Pitt FB Recruiting

Breakdown of Pitt Football’s Early 2022 Offer List

Published

3 years ago

December 21, 2020

After securing a top 25 recruiting class in 2021, the Pitt Panther coaches have turned their attention to next year’s Class of 2022.

With a second National Signing Day coming up in February, it’s still possible that Pitt takes in another player or two. But their recruiting for this recruiting class is pretty much done. Adding a player for this year could come through either signing a high school player in February or a transfer from another program.

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Pitt fans may have forgotten that they already added their first member of their Class of 2022 in September when 3-star defensive back Aveon Grose from Mansfield, Ohio gave Archie Collins and the Panthers a commitment.

It’ll be interesting how the extended dead period will impact Pitt’s recruiting since they are not permitted to workout or host any high school players for Junior Day, something they would normally be doing this time of the year.

Despite not being able to recruit juniors the way they’d normally be doing, the coaching staff has been able to extend hundreds of prospects. Here is a breakdown of the more interesting categories for the Class of 2022.

CLASS OF 2022 WPIAL PLAYERS WITH PITT OFFERS

3-Star DT Donovan Hinish (6’2″, 270), Central Catholic High School. Although Pitt has historically done well recruiting Central Catholic players and Charlie Partridge is leading the way, it would appear Hinish will be an extremely hard player to land considering he also holds an offer from Notre Dame, a school that his brother currently plays at.

3-Star DE Sean FitzSimmons, (6’3″, 270), Central Valley High School. Pitt was the first Power 5 program to offer FitzSimmons, which may pay dividends later because he’s likely to add a number of Power 5 offers over the next few months. He’s a program player that’s still developing and appears to have a high ceiling. It would appear that Pitt is in good shape with FitzSimmons.

4-Star DE Tyreese Fearbry, 6’5″, 210), Perry Traditional Academy. Fearbry will no doubt be the most highly recruited player from Western Pennsylvania and someone Pat Narduzzi wants to add to the young talent that he’s been able to stockpile on the defensive side of the ball over the last couple recruiting classes. Like they were with FitzSimmons, Pitt was the first Power Five program to offer Fearbry. Since then, he’s added offers from Arizona State, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Michigan State, Syracuse, Coastal Carolina, Toledo and West Virginia. Like they did to get former City League star 4-star DE Dayon Hayes, the Pitt coaches will work overtime to try and land Fearbry.

3-Star DB Patrick Body, (6’2″, 175), Gateway High School. Back in August, Body actually was the first WPIAL junior to earn an offer from Pitt, which was his first from a Power 5 program. The talented cornerback and wide receiver also holds offers from West Virginia, Cincinnati, Temple and a handful of other Power 5 offers. Gateway is a talent rich program that Pitt hasn’t had success recruiting so getting Body would be an important get.

PLENTY OF PROSPECTS IN PHILADELPHIA

Pitt was able to sign safety Javon McIntyre from Imhotep Charter School in Philadelphia this year and are no doubt hoping that leads to more success in the future. Pitt’s lead eastern Pennsylvania recruiter Cory Sanders will undoubtedly be working in the City of Brotherly Love this year as Pitt has already offered 10+ players from that area.

3-star WR Kevin Thomas from Neumann-Goretti High School
WR Terrance Adams from Imhotep Charter School
3-star OT Max Bowman from West Chester High School
3-star OG Emir Stinette from Imhotep Charter School
4-star LB Enai White from Imhotep Charter School
4-star LB Abdul Carter from LaSalle High School
3-star LB Keon Wylie from Imhotep Charter School
4-star ILB Anthony Johnson from Neumann-Goretti High School
4-star CB Keenan Nelson, Jr. from St. Joseph’s High School
3-star CB Raleigh Collins from Neumann-Gorgetti High School
4-star Athlete Ken Talley from Northeast High School (committed to Penn State)

STILL PRIORITIZING THE SOUTH

As they’ve done the last couple recruiting classes, the Pitt coaches will once again try and full talent from the South, especially in states like Florida and Georgia. Included in their last 2 recruiting classes are players from Florida and Georgia such as Jake Renda, Khalil Anderson, Noah Biglow, Preston Lavant, Rashad Battle, Aydin Henningham, Jahvante Royal, Emmanuel Belgrave, Jaylon Barden and Sam Williams.

Looking at their list of offers to 2022 athletes, Florida is once again the state that leads with the most offers as 60+ juniors hold offers from Pitt. Behind them is Georgia with 22 offers and Virginia with 21 offers to high school juniors.

OFFERS OUT TO FOUR AND FIVE-STAR PLAYERS

Pitt was able to sign four four-star players this year with cornerback Khalil Anderson, LB/DE Naquan Brown, DE Nakaki Johnson and DT Elliot Donald and are hoping to better that number this year.

If Pitt isn’t successful in pulling in four and five-star talent, it won’t be because they weren’t trying. At this point, the Pitt coaches have offered 80+ Rivals four or five-star recruits. Here is a breakdown by position: