Vukovcan: Pitt’s Recent Recruiting ‘Losses’ Aren’t As Bad as You Think

Pitt fans, it wasn’t going to continue to happen that way.

They weren’t going to get a commitment from every recruit that listed them as a finalist.

After starting out the month of June on fire and landing commitments at an insane pace, things have slowed down for Pat Narduzzi’s program.

Looking back at the month of June, Pitt was able to receive 10 commitments, with one of those players eventually de-committing. But bringing in nine players in one month is pretty good.

Not only did Pitt receive a large number of verbal commitments, more importantly, those players are viewed as quality players.

Pitt’s Class of 2024 currently consists of 20 players and has a Rivals Team Ranking of No. 17. Although that ranking will undoubtedly fluctuate over the next couple of months, Pitt is in position to have its highest-ranked recruiting class of the Narduzzi era. Over the last eight years, only two of Pitt’s recruiting classes have finished ranked with a ranking in the twenties (2016 and 2021).

Although they’re not going to be bringing in many more players since they currently sit with 20 commitments, the players they have a chance to add are highly rated which will help with their team ranking.

That brings me to my original point of this column and that’s that Pitt wasn’t and couldn’t bring in all of these players they’ve lost out on over the last week.

I started to see and feel some negative vibes after four-star recruits Koy Beasley, Dominic Kirks and Terhyon Nichols didn’t select Pitt after having them in their final group.

The reality is that the only one of those players that was a ‘loss’ was Beasley. I say that because he was someone that I believe the coaching staff was anticipating getting a commitment from him. As you’ve probably heard, there’s a thought that Beasley gave Pitt a silent commitment following his official visit in June.

If that’s the way it went down, that’s a tough blow because if Pitt was anticipating a future commitment from Beasley, it no doubt impacted in some way how they’ve recruited the safety position.

As far as those other players and possibly other future recruits that list Pitt as a finalist, keep in mind, they can only take a certain number of players at one position. Although they might want to, Pitt can’t take 6 or 7 defensive ends in one recruiting class. They’ve already received commitments from Ty Yuhas (Central Catholic), Zachary Crothers (Hollywood, Florida) and are thought to be in a good spot with 4-star defensive end Sincere Edwards.

Remember that with two 4-star players that listed them as finalists yesterday: linebacker Willy Love and offensive tackle Ryan Howerton.

Linebackers in Pitt’s class of 2024 already include four-star Cam Lindsey, three-star Jeremiah Marcelin and three-star Davin Brewton. With only a handful of spots available and other positions left to fill, are they taking four linebackers?

Same goes with offensive lineman as they currently have commitments from 5 players, following the addition of Moritz Schmoranzer. Taking six offensive linemen in one class would be a lot.

Obviously, I’m not in their team recruiting meetings and Pat Narduzzi isn’t going to tell me how many players they intend to sign this year, but I think 25 could be a good guess. If that’s the case, Pitt has 5 scholarships left to fill. I’m guessing, but I’d say quarterback, running back, wide receiver and three spots that are high on their priority list. If that’s the case, that’s two, maybe three scholarships left to use.

The point of this is that at this time of the year, just because a player lists a team as a finalist, that doesn’t mean they’re really a finalist and it isn’t the end of the world when that player selects another program.

Despite the recruiting ‘losses’ last week, Pitt is doing fine and will continue to do fine with Narduzzi and this current group of assistants.