Thursday turned out to be a pretty big day for the Pitt Panthers in terms of attracting high-level talent to campus for visits.
The most impressive part though is that a number of these players traveled to Pittsburgh from the state of Florida.
One of those players is highly skilled and highly recruited three-star outside linebacker Jeremiah Marcelin.
Marcelin (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) attends Miami Northland High School in Miami, Florida. At this point of his recruitment, Marcelin holds close to 25 offers, including ones from Pitt, Auburn, Cincinnati, Florida State, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Central Florida and West Virginia.
Prior to this visit to Pitt, Marcelin said that four of his official visits would likely be to Florida State, Maryland, Texas A&M and Louisville. No dates have been finalized.
Pittsburgh Sports Now caught up with Marcelin Friday morning to get his thoughts on Pitt and if it’s a place that he’d like to return in the future.
“Pitt was eye-opening in a good way. I love the University and the city of Pittsburgh,” Marcelin told PSN. “Some things that stood out the most were how the Steelers and Pitt basically work alongside each other. Pitt’s facilities, the overall environment between the players and coaches were ecstatic and fun. Also, Pitt’s defensive scheme, I feel they could be one of the best fits for me in that aspect.
“During the visit, I stayed in regular contact with Coach Manalac, Coach Partridge and Coach Narduzzi and was just continuing to build a relationship. They’re fun guys to be around in person, but watching them coach and work, you understand very quickly that they mean business and want to get the best out of you, and it shows defensively.”
My final question to Marcelin was about the four official visits that he reportedly had set and how could Pitt join that group. It now appears those four schools aren’t set in stone.
“My words were misinterpreted there,” said Marcelin. “I did not exactly name four schools that are locked in for an official. I was just stating some schools that could be in the air for one, but I definitely hope to come back to Pittsburgh if everything goes as planned.”
