Pitt FB Recruiting
Targets To Watch For Pitt’s Class of 2018
College recruiting is a 12 month a year job. Currently the college football coaches are in the non-contact period with 2017 recruits but that doesn’t mean they’re not working.
Aside from maybe five or six spots, Pat Narduzzi’s Class of 2017 is for the most part filled. That means work must continue on establishing relationships and getting started on next years recruiting class.
At this point, Pitt has offered over 80 junior prospects from states such as Texas, California, Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, New York, Georgia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
The program will hold a Junior Day a few weeks after National Letter of Intent Day in February, at which time they invite many of the top juniors that they’re interested in. This is the day that recruiting for the Class of 2018 really gets underway.
We’ve looked at the list of offers Pitt has made and will point out 15 players that fans should focus on. Keep in mind, these are names that I’m just pointing out. The Pitt coaches might name 15 other players.
1) Kwantel Raines: 6-3, 190 4-star Safety from Aliquippa. Raines will be one of if not the top prospect in the state and is a national recruit. Raines already holds offers from Penn State, Michigan State, West Virginia and Virginia Tech. He will be one of the players at the top of Pitt’s recruiting board.
Kwantel Raines at Heinz Field before the Pitt-Penn State game (Photo credit: Mike Vukovcan)
2) Alex Reigelsperger: 6-5, 230 4-star Defensive end from Huber Heights, Ohio. Reigelsperger has already visited Pitt a couple of times this year and is highly thought of by the Pitt staff. Currently, he holds offers from West Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky and Purdue.
Photo courtesy of Alex Reigelsperger
3) Michael Dowell: 6-0, 190 3-star cornerback from Lakewood, Ohio. Pitt was the first school to offer him and has since then has picked up an offer from Michigan State, a school that his brother currently plays for.
Photo courtesy of Michael Dowell
4) Kevin Doyle: 6-3, 190 4-star quarterback from Pennsylvania. Like Dowell, Pitt offered Doyle first and since then his recruitment has exploded with offers from Michigan State, Mississippi, West Virginia, Iowa, Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana. Doyle is another player the staff likes and he’s visited Pitt multiple times.
PA 2018 QB Kevin Doyle (Photo Courtesy- Mike Vukovcan)
5) Justin Johnson: a mammoth 6-7, 342 3-star offensive tackle from Philadelphia that Pitt offered very early in the process. Since then, Johnson picked up offers from Wisconsin, Virginia, Boston College, BYU, etc. Considering his upside, position and location, Johnson would be a nice recruit for Pitt to land.
6) Caleb Deveaux: 6-1, 215 3-star linebacker from North Carolina who’s father played running back for Pitt. Surprisingly, Pitt is his only offer right now.
Photo courtesy of Caleb Deveaux
7) Vinny DePalma: 6-1, 200 3-star linebacker from talent rich Wayne, New Jersey. DePalma looks to be a perfect linebacker in a Pat Narduzzi defense. Pitt was DePalma’s first Power 5 offer and since then has received ones from Boston College and Rutgers.
Photo courtesy of Vin DePalma
8) Brian Asamoah: 6-1, 205 3-star linebacker from Columbus, Ohio. Like many of these recruits that I’ve listed, Pitt was the first school to offer this talented prospect. Since then, Asamoah has picked up offers from from Penn State and Michigan.
Photo courtesy of Brian Asamoah
9) Kalon Gervin: 5-11, 175 4-star cornerback from Detroit, Michigan. Over the last two seasons, the Pitt staff has tried to recruit Detroit without much luck. Gervin is a Top 100 national recruit with offers from Florida, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Oklahoma so it won’t be easy. However, Gervin has a good relationship with Narduzzi, has visited Pitt multiple times and tells me he’ll be back this spring.
Photo courtesy of Kalon Gervin
10) Cam Goode: 6-0, 315 defensive tackle from Washington, DC. Goode’s first offer came from Pitt and he’s been vocal in the past of how much he likes Narduzzi and Pitt. A couple of weeks ago, Goode received an offer from Michigan State. Could Goode be Pitt’s first 2018 commitment??
Photo courtesy of Cam Goode
11) KJ Henry: a 5-star defensive end from Clemmons, North Carolina. Has offers from every school in the country and will be a long-shot but you never know. ????????????????
North Carolina DE KJ Henry (Photo credit: Mike Vukovcan)
12) TJ Banks: 6-5, 225 3-star DE/TE from East Allegheny. Banks is a big-time physical specimen with untapped potential. Pitt would be very fortunate to get a commitment from him.
TJ Banks (Photo credit: Mike Vukovcan)
13) Trenton Gillison: 4-star tight end from Pickerington, Ohio. He’s an elite talent and holds offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
14) Shaquon Anderson-Butts: 6-0, 160 wide receiver from Harrisburg. Considering his location to Penn State, he might be a tough get.
15) Chris Bleich: 6-5, 308 offensive tackle from Plymouth, PA who’s already committed to Penn State. However, last week Pitt offered him and Bleich told me he’ll visit them.
