Pitt First School to Offer Central Catholic Freshman LB Anthony Speca

Pat Narduzzi and his staff have extended plenty of offers to high school freshman over the last couple of months but all of them have been out West, not in Pennsylvania.

That changed on Wednesday as Pitt offered a WPIAL freshman. Anthony Speca, a six-foot-three, 200-lb. linebacker from Central Catholic received the memorable news that his first offer had arrived and it was from the school that he and his family have been lifelong fans of. What’s more, it was his first from a Division I program.

Pittsburgh Sports Now spoke with Speca after he received the news from the Panthers and he told us despite realizing that a D-I offer would eventually come, he had no idea that one would arrive during his 9th grade season.

Courtesy of Anthony Speca

“I never really was thinking and wondering when the first one would come,” Speca told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “I love football and think football is my life. I obviously want to play college football at the highest level but that isn’t something that I’m really thinking about right now but I’m obviously very happy to have received this offer. I was shocked when I got it and actually sat there for like five minutes, confused wondering what just happened. It was super surreal.”

“I was just working out and lifting with my teammates and my head coach, Terry Totten, called me out of the locker room and he was on the phone with Coach Sanders from Pitt. He was basically talking to me and then just let me know that they were offering me a scholarship. They told me that they liked my size and mentioned that they want to get all the good hometown talent to Pitt.”

Speca had a great freshman season with Central Catholic was named a MaxPrep Freshman 1st Team All-American linebacker, so it was only a matter of time before offers starting come in. However, having the first one come from the hometown school was a beyond special for Speca.

FRESHMAN SEASON HIGHLIGHTShttps://t.co/ScntI234db@flem021 @7twice @headcoachnike7 @wpialsportsnews

— Anthony Speca ¹⁶ (@aspeca6) November 19, 2020

“It means a lot coming from Pitt,” said Speca. “I’m sitting in my room right now and there’s Larry Fitzgerald stuff all over it, I have Pitt stickers everywhere, I’ve been going to Pitt games since I was a little kid, my dad has season tickets. Pitt is a great school to get my first offer from.”

“After I got the news, I went back to the locker room and called my mom and she was as happy as I’ve ever heard her. Then, I called my dad and he didn’t pick up the first time because he was working and he called me back and was so happy. My siblings were screaming and I wasn’t home but I could tell how much energy and excitement was in my house.”

Pitt has now extended offers to five Western Pennsylvania sophomore and freshman: Laurel Highlands 2023 4-star athlete Rodney Gallagher, Brashear 2023 4-star athlete Ta’Mere Robinson, 2023 Chartiers Valley cornerback Lamont Payne, and 2024 Belle Vernon athlete Quinton Martin.