PA Lineman Elijah Wroten Talks to PSN About Pitt Offer

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Elijah Wroten is a skilled lineman from Eastern Pennsylvania and recently he found that he’d received an offer from Pitt.

“Actually, prior to the offer, I didn’t really have any contact with Pitt in the past,” said Wroten. “I was really surprised by the offer. The O-line coach came into my school two weeks ago to see me for a little bit. Then last week, they contacted my head coach, who found me in school, and they extended me the offer.”

Despite not having much personal history with Pitt, Wroten is familiar with the Panthers for other reasons.

“I do know about Pitt because Jimmy Morrissey, their starting center, that’s one of my best friends’ cousin. Also, one my best friends, Colton Smith, is going to Pitt to play baseball.”

“When the coaching staff offered, they were just very nice and welcoming. Also, Jimmy Morrissey really seems to like it there. A good amount of people from my school go there now. I’m just really curious to see what they have to offer so I’m definitely going to try and get down there for a visit, hopefully soon,” said Wroten.

Wroten (6-foot-3, 297 pounds) is a 247 Sports 3-star recruit with offers from Boston College, Duke, Minnesota, UConn and Temple. Wroten is skilled enough that he’s getting offers to play either defensive tackle or on the offensive line.

“Whenever schools come to recruit me, they tell me two things. They’re impressed by my speed and explosiveness for my size as I come off the ball. They believe I can play either side of the ball. On defense, I believe I’m able to pursue the ball well and am also a good run stopper.”

Which side of the ball is Pitt recruiting him to play?

“Pitt is recruiting me as a center or a guard. When I started playing football, my first position was offensive guard and then in middle school played center and then left tackle,” said Wroten.

Since he’s able to play both sides, does Wroten have a preference?

“I’d be willing to play either but honestly, I feel like I have more experience playing on the offensive side of the ball.”

“Whenever I start to consider a university, I will try and think about three things,” said Wroten. “The education is number one. Football isn’t going to be there forever so I need to build a foundation for myself for not just the four years but for the next forty years of my life. So, I’ll be looking at that heavily. Number two, the place that makes me feel most at home. Number three, a place that my parents feel comfortable with me being there. If my parents don’t feel comfortable, then that’s not going to be something that I can do.”

Wroten tells me that he plans on majoring in either biology, pre-med or business.

Prior to the offer from Pitt, Boston College was a school that made a big impression with Wroten. Reportedly, he was considering wrapping up his recruiting. However, those plans have changed.

“Since I just got another offer last week, I want to be mindful of how I make my decision. At first, I was planning on making my decision before the summer but since I’m receiving more offers, I now just want to be patient about things. I plan on making some visits this summer.”