Pitt FB Recruiting
2025 3-Star South Florida Wideout Includes Pitt in Top Three
While new wide receivers coach JJ Laster is still adapting to life as a Pitt Panther, he doesn’t have time to wait when it comes to recruiting the class of 2025.
Laster hit the ground running upon arriving from Old Dominion, and he’s now going to be tasked with helping land a new target. Kha’leal Sterling — a 5-foot-10, 170-pound three-star wide receiver from Miami Central in Miami, Fla. — cut his list of offers to just three: Arizona State, Pitt and West Virginia.
He held offers from ASU, Arkansas, Bowling Green, FIU, FAU, Indiana, Liberty, Oregon, Pitt, SMU, Temple, Tulane, UAB and West Virginia before narrowing his list down to his finalists.
“Pitt is also one of the schools who keeps in touch with me and updates me about things and how we can change their program,” Starling told Rivals’ John Garcia Jr.
Where’s Home ? 👀🏠 pic.twitter.com/EROFfkTU7a
— Kha’leal Sterling (@ks3hreee) March 2, 2024
Pitt has been on Sterling since Christmas Eve of last year, with Kade Bell and former wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood leading the charge, and through his own words, it’s clear that the Pitt staff has remained on his case.
It will be on Bell and Laster to continue that relationship throughout the spring and into the summer in the buildup to his commitment. The Panthers have not yet landed a wide receiver commit in the class of 2025.
It’s not hard to see why Sterling is in demand either. He’s an electric receiving threat who has played both ways during his high school career. But his ability to beat defensive backs with just his speed and his catch-and-run ability highlight his potential at the next level. He’s an easy fit in a Bell-run offense.
As a junior at powerhouse Miami Central, transferring in from Miami Killian, he was a big-play threat every time he touched the ball. He hauled in 29 receptions for a team-high 650 yards (22.4 yards per reception) and eight touchdowns.
247Sports rates Sterling as the 130th-ranked wide receiver and 119th-ranked recruit from Florida. Neither Rivals nor On3 have ranked him at this point, but he does hold a 5.6 Rivals Rating.
Sterling is obviously high on his three finalists, and it will be important to get him on campus as often as possible before his eventual (undisclosed) commitment date.
He told Garcia that he’s scheduled an April 20 visit to Pittsburgh, which will be a multi-day visit.
Pitt landed its first commitment in the class of 2025 Monday night in the form of Trevor Sommers, a defensive lineman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and there could very well be more on the way in the coming days and weeks.
The Panthers are in the mix for three-star athlete Emmanuel Taylor (Virginia Beach, Va.), three-star offensive lineman Raphael Greene (Cincinnati, Ohio), four-star wide receiver Jadyn Robinson (San Juan Capistrano, Cal.), three-star running back Jeffrey Overton Jr. (Woodbridge, Va.) and three-star athlete Jaiden Brown-Demery (Mest Mifflin, Pa.).
