One of the top defensive ends in the Class of 2023 will be in Pittsburgh next month for an official visit.
On Monday, 4-star Desmond Umeozulu (Springdale, Maryland) announced four official visits that he’ll take in June: North Carolina (June 3-5), South Carolina (June 10-12), Pitt (June 16-18) and Ohio State (June 24-26).
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The 6-foot-6, 230-pound pass rushing specialist is rated by Rivals as the No. 174 overall junior and 247 Sports has him at No. 134. Both recruiting sites rate him as one of the Top 10 defensive ends in the country. Pitt getting an official visit is impressive considering Umeozulu also holds offers from Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Credit Andre Powell and Charlie Partridge for the job they’ve done recruiting Umeozulu. Another big factor was the unofficial visit they he made with his family to Pitt back in March.
Following his visit, Pittsburgh Sports Now spoke with Umeozulu about the highlights.
“The visit to Pitt was definitely something different,” said Umeozulu. “I really didn’t expect what I got from Pitt. I hung out with some of the players, and we chopped it up. They were really good to me and gave me a really good tour around. It was definitely different in a good way. Pitt was just a real family structured program. Coach Narduzzi reminds me so much of my high school coach with his values and everything. Like church, religion, when you believe in something you have to advocate for it, little stuff like that.”
With it being his first trip to Pittsburgh, I asked Umeozulu to tell me one thing that surprised him or impressed him about something he learned about the Pitt program.
“Probably Coach P (Partridge), he’s definitely a lot better coach then I thought or knew that he was. I now can see how their scheme and how they rush the passer so well and why they’re in the Top Five for sacks almost every year. The way Coach P goes into detail during practice and he’s such a hands-on coach. He goes into team meetings and shows you exactly what you did wrong and will show you how to do it right. That really stood out and impressed me. The whole staff, especially Coach Powell, Coach Partridge and Coach Narduzzi treated me well. I felt like I was at home. Coach Powell has been on me for a while now. He was on me early and I think Pitt was the third program to offer me and they have recruited me hard ever since. I definitely think after this weekend that they’re one of my top schools.”