The Pitt men’s basketball team acquired a special talent Monday when 6-foot-8-inch power… The Pitt men’s basketball team acquired a special talent Monday when 6-foot-8-inch power forward Dante Taylor, of National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md., gave Pitt coach Jamie Dixon a verbal commitment for 2009.

Dixon had reason to smile at the Pittsburgh Pro Am Summer League Monday night, as Taylor is regarded as a five-star athlete and one of the top players in the class of 2009 at his position. Among others, Pitt beat out national powerhouse programs Connecticut, Memphis and Kansas to land Taylor.

Taylor announced his decision at the Triple S Harley Davidson Shootout in Morgantown on the campus of West Virginia.

He’s set to become part of what could be one of Pitt’s best recruiting class.

The Panthers already have a commitment from four-star prospect Lamar Patterson of St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J.

Darnell Dodson, who came to Pitt in 2007 but failed to receive proper clearances from the NCAA Clearinghouse, is also set to return after a stint at Miami Dade Community College.