Pitt FB Recruiting
Longtime 2026 Priority LB Passes on Pitt, Commits to ACC Program
Markel Dabney out of Huguenot High School in Virginia was a top priority linebacker for Pitt football in the Class of 2026, and he had the Panthers in his top five options, along with SMU, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Michigan.
However, the three-star talent passed on Pitt and announced his commitment to a fellow ACC school Tuesday afternoon.
Dabney made a verbal pledge to SMU after recently completing an official visit in Dallas from May 2-4.
BREAKING: Class of 2026 3 ⭐️ ATH Markel Dabney ( @JustKallMeKel ) has committed to SMU he tells me.
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Markel Dabney is a 6’1 (208 LBS) Athlete out of Richmond, VA. Markel Dabney has 20+ offers and chose SMU over his other finalists of Virginia Tech, Penn State, Pitt, and… pic.twitter.com/cbRjYYSHN4— Steezo (@SteezoDsgn) May 13, 2025
Along with his top five schools, Dabney held additional offers from Miami, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Florida State, Wisconsin, N.C. State, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia, Arizona, Maryland, Duke and others.
Pitt was the first Division I offer for Dabney coming all the way back in October of 2021 and linebackers coach Ryan Manalac has pushed for the longtime recruit over the years. Dabney was in Pittsburgh for a junior day visit in January and then Manalac spent time with him during an in-home visit two weeks ago.
Dabney has a Pitt official visit scheduled for June 5-7, but that looks to be no longer in order with the commitment elsewhere.
As a junior, he starred on both sides of the ball at Huguenot. He hauled in 45 receptions for 1,001 yards and 13 touchdowns, along with 71 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions returned for touchdowns, two pass breakups, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
247Sports rates Dabney as a three-star prospect, the 96th athlete in the class and 29th overall player in Virginia.
With Dabney no longer in the mix, Pitt will turn its attention towards other linebacker options to join three-star outside linebacker commit Marcus Jennings. Central Catholic three-star Colsen Gatten is a local prospect Pitt is looking to keep home and has an upcoming official visit scheduled.
Pitt will also host three-star Alief Elsik (Texas) prospect Reilarean Phillips and three-star Miami Northwestern (Fla.) recruit Desmond Johnson.
