Dominic Kirks has seen his recruiting process blow over the last couple of months, earning four-star status and picking up a bunch of offers, and the process is now almost over.
Kirks — a 6-foot-5, 250-pound four-star defensive lineman from Villa Angela-St. Joseph in Cleveland, Ohio — previously announced that his final five includes Kentucky, Nebraska, Pitt, Washington and Wisconsin. And he announced tonight that he will make his decision on June 30.
He whittled down an offer list that included Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rutgers, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Kirks made his official visit to Pittsburgh over the first weekend of June, and while he didn’t commit on the spot, he went home with a very, very high opinion of Pitt football.
“I’ll rate the visit a 10 out of 10,” Kirks said earlier this month. “Throughout the weekend, I just felt the genuine care and the love that the coaches have for their players. I also felt the care that the players on the team had for the recruits that were visiting. They didn’t have to do everything they did for us when they hosted us. Nahki Johnson, the defensive end, he was my host and was a real good guy. He gave me great advice and he was open to every question I had. Which was a great thing because he wasn’t sugarcoating anything.
“He was really telling me about how everything works. From Nahki, I was trying to find out what the biggest adjustment was and whether was it more mental or physical. He told me that mental was definitely harder. I also asked him how much Coach Partridge really care for his players and he said that he cares about his players more than anything. He told me that Coach Partridge cares just as much about developing his players as young men as he does developing them as players. That was very important to me.
“I was also with Bangally Kamara. We were playing Madden, building that bond. That was very important for me to get comfortable with the guys. My family and I really enjoyed it, so I give it a 1o out of 10 for sure.”
With excellent size and length (6-foot-5, 250 pounds), he’s a threat to blow by offensive linemen on the edge or power through them on the inside. And it’s easy to see why Partridge and the coaching staff value him.
247Sports rates Kirks as the 390th-ranked recruit in the class (39th-ranked defensive lineman and the 14th-ranked recruit from Ohio). On3 rates him as the 28th-ranked defensive lineman and the 11th-ranked recruit from Ohio while Rivals rates him as the 25th-ranked strongside defensive end and 11th-ranked recruit from Ohio.
Pitt is hosting four-star defensive linemen Mylachi Williams and Sincere Edwards this weekend, and previously hosted four-star Elias Rudolph, and all three have been major Pitt targets during this recruiting cycle.
Pitt already holds commitments from a handful of defensive linemen in the class, including four-star Jahsear Whittington, three-star Francis Brewu, three-star Zach Crothers and three-star Ty Yuhas.
