level Division I prospect. But the dream of making it big is beginning to happen. 

"I never imagined this would all happen," said DeGroat. 

The Monticello graduate recently gave a verbal commitment to attend the University of Pittsburgh and play for its nationally ranked program, starting in the 2004-2005 season. Pitt ranked #8 nationally last season. DeGroat chose Pitt after being courted by such national schools as Oklahoma, St. Johns, Oregon and Gonzaga, all of which had offered scholarships. DeGroat will give Pitt his written commitment when the signing period begins Nov. 7. Pitt's coaches are not allowed to comment on DeGroat until they receive his written commitment. 

Monticello's basketball coach Dick O'Neill saw DeGroat's potential as a player at Monticello. "We'll be seeing him on television," said O'Neill in an interview in 2002.  

"Our number one goal was to find the school that was going to give John any academic support that he'll need to graduate," said Deborah Mack, DeGroat's foster mother. "I'm looking at this like a job. His job is to perform to the best of his ability. Their job is to be responsible to me, John, and my family for making sure he gets what he needs."

John DeGroat led Monticello (NY) High to its best record in school history (21-3) and the Section IX Class B Championship and was named Tri-County Player of the Year. DeGroat scored a game-high 28 points to lead Monticello to a 65-50 win over Onteora in the Section IX Class B championship game. At Monticello High School, DeGroat played basketball, soccer, and participated in the track program. 

At Northeastern Community College in Colorado as a freshman, on a full-basketball scholarship, DeGroat averaged 10 points and six rebounds. However, during the summer he was named one of the top 10 performers out of nearly 400 players at Jerry Mullen's Junior College exposure camp in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One national recruiting service, NBAdraft.com, rated DeGroat as one of the top five junior college players in the country and its No. 1 shooting guard. 

Second year head coach at Northeastern, Brian Joyce, stated about John, "His improvement from the end of the season to the end of summer has been truly remarkable. When you combine his maturation over the past year with his skill and athleticism you can understand why he is one of the top prospects in the country." 

Recently, DeGroat was recognized nationally in Street and Smith's College Basketball issue as a pre-season, second-team All-American. This type of notoriety places high expectations on the talented forward from Monticello. However, Coach Joyce believes his player is up for the challenge, "John is developing into a more complete player on the court and is becoming an even better leader which will allow him to impact the game even when he does not play well. Leaders seem to have the mentality that as long as they are on the court their team has a chance to win and I think John is becoming more comfortable with this role."

DeGroat's foster parents are familiar with the recruiting process. They went through recruiting wars 12 years ago when their daughter, Katina Mack, was sought by nearly every school in the country. She went to Penn State and was a 1,000-point scorer.