Allen Bryant is continuing the trend of Pitt bringing Florida cornerback back to Pittsburgh.
Bryant — a 6-foot-1, 170-pound cornerback from St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida — flew up to Pittsburgh for his official visit this weekend, and he’s flying back home as a Panther.
Bryant committed to Pitt Saturday over offers from Appalachian State, Cincinnati, FAU, Liberty, Louisville, Memphis, Temple, Virginia and West Virginia.
“I hit it off with coach Sanders,” Bryant told PSN. “It was him when I got there, and he seemed like a real good dude. We got to get in the film room to go over plays and how he thinks I’d fit in the system and their philosophy and how he coaches DBs. It was really good. They allow their DBs to make a lot of plays. That’s why they have so much success back there.”
Bryant was a late addition to Pitt’s June 1-3 visitors, and he’s only held an offer from Pitt for just about a month now. Charlie Partridge extended his offer on May 4.
And in the last month, as he’s built a relationship with Partridge and spent a few days in Pittsburgh with Archie Collins and Cory Sanders, that relationship advanced far enough to secure a commitment.
Bryant is a long, athletic cornerback who is able to blanket opposing wide receivers, drop back into a centerfielder role and even level a receiver along the sideline with a heavy hit. And he’ll play on a national scale at St. Thomas Aquinas as a senior.
As a junior at Christian Calvary Academy, Bryant racked up 44 tackles (24 solo), an interception, four pass breakups and recovered a fumble. And he returned 15 kickoffs for 347 yards (23.1 yards per attempt) and 18 punts for 192 yards (10.7 yards per attempt).
He recorded two touchdowns last season, catching one and returning a kickoff 92 yards for another.
247Sports rates Bryant as the 777th-ranked recruit in the class (78th-ranked safety and the 109th-ranked recruit from Florida) while On3 rates him as the 752nd-ranked recruit in the class (75th-ranked cornerback and 104th-ranked recruit from Florida).
Rivals hasn’t rated him yet, but he does hold a 5.6 Rivals Rating.
Bryant forms a pair with three-star cornerback Tayshawn Banks (Cincinnati, Ohio) as the two verbal commits in the defensive backs room now. Bryant has the ability to play either Collins or Sanders at Pitt.
