Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has made contact with former Aliquippa and West Virginia safety Kwantel Raines, but he didn’t deliver the message Raines was hoping for.
Narduzzi informed the former four-star recruit that the Panthers aren’t interested in adding him as a transfer at this time.
Raines told Pittsburgh Sports Now that Narduzzi didn’t give a specific reason for the decision. When Raines first announced that he was transferring from West Virginia, he made it clear that Pitt was his top target. Instead, Raines has turned his attention to Syracuse, UCLA and possibly other ACC programs, who have also expressed interest in his services.
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound safety will have to sit out in the 2020 season, unless he can qualify for an NCAA waiver, and then will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Raines finished his West Virginia career with 10 tackles and one forced fumble in seven games.
He told PSN last month that he wants to enroll at his new school at the semester break to get a head start on for 2020.
“Whichever school reaches out to me and that I feel would be the best fit and that I want to go to, I’m going straight there,” Raines said. “When I say straight there, I mean be there in January, be there start of the semester, get to work outs and get ready to work.”
As a prospect out of Aliquippa High School, Raines had offers from Florida, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan State, NC State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Rutgers, South Carolina, TCU, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin, in addition to Pitt and West Virginia.
Pitt is losing starting free safety Damar Hamlin to graduation, and could also lose starting strong safety Paris Ford, if the latter choses to declare early for the NFL Draft.
The Panthers have one safety commit in the Class of 2020, three-star Jahvante Royal from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Sounds about right for Narduzzi.
He must have really pissed him off picking WVU first. Or maybe they think he won’t pan out. Not all 4 star players end up being great.
What an about face. He was heavily recruited by Pitt out of Alliquippa. Don’t be surprised if this hurts future recruiting from there. Way to put a fence around western Pa.
Not like Narduzzi is killing it at Aliquippa.
Honestly who cares. Pitt isn’t WPIAL Last Chance U
anybody with common sense about the state of our depth chart. That’s who cares…
I couldn’t agree more, Randy. People hear names and get all excited based on name recognition and the fact that he’s a local kid. I say big deal. This isn’t high school football any longer and the kid made his choice to go to WVU. Everybody gets excited over a guy with ten college tackles. Give me a break.
I am actually in the camp that the university should start looking for a replacement for this arrogant HC. What a joke. This kid is going to be similar to Paris Ford. What a terrible week for Pitt, the programs all of it. The bowl disaster, then Coleman now this.
He is not any where near Paris Ford in ability. If he was he would have played every down at wvu. Coleman is not good enough to be an everydown defender.
My understanding is he is a bit slow for safety and refuses to play linebacker.
Tough for the AD to get rid of him when he was on the board recommending her to get hired at Pitt
Probably easier for her than if he was her hire. Maybe she has ties to Luke Fickle from few time at OSU.
A local talent says he wants to come home. We’re losing a large part of our secondary so why not add a terrific athlete for 2021? I hated the coaching carousel we went through and favored consistency despite mediocre results, but Duzz makes one dumb decision after another. When he finally realizes he made a mistake (Watson) it’s too late.
Let’s get this straight…this is all about PITT and what is best for their program. If I am not mistaken, PITT was recruiting this kid as an outside LB, not at Safety. PITT is deep at OLB plus they are bringing in even more talent at that position with this upcoming recruiting class. Truth is, he WAS a priority for PITT but he decided to go in a different direction and now so has PITT. I understand the frustration over the results of this season but this coaching staff and the program are on the verge of something special…the current… Read more »
Ray is definitely a glass half full guy. I don’t have it in me to get excited only to be let down by Pitt AGAIN.
I’m disappointed with this year’s record, too. BUT that had extenuating circumstances, the ACC wanting UVA to represent the Coastal this year, catching VT on a cold and rainy day in Blacksburg on Bud Foster’s last home game and the ACC having two bowl spots to fill on the last day, BC and UNC at 5-6. The bowl game apparently was selected by HL (connections with EMU ?) over The Military Bowl.
Narduzzi has a new OC, Randy Bates is in the second year of building a dominating defense. The system is beginning to work.
Can’t wait to hear his pitch to the next Quip athlete. After all everyone there claims to be each other’s cousin it seems. Just another classic example of Narduzzi and his stubbornness and pride working against Pitt Football. The same kind of stubbornness that puts his corners on an island on 3rd and 25’s playing bump and run. It’s not X’s and O’s with him, coaches make mistakes, it’s his stubbornness and of course his mouth in the media. As an Italian from Western PA I want to root for the guy but sometimes he really makes it difficult to… Read more »
You REALLY think Narduzzi calls the defensive signals? HC’s are the CEO‘s of college football. They pick the coaches and get out of the way. Or the coaches leave for greener pastures.
