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Pitt FB Recruiting

3-Star OL Rhett Morris Battled Major Adversity on Path to Pitt Offer

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Pitt target Rhett Morris

Adversity is something that everyone goes through. Whether it’s in athletics, or your personal or professional life, everyone faces struggles at one point in time. No one is immune to it.

Despite being so young, New Jersey junior offensive lineman Rhett Morris knows a little about having to face adversity. That’s an understatement.

During his freshman year of high school, Morris was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Thankfully, Morris is now healthy and doing the thing he loves, playing football.

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The 2026 three-star offensive guard from Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey is talented enough that he’s going to receive a scholarship to play football in college.

Pitt is one of the schools that has serious interest in Morris and on Tuesday, Panthers offensive line coach Jeremy Darveau traveled to Don Bosco to have a conversation with Morris. While there, they talked about a number of things, including former Pitt star James Conner, who like Morris, successfully beat cancer.

“I’ve actually been through a lot,” Morris told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “James Conner went to Pitt, too, and beat cancer, and so did I as I had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Coach Darveau told me that they make the team read James Conner’s book. That really hits home with me because of all I’ve been through. My freshman year during the summer practices, I got diagnosed with Hodgkin’s. I wasn’t able to play my entire freshman season, as I did all my treatments. Thankfully, everything is good now and I’m totally healthy. I go every six months for a checkup. I then returned for my sophomore season and was a starter for Don Bosco, which is pretty tough to do, especially with all that I’ve been through. But I put in the work, got right back on the field, better than ever.

Rhett Morris

“Coach Darveau is awesome, he showed up at school as he made his rounds to New Jersey, and he came to see me. I was able to sit down and talk to him for about 25, 30 minutes. He talked to me about the campus, Pitt’s culture and the way things are at Pitt. I previously went on a visit to Pitt for the Virginia game and that was awesome, but I didn’t get a chance to spend quality time with him because it was so busy. After our talk, I’m looking forward to going back for an upcoming spring practice.”

To some, Darveau making an in-person visit to see a player might seem minor, but that’s certainly not how Morris looks at it.

“It means a lot, in a way, I believe it kind of sets the tone for the school,” Morris said. “In a way, it lets me know that I’m a priority. He told me that he visited four kids in New Jersey that were linemen, and I was one of two that was an interior lineman. Coming to see me means a lot and makes me feel like he cares and with that visit, he’s letting me know that they really want me to come to Pitt.”

Pitt isn’t the only program that is pursuing the 6-foot-3, 290-pound guard. Morris, who was previously committed to Wake Forest and decommitted last week (Jan. 21), holds offers from Pitt, Wake Forest, Army, Boston College, UMass, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Morris first received his Pitt offer back in June from local recruiter Ryan Manalac.

“Definitely going to be pretty busy,” Morris said. “I’m going to Penn State next Saturday and after that it’s the recruiting blackout period, so I won’t be going anywhere for February. Then I’m going to take a week and make a bunch of visits as I’m going to try and go to Pitt West Virginia, possibly Nebraska, Virginia Tech and Boston College. It’s going to be a pretty busy spring.”

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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