It’s tough to recruit top recruits to a campus that’s halfway across the country, but with a conference championship squad and rising program, it gets easier to bring such recruits to campus.
Paul Mubenga is one of the top recruits in the class of 2023, holding offers from nearly 40 schools across the country, and he made a visit to Pitt over the weekend. After a season like Pitt’s in 2021, recruits like Mubenga are more and more likely to visit.
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Mubenga, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound four-star offensive tackle from Buford High School in Georgia, made it out to Pitt over the weekend, and it was the perfect chance to get to see Pitt’s team during the spring game and get a view of the facilities while continuing to build his relationship with Pitt’s coaches.
“I went to everything,” Mubenga told PSN. “Facility tour, stadium tour, talking to the coaches, everything. What stood out to me throughout all that was understanding what Pitt is all about from the coaches themselves and coach Narduzzi. Also talking with my old teammate (Ryland) Ryland.”
Gandy, a 2022 early enrollee three-star cornerback from Buford, played with Mubenga over the past couple of seasons, and Mubenga said his former teammate spoke about how he’s grown to love Pitt during his initial time at Pitt and how great the program has been since he enrolled in January.
Mubenga has picked up offers from 37 schools, including Arkansas, Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Michigan, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pitt, Penn State, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCF and West Virginia, and Pitt has managed to stand out through the chaos of offers.
After picking up an offer from Pitt back in December, Mubenga said he’s built a great relationship with Pitt through speaking with offensive line coach Dave Borbely and the entire offensive staff.
And with a visit to Pitt Saturday, in seeing Pitt’s facilities and taking part in Pitt’s 2022 Blue-Gold Spring Game, he got to see it all. Despite the cold and rain keeping crowds from Heinz Field Saturday, Mubenga felt like he was able to get a good view into the total scope of Pitt football.
“It was an awesome atmosphere,” Mubenga said. “The fanbase is really into everything about football, and the program is really on the rise right now — both players and coaches.”
247Sports rates Mubenga as the 436th-ranked recruit in the class, slotted as the 36th-ranked offensive tackle and the 41st-ranked recruit from Georgia. Rivals hasn’t given Mubenga a ranking, but he does hold a 5.8 Rivals Rating.
While Mubenga doesn’t have an official date for a return visit to Pittsburgh, he does see himself making a return visit. After all, “(Pitt) stands high on my list,” he said, as of right now.
With visits to West Virginia, Michigan, Auburn, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Tennessee and Wake Forest since the turn of the year, Mubenga has made some visits to some big-time programs. But it appears that Pitt has stood out enough to warrant a return visit.
In the coming weeks, Mubenga plans to visit Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Ole Miss, but Pitt could once again be the destination as the summer wears on.