“Yes we recruited Raines a couple years back, and recruited him hard. But he went a different direction and we recruited other people. We needed him as a LB but he played and wants to continue to play S, which he is too slow for.” There, that should about do it.
I don’t understand the people on here. First, you say you don’t want Pitt to welcome back players that shun them when they want to come back home. (Which, I don’t necessarily agree with.) Then when we do, you say Narduzzi doesn’t know what he’s doing. Look, if this guy was that great, he would have played a LOT more than he did at WVU for one thing. You can say what you want about Narduzzi as a head coach, but you can’t say he doesn’t know defense. If he felt he really needed this guy, he would have welcomed… Read more »
Everyone keeps bringing up how little he played at West Virginia. He played more than Paris Ford did in his first two years at Pitt. Just because he didn’t play there doesn’t mean he’s not any good.
So why is Narduzzi shunning him?
If he wanted to play for Pitt that bad, he would be open to a position change if that was something Pitt wanted. My guess is that this was a rejection not based upon on-field evaluation.
I agree, playing time is not the only indicator, but what he showed during that playing time may be more telling. I did not watch enough WVU this year to know how he did in his opportunities. With Paris, when he played last year, he showed he was going to be a difference maker. I don’t see it as a vendetta by HCPN. When he was in high school, HCPN recruited the PSU safety (can’t recall the name) that he welcomed into the fold as a transfer this Fall. I think it is about fit and timing, and it did… Read more »
Hey if Narduzzi knew defense they wouldn’t have had the worst defense in t he country for three straight seasons. Quit making excuses for Narduzzi. He’s Mike Gottfried all over a Again. He picks favorites and those not on the “favorites” list don’t even get a look. Look what he did to Paris Ford. Classic case. The guy is sucking the life out of the program.
Maybe Narduzzi realizes now that the D is no longer the problem. Points are!
I think he has the D pipeline fixed.
OLINE,,,Help!?
Receivers who can catch consistently,,, Help!?
Better QB,,, Help!?
He needs to recruit POINTS!
This comment hits the nail on the head … now if Raines wants to spend a year or two in the weight room to gain 30-35 pounds and play tight end, then we should reconsider bringing him into the program.
With no additional information or context, this looks like another mistake by Narduzzi.
After 5 years of .500 football, zero bowl wins and mediocre recruiting, he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt from me. Could Raines have been a worse transfer than Brandon Hodges or Kam Carter? Jeff George, Jr.? Here’s a local kid from a school Pitt used to own (before Narduzzi) and this .500 coach has the balls to say, “Thanks but no thanks.”?
Let’s hope PSN (or someone) can provide some insight.
I lean toward the other side but you make a good point.
Maybe Nardi finally realizes quick fix transfers aren’t the answer and hurt in the long run. Hope so! Look at our Qb situation, which started in his 1st year. Had we not brought-in Peterman, Brown and George, and stayed with Voytik, Dinucci, McVittie we’d be much more solid on offense. Keeping Pickett as started is the right move, having him replace Dinucci wrong. Development takes time!
Yes another stupid emotional decision by Narduzzi. How disappointing.
It’s amazing how mad everyone is that Pitt doesn’t want a kid with 10 career tackles and couldn’t get on the field for a below average WVU team and might have to sit out another year. You’d think they’d want to stop adding average talent even other teams don’t want.
Curious again, kid tells the coach where he’ll play. If he’s too slow to play safety in the Big 12 what makes you believe he’s fast enough for the ACC? We have enough linebackers, even losing Reynolds. Reminds me of the Jeannette kid who played QB at Ohio State. Scouts told him he was receiver material in the NFL. How’d that work out? Hope he’s healing.
What we don’t know is whether there were problems on or off the field at WVU or Aliquipa for that matter. Remember the drama surrounding Rushell Shell. Also it does matter whether the position Raines wants to fill is one Pitt has a need at i.e. Nard’s never ending quest at picking up fifth year seniors who couldnt make it at other schools. Now if Raines wants to put on 100 lbs maybe…a joke). Don’t think this means I love Nard, in fact I think we can do better and I bet Heather regrets that extension. It wont hurt recruiting… Read more »
DiNucci is at the right school for him (Penn who have been better). Pickett’s interception against BC was Wayne’s fault, he ran the wrong route. Really thought the running game would have been better. Pin that on Whipple. Drama, part of being in FBS.