Pitt FB Recruiting
Who Are Pitt’s Remaining Targets?
With a little over two weeks left until National Letter of Intent Day, Pitt’s recruiting targets and possible gets are becoming very clear.
Pat Narduzzi currently has 19 verbal commitments and I believe they’ll take six more players. The question is what positions will they use the remaining scholarships on?
Here are my thoughts on that, who the targets are and which players are likely to commit.
CB Jason Pinnock: Out of all the possible targets, I believe Pinnock is most likely to commit. I’d expect something to happen this week. I believe this likely commitment is one of the reasons Anthony Johnson canceled his official visit for this weekend and re-affirmed his commitment to Louisville. If Pinnock commits, Pitt is done recruiting cornerbacks.
WR Michael Smith: This Florida WR is another player that I think Pitt has a real good chance of landing. Smith is the only wide receiver that Pitt is recruiting and if they don’t land him, they’ll use his scholarship on another position. Like Pinnock, I believe something with Smith could happen this week. If these two players commit, Pitt would likely have four scholarships left.
DT Jaylen Twyman: This is a player that people have been waiting to give a commitment for awhile. Twyman made his official visit to Pitt in December and over the weekend, he visited South Carolina. I believe this is a situation of his family wanting Jaylen to visit a couple schools before making his final decision. Although it’s taken a bit longer than expected, I think Twyman picks Pitt. This would be three of the six scholarships.
DT Kam Carter: Coach Conklin is flying to visit this big defensive tackle today. The question is whether Pitt has room to take both Twyman and Carter? I’d say this depends on numbers at other positions and particularly what happens with Nathan Proctor and Tyjuan Garbutt.
RB A.J. Davis and RB Kyshaun Bryan: This is the position to keep your eye on. Despite being a “finalist” for Davis, Pitt decided to offer Bryan last night. Do they know that Davis is leaning towards another school or are they willing to add three running backs in this class? Could they be losing another player from their current roster and have another available scholarship to offer? I’ll have more on the Bryan situation later today.
DE/LB Nathan Proctor and DE/LB Tyjuan Garbutt: These are the two names that all Pitt fans want to know about. Will Pitt land either or both of them? From all indications, both players enjoyed their official visits and Pitt’s chances of landing both players improved. If I had to guess, I’d say that Pitt will get a commitment from at least one of these one players and possibly both. Landing both these players would change Pitt’s recruiting class and GREATLY their talent level on defense.
Other Possibilities: DE Kofi Wardlow, DE/DT Victor Dimukeje and DE Zion Debose. Both players visited over the weekend and enjoyed themselves. Keep in mind that Wardlow is committed already to Maryland. Dimukeje told me that he enjoyed spending time with the coaches and getting to know them better. Honestly, I don’t have a feel on either player and their future plans but obviously Pitt has interest because they brought both players in for a visit. Debose is scheduled to make an official visit to Pitt this weekend and by Coach Conklin personally visiting him last week, it shows that Pitt is serious about him. Aside from Pitt, Debose is looking at Illinois, Missouri and Virginia Tech. DE Noah Curtis and CB Endrickson Boucher are a couple other names that are out there.
