Pitt FB Recruiting
WPIAL 4-Star Prospect Places Pitt in Top Eight After Recent Visit

Coming on the heels of a Junior Day visit at Pitt, WPIAL four-star prospect Gabriel Jenkins released his top eight schools and it included the Panthers.
Jenkins — a 6-foot-2, 185-pound cornerback out of Imani Christian Academy — narrowed his focus to Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan State, Maryland, Kentucky, UFC and Syracuse, he announced Monday with Steezo on X.
— Gabriel Jenkins (@gabealldy) January 13, 2025
Pitt became the first school to offer Jenkins back in October of 2023 and despite being evaluated by many scouting services as a cornerback, the Panthers are recruiting him as a linebacker. Rivals.com ranks Jenkins as a 5.9 four-star recruit, while ranking as the 54th overall player in the Class of 2027.
Jenkins spoke with Pittsburgh Sports Now on Monday about the Pitt program and what has stood out.
“It’s a good program that develops their players and makes them better, there’s a good brotherhood within the Pitt program and the fact that it is close to home is nice,” he said.
Over the weekend, Jenkins spent time with the Pitt coaching staff as he continued to bolster his relationship with the program.
“I visited yesterday (Saturday) because I wanted to speak to the coaches and see how things were going,” Jenkins said. “As far as my experience, I had an amazing time going through and looking at the facilities and the basketball game was amazing to feel the atmosphere of Pitt and the coaches treated me really well.”
Jenkins has visited Pitt already a handful of times, but this weekend provided a different perspective of the program.
“I’ve been too Pitt plenty of times and have a great time every time I go, but one thing I could say stood out is the weight room and also the meeting rooms and how you can interact with the coaches during meeting closely if needed,” Jenkins said.
At Imani Christian Academy, Jenkins stars on both sides of the ball at running back and defensive back. During his sophomore season, he totaled 1,300 rushing yards. On defense, he compiled 20 tackles, six interceptions, five pass break-ups and five tackles for loss.
Pitt has targeted a handful of Imani Christian Academy players over the past few years and it has now landed in a pair of top lists with 2026 defensive back David Davis, who placed Pitt in his top six schools, along with Penn State, West Virginia, Nebraska, Michigan State and Cincinnati.
