Here's their tournament appearances since 2000 for you....
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016
The kids graduating high school this year grew up seeing Pitt in the NCAA tourney more often than not.
That's Big East and ACC. Pitt isn't "UConn". But UConn isn't "UConn" anymore. UConn will never be a destination for top recruits. And winning there, in the ACC, would make recruiting easier. It's a program that has been a perennial tournament team for 2 decades. That's not to say they've matched UConn, but a team that has been in the NCAA tourney nearly every year, playing in the Big East and ACC, that gets to play on ESPN network against UNC, Duke, etc, etc, rather than buried on the CBS Sports Network is easier to recruit to.
Remember when half that top 10 class left? Remember what our classes have been ranked since then? Recruiting is easier at Pitt, and when you prove you know what you're doing, you're going to get better and better recruits.
I don't understand why you think this guy (who I want at UConn) can overcome the challenges facing us, but not Pitt. He's good enough to win at both schools, bottom line. And Pitt has a much bigger stage, can attract higher caliber recruits, and thanks to conference affiliation, is a much more stable long-term job.