Pitt FB Recruiting
Recapping a Historic Weekend of Pitt Official Visit Commitments
This weekend may go down in history as one of the best ever for Pitt football recruiting.
The Panthers hosted 22 total official visitors — a program record for one weekend — and it resulted in a massive and historic haul of 10 commitments that featured a little bit of everything from four-star prospects to WPIAL talent and more. Pitt still may not be done landing prospects from this weekend, either.
Ryan Manalac, Cory Sanders and Archie Collins are all known and proven recruiters and developers, but this class truly reveals what type of work those hired prior to the 2024 season can do.
There’s still a lot of work to be done up until December’s early National Signing Day between holding onto commits — inevitably there will be a decommitment or two — and securing more pledges for the 2026 class.
Big Recruiting Wins for Four-Star Talent
The news of running back Damon Ferguson committing this morning took the icing on the cake for what was an impressive official visit weekend. He is a talented four-star prospect out of Maryland that fits exactly what the Panthers are looking for in their offense. Running backs coach Lindsey Lamar was pivotal in reeling in Ferguson.
Pitt won a key recruiting battle against Indiana, Michigan State, Virginia, Minnesota, Ohio State, North Carolina, Duke and others for the commitment. He will even forgo his final two official visits with Virginia and Michigan State. On3 rates him as a four-star prospect and the No. 24 running back in the class.
Pitt running back commit Damon Ferguson.
Thomas County Central (Georgia) wide receiver Jaydon Dunbar is another four-star recruit, according to Rivals, that became an important commitment from this past weekend. Entering the official visit, Dunbar told PSN that there was about 50 percent chance for him to commit and that became 100 percent by the end of the weekend, showcasing the closing power that this weekend held.
Dunbar, who stands at a lengthy 6-foot-5, 180 pounds, selected Pitt over an impressive offer sheet that included Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Auburn, Arkansas, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Michigan State, Duke, UCF and others.
Maury High School (Virginia) linebacker Isaiah Simmons is a consensus three star, but the On3 Industry Ranking — compiling all four major recruiting services — lists him as an overall four-star prospect, so we’ll group him into this category.
Simmons was at Pitt for a spring visit and made the return trip for the all-important official visit this weekend. He picked the Panthers over Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Syracuse, Duke, Georgia Tech and others. He had an official visit slated with the in-state Virginia Cavaliers for June 12.
Those out-of-state wins were critical, but Pitt also pulled in a big commitment from local four-star talent Reston Lehman. The defensive end has long been interested in the Panthers and has visited roughly a dozen times. It sounded like Pitt was losing momentum the past few weeks but that didn’t matter. He committed to Pitt over other official visits with Rutgers and a now canceled Penn State trip.
He boasted other offers from Oklahoma, West Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State, North Carolina, UCLA, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Indiana, Cincinnati, Boston College, Arizona and more.
Rebuilding the WPIAL Pipeline
Lehman was a crucial pick up for the Panthers, but the WPIAL tone was set by North Allegheny defensive tackle Lincoln Hoke. He was the first player to make his commitment known to the coaches, recruits and public.
Pine-Richland offensive lineman John Curran III and Lehman soon followed with their own announcements.
Hoke, a 6-foot-2, 260-pounder, was already leaning Pitt entering the weekend, but the staff sealed the deal early on the visit. He was expected to take an official at West Virginia next weekend, but that will no longer be the case.
Curran has been a lifelong Pitt fan and has camped at the program the last few years. However, his latest performance a week ago led to an official visit invite, an offer and a commitment. He had over 20 Division I offers before Pitt became his first of the Power Four variety.
Pitt offensive line commit John Curran III
Pitt also moved up and impressed three-star Central Catholic Colsen Gatten, who left uncommitted but could make a verbal pledge in the near future. He will visit West Virginia and Duke in the coming weeks.
A Trio of Offensive Linemen
Pitt secured commitments from three offensive linemen with Curran, Nick Howard out of Texas and Mike van der Oord from Cleveland, Ohio.
Howard is an intriguing prospect, who will be a true tackle for the Panthers. The 6-foot-5, 285-pounder hails from Pearland, Texas right outside of Houston. The hometown Cougars were pursuing the three-star prospect, but the Panthers were able to secure the pledge while on his official visit.
Along with Pitt and Houston, he held additional offers from Arizona, Kansas State, UNLV, Colorado State, Tulane, Tulsa, Air Force, Rice, Texas State and others.
Van der Oord is a prospect that Pitt kept an eye on for a few months now. Originally committed to Toledo, he silently decommitted and has now joined the Panthers. He is a big, 6-foot-7, 280-pounder that also had interest from Wake Forest, West Virginia, Marshall, Miami (OH) and Western Michigan.
A Texas Tight End
One of the more under-the-radar recruits on campus this weekend for an official visit was that of Celina High School (Texas) tight end Wyatt Villarreal. He didn’t announce his visit publicly but it was a key one for the Panthers and it resulted in a commitment.
The three-star talent initially picked up an offer from Jacob Bronowski and the Panthers on May 7 and things moved quickly to get Villarreal on campus. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder held additional offers from Arizona, Cal, Oregon State, Washington State, Air Force, Louisiana, Utah State, Tulsa, San Diego State, UNLV and others.
Pitt tight end commit Wyatt Villarreal.
Villarreal was one of two tight ends on campus, along with Maryland three-star Javonte Williams. Williams is a priority for the Panthers, but it will be interesting to see how his recruitment develops with the Panthers now boasting a tight end already in the 2026 class.
Cornerback Talent out of Florida
Pitt landed its first cornerback in the 2026 class and third recruit of the official visit weekend with Kentrail Mcrae out of Clearwater High School in Florida. The Panthers recently offered in the middle of May and he quickly locked in an official visit.
Much like past recruits and current Pitt corners, Mcrae has some length to him, standing at 6-foot-2, 165 pounds. He picked Pitt over Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Michigan State, Wake Forest, USF, FAU, FIU, Delaware, Liberty and others.
Pitt will host another key cornerback next weekend for an official visit in Texas three-star Isaiah McMillian.
2026 Pitt Recruiting Class Positional Breakdown
Quarterback: 1 — Angelo Renda
Running back: 1 — Damon Ferguson
Wide receiver: 3 — Jaydon Dunbar, Dylan Wester, Demetrice McCray
Tight end: 1 — Wyatt Villarreal
Offensive linemen: 3 — John Curran III, Mike van der Oord, Nicholas Howard
Defensive tackle: 1 — Lincoln Hoke
Defensive end: 1 — Reston Lehman
Linebacker: 2 — Marcus Jennings, Isaiah Simmons
Cornerback: 1 — Kentrail Mcrae
Safety: 1 — Isaac Patterson
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