Pitt Receives Commitment from Ohio 3-Star OT Mike van der Oord

Another Pat Signal from a big Pitt official visit weekend has been revealed.

Three-star offensive tackle Mike van der Oord from football power St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio has given Pitt a verbal commitment while on his official visit.

Go panthers! Home 🏡 #committed #amdg @Pitt_FB @CoachDarveau @CoachLG @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachArchieC @WildcatRecruit pic.twitter.com/GL96vFoRX2

— Mike_vanderoord (@mikevanderoord) June 8, 2025

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Van der Oord (6’7″, 280-pounds) originally made a commitment to Toledo in November of 2024 but quietly opened his recruitment back up. Along with Pitt, van der Oord held offers from Wake Forest, Marshall, Toledo, Western Michigan and Miami, Ohio.

Pitt has been in contact with van der Oord for over a year before Jeremy Darveau extended him an official offer in February.

While at St. Ignatius, van der Oord has played both left and right tackle and has helped lead the way to their offensive averaging over 171.8 rushing yards per game.

Check out the Hudl highlights of Mike van der Oord here.

Thank you @Pitt_FB. Hail to Pitt! @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachArchieC pic.twitter.com/7zSJrVN62K

— Mike_vanderoord (@mikevanderoord) June 21, 2024

Van der Oord becomes the second player from the state of Ohio (3-star safety Issac Patterson) to join Pitt’s Class of 2026. In their last three recruiting classes, Pitt has gotten six commitments from players in Ohio (QB Mason Heintschel/Oregon, Ohio, LB Denim Cook/Columbus, Ohio, DT Francis Brewu/Worthington, Ohio and CB Davion Pritchard).

He also becomes the third offensive linemen to commit following the official visit weekend, joining Texas product Nick Howard and Pine-Richland’s John Curran III.