2026 3-Star Tight End Passes on Pitt

The Pitt coaching staff’s recruiting efforts to land a talented tight end from Maryland have come up short.

This afternoon, 2026 3-star tight end Javonte Williams announced that’s he’s staying home as he’s made a verbal commitment to Maryland. In the end, Williams selected Maryland over Pitt and NC State.

First and foremost, I want to say thank you to the big man above. Without God, nothing is possible, and he's helped me a lot through my journey. I want to thank my friends, my family, my trainers, especially Miles,Torrey, Coach Ray, Coach Skyler, my mom, my dad, Chris, Cam,… pic.twitter.com/BPap1uxcRd

— 3 ⭐️TE Javonte Williams 2026 (@JJ_williams81) July 1, 2025

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For the longest time, it appeared as though the Panthers were the leader for the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Williams but that didn’t end up being the case.

Pitt was the first Power 4 program to offer Williams before others like Maryland, NC State, Duke, West Virginia, Indiana, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati and Rutgers followed.

Williams made his official visit to Pittsburgh on June 5-7 and made two other unofficial visits to see the Panthers and tight ends coach Jacob Bronowski also visited him twice in person.

3-star TE Javonte Williams On His Pitt OV

The Panthers have already received a commitment from 3-star tight end Wyatt Villarreal from Texas but were potentially looking to add another one.

Pitt is a finalist for 2026 4-star tight end end Zachery Turner from Duncanville, Texas, who also made an official visit. Turner is scheduled to make his college decision on July 12th with other finalists in Texas, Oklahoma, Miami, Ole Miss and SMU vying for his commitment. However, recruiting insiders are forecasting him to not land with Pitt