Steve Pikiell has spent the better part of the six weeks since he was hired as Rutgers men's basketball coach on the road recruiting.

On Thursday, his efforts began to pay off as he received a verbal commitment from a highly sought-after forward from the junior college ranks.

Candido Sa, a 6-foot-9 forward who averaged 9.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game last winter at San Jacinto College in Texas, has opted to play his final two seasons of collegiate eligibility at Rutgers, a source familiar with the decision told NJ Advance Media.

The news of Sa's commitment was first reported by 247Sports.com's Rutgers team website.

A Lisbon, Portugal, native, Sa was reportedly drawing interest from Texas, Baylor, Pittsburgh and Western Kentucky. He is the second player to commit to Rutgers since Pikiell took over in mid-March, joining Roselle Catholic forward Matt Bullock in an incoming 2016-17 recruiting class that is expected to be finalized in May.

Rutgers has seven scholarship players currently on the roster, including Corey Sanders, the rising sophomore point guard who applied for early entry to the NBA Draft while maintaining his collegiate eligibility by not signing with an agent (a Rutgers official dismissed a question about Sanders' status Thursday during a media teleconference with the new assistant coaching staff).

That means Pikiell can add up to six recruits for next season, although assistant coach Jay Young indicated that the new staff may be patient with their roster slots during the spring signing period (which ends May 18).

"This is going to be built brick-by-brick so there are no quick fixes here,'' Young said. "You've got to find the right people, the right students, the right players to fill these positions. Honestly if you can't (find the right fits) you're better off leaving them open right now and making sure we get those people. This is going to be a process. There are no quick fixes. We've gotta get the right people on board, and if we can find those, we'll certainly use our scholarships wisely.

"We want to make sure that we don't just try to do something quickly for the short term. This is a long-term thing. We're always keeping that in mind when we're making those decisions.''

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.