Pitt Basketball
Weekend Recruiting Notes
We’ll keep this recruiting notebook updated throughout the weekend.
**Will Kevin Stallings get his first commitment this weekend for the Class of 2017? Virginia point guard Aaron Thompson will be arriving in town today for a weekend visit. Thompson will be joined by his parents and will visiting Pittsburgh for the first time. I think there’s a decent chance of him giving Pitt a commitment.
**A name that’s been pretty quiet in the recruiting circles is Georgia athlete Connor Heyward. I’m told that Pitt made a visit to his school yesterday to check in on him. I’m told that Heyward is still very much considering Pitt.
**Last week, Pitt made an offer to 4-star running back Drake Beasley, Jr from Los Angeles, California. Last night, I briefly exchanged messages with Beasley and got his thoughts on Pitt.
“I found out about the offer from my Coach after talking to Pitt’s running back coach. Coach Powell was saying that he likes my speed and my ability to make big plays”, said Beasley.
“The offer was definitely a surprise, I hadn’t been hearing much from them at all prior to talking to Coach Powell.”
Los Angeles to Pittsburgh is a big distance. Too far for Beasley to seriously consider Pitt??
” I’m open to every school that gives me an opportunity. I have no preference on where I would like to further my education. I’ve been talking to my parents and my coach about trying to get out to Pitt in the summer.”
**Pitt coaches have been scattered all across the East coast this entire week. From what I understand, Coach Salem, Coach Conklin and Coach Harley have been in Florida and Coach Sherman will finish out the week in Georgia. Not 100% sure of where Coach Sims, Coach Peterson and Coach Canada have been recruiting.
UPDATE (7:55 PM)-
**Pitt offered 2018 WR Warren Thompson (6-4, 185) of Seffner, Florida. Thompson is another big wideout, 6-4, that Pitt’s offered. He also has offers from Penn State, Louisville, Florida and Rutgers.
**Pitt also offered 2018 RB Lorenzo Lingard of Orange City, Florida. Lingard (6-0, 180) is a 4-star back with offers from Florida, Florida St, Clemson, Ohio St, Oklahoma and Georgia.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4531141/highlights/163741382
UPDATE (9:15 AM)-
**Beaver 2017 athlete Darius Wise received an offer this morning from Colorado State.
UPDATE (10:15 AM)-
**Pitt offered an athlete from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla Joshua Palmer. Coach Salem made the offer this morning. Palmer is from Ontario, Canada but is going to school in Florida. Palmer’s biggest offers are from Michigan, Nebraska .
UPDATE (5:47 PM)-
Received a message from Joshua Palmer, who found out that he had an offer from Pitt this morning:
“It’s a blessing! I originally received the offer 2 weeks ago but I just found out and yeah it is a place I will have interest in.”
**As expected, former Pitt running back Chris James announced that he was transferring to Wisconsin. James is reunited with Paul Chryst, who originally recruited him to Pitt.
UPDATE (5:58 PM)-
**2017 Thomas Jefferson linebacker Zane Zandier received an offer today from Kansas. This was first reported by @WPIALInsider
UPDATE (6:33 PM)-
**I’m told that Pitt has offered one of the top sophomores in the state of Georgia. 2018 WR Marquez Ezzard from Stockbridge (Ga.) got the news today. Ezzard last season caught 36 passes for 800 yards and 10 TD’s. Ezzard has offers from Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and West Virginia.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3956350/marquez-ezzard
SATURDAY
**Pitt made an offer to 2018 TE Judge Culpepper from Plant High School in Tampa Bay, Florida. Culpepper (6-5, 240) also has offers from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and USC.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4137781/highlight
UPDATE (12:04 PM)-
*Kevin Stallings and Pitt lose out on a potential transfer. Central Florida transfer Adonys Henriquez has decided to transfer to St. Louis. Henriquez visited Pitt earlier in the week but decided to select St. Louis.
**2017 Thomas Jefferson athlete Zane Zandier received an ACC offer this morning when he heard from Boston College. Yesterday, Zandier got an offer from Kansas.
UPDATE (12:17 PM)-
**This morning, Pitt offered 2017 OT Connor Robbins from Menendez High School in St. Augustine, Florida. Robbins is a huge player standing 6-8, 326 lbs. Robbins holds offers from Cincinnati, Maryland, Missouri, South Florida, Syracuse and Central Florida.
I just talked with Robbins and will have his reaction a bit later.
