Pitt Establishes Relationship with 2024 5-Star Edge Rusher Elijah Rushing

Tuesday was about the 7-on-7 competition and Big Man camp at Georgia, but while Elijah Rushing spent the day in Athens, Georgia, he wasn’t able to go without building an initial connection with Pitt.

In the midst of competing and putting together a strong performance, he was stopped by Pitt defensive assistant Bo Alexander.

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There wasn’t any sort of contact before Tuesday, but Alexander and Rushing came into contact as the latter was walking across one of the practice fields. Alexander asked for his name, age, class, marked him down and asked for his Twitter. After a quick viewing of Rushing’s film, which he said Pitt loved, the offer was extended.

Big thank you to @CoachBoAlex, @CoachPartridge and @Pitt_FB for offering me an opportunity to play for the Panthers! @bangulo @adamgorney @BFBaumgartner @ChadSimmons_ @CSing57 pic.twitter.com/ch4uGLtcA6

— Elijah Rushing (@elijah_rushing) June 21, 2022

Rushing, a 2024 6-foot-6, 225-pound five-star edge rusher from Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, Arizona, has already emerged as one of the very best recruits in the class. He holds offers from Arizona, Arizona State, California, Florida, Georgia, Jackson State, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nevada, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Utah, Utah State, Wahington and Wisconsin.

It’s safe to say that Rushing is already one of the most sought-after recruits in the country, holding offers from nearly every major Power Five school in the country, and while Pitt may seem a longshot, a continued relationship is what Rushing would expect.

“I would just need to talk ball with the coaches, just see what their plan is for me and just what the university is like,” Rushing said.

The initial talk with Alexander, who Rushing described as cool and down-to-earth, was the very beginning of any contact though. And while he’s aware of Aaron Donald, of course, he doesn’t know much else about Pitt.

However, Rushing said he would absolutely consider an unofficial visit or camp opportunity at Pitt in the future.

As a sophomore on Salpointe’s 11 win 2021 squad, Rushing racked up 75 tackles (36 solo), nine tackles for loss, a team-high 7.5 sacks, recovered a fumble and defended a pass.

247Sports rates Rushing as the 27th-ranked recruit in the class (fourth-ranked edge rusher and second-ranked recruit from Arizona) while Rivals rates him as the 96th-ranked recruit in the class (fifth-ranked outside linebacker and third-ranked recruit from Arizona).

As one of the very best recruits in the country, someone who could hold over 40 offers ahead of his commitment down the line, Rushing is just using that sought-after feeling to improve his own game.

“For me, it just doubles down that I just need to work harder to be able to fit any scheme that I’m looking at and just making myself more marketable, so I can go everywhere,” Rushing said.