City League
Pitt Offers Nearby Rising City League Freshman
Pitt safeties coach and Western Pennsylvania area recruiter Cory Sanders made his way around to evaluate local talent earlier this week as high school football programs held college showcases.
Sanders was in attendance as Pittsburgh Westinghouse Academy players worked out Monday afternoon and one freshman caught his eye enough for him to extend an offer.
That prospect was DaeJour Pinckney — a 6-3, 220-pound athlete — as he received an offer from the hometown Pitt program on Wednesday.
“It feels great to be able to pick up an offer from Pitt,” Pinckney told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “I’ve always seen how Pitt plays and I always wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be able to grow a future and once they gave me an offer, I felt accomplished on what I was doing.”
I’m thankful to receive a offer from Pitt🔵🟡@Pitt_FB @EdOBrienCFB@MohrRecruiting@DemetricDWarren@ChadSimmons_ @CharlesPower @BrianDohn247 @adamgorney
@MAnderson247@TomLoy247@ZBlostein247@SWiltfong_ pic.twitter.com/54Dp8lJ62O— DaeJour Pinckney (@PinckneyDaejour) May 14, 2025
Pinckney is a rising 2028 City League recruit after adding offers from the Panthers, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, Miami (OH), Sacramento State this week, along with one from Akron in January.
Being a city recruit, Pinckney has spent time around the Pitt program. He’s attended games at Acrisure Stadium where he says the culture and togetherness on the field stood out. He also participated in a camp last summer.
“Everything seems so organized and that’s what I like the most about Pitt,” Pinckney said.
The biggest connection for Pinckney, who primarily played defensive line both on the interior and edge this past fall for the Bulldogs, is working with all-time great Aaron Donald and his nephew and former Pitt defensive tackle Elliot Donald.
“It’s really great to know that Pitt can develop great players as in the position I work with. I’ve worked with Aaron Donald before. I’ve worked with Elliot Donald before. They showed me a whole bunch of different things and they said this came from that culture and I want to learn more about that,” Pinckney said.
Pinckney has bottled up as much knowledge as possible from the Donalds.
“Flipping my hips, stay low as I’m going. Make sure I get full extension and don’t overdo it. I tend to be able to do a lot of moves to the quarterback as fast as possible,” he said.
It’s early in the recruiting process for Pinckney, but he is eager to grow his relationship with Sanders and learn more about the Pitt program.
“I want to see how the system works,” he said. “I want to see how the schooling is. Academics is a great thing with me.”
