I was going to title this, “What the hell is going on?” But we’ll keep it clean, at least in the headline.
This past weekend was certifiably insane. It was probably that way across college football, but it certainly was the case at Pitt.
Guys are visiting and then they aren’t and then they might be and then they are and then they aren’t. Rinse, repeat. At one point, I heard Pitt might have seven or eight transfers on campus; in the end, I think they only ended up with two or three.
- Part of the problem was the structure here. So many transfers want to enroll midyear, which is good for everybody, since that lets them work in spring camp with their new teams. But there’s a time crunch on visits. The December contact period ended Dec. 17, a few days before Signing Day. But most colleges were still finishing their fall semester and finals week at that point, which means it was difficult for a lot of transfers to go on visits. Obviously, some are able to make it work on the weekends, but it’s not ideal for all.
As a result, the NCAA created a mini-visit period for transfers who plan to enroll midyear. That window was Jan. 4-8 - last Wednesday through yesterday. That seems like a good plan, but there are two issues:
- One is that it’s only five days. If you’re a transfer who didn’t take any visits in December or maybe only took one, you could be looking at trying to fit three, four or even five visits into that five-day period.
That’s a crunch.
- The second issue is that some schools - like Pitt - start the spring semester today. So that means getting a guy on campus, convincing him to commit and then getting all the admissions and enrollment stuff done as fast as possible. Today isn’t the deadline for that paperwork, but the deadline is coming up, and while our focus is all on football, there’s still an element of school here, and it would be ideal to, you know, not miss too many days of classes.
- So this small visit window created a lot of headaches. I’m not too sure what the answer is; maybe another visit window of three or four days between Christmas and New Year’s. Coaches probably won’t want that, but it might be the best solution among a crop of not very good options.
- But I digress. The situation is what it is now, and the coaches had to deal with it. I think it’s important to understand the situation, though, because it provides context for how crazy the weekend was.
Take Florida cornerback Jordan Young, for instance. As of Friday afternoon, I was told by two different but reliable sources that he was coming in for a visit. Right around that same time, Young was apparently at Missouri, and it sounds like he never made it to Pittsburgh.
Young wasn’t the only one to flip back and forth on his visit. UNLV receiver Kyle Williams was also coming in until he wasn’t (he ended up visiting and committing to Washington State). There were probably more - situations where the Pitt was literally waiting to find out if a player got on the plane to fly in.
- We confirmed two visitors: Florida receiver Daejon Reynolds and LSU defensive back/running back Derrick Davis.
- Reynolds has been a top transfer target for Pitt in the transfer portal since he entered last month. A four-star prospect in the recruiting class of 2021, he played in a handful of games over the last two seasons at Florida, with his big breakout game coming in a game at Vanderbilt this year when he caught eight passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two catches for 74 yards against Eastern Washington and finished the year with a total of 11 catches for 244 yards and two scores.
From what I’ve been told, the visit with Reynolds went well. He didn’t commit while he was in town, opting to go home and discuss the decision with his family. But as I mentioned earlier, the spring semester starts today, so Reynolds - or any transfer who wants to get in for the spring - needs to decide sooner rather than later.
- The Davis story is one we’re all familiar with. A former four-star safety prospect from Gateway who ranked No. 101 nationally in the class of 2021, Davis chose LSU over offers from basically everyone coming out of high school. He played in 12 games as a freshman, but only two of those games saw him play on defense, as most of his playing time came on special teams. This past season, he made five appearances, playing on defense in two of those.
Davis’ most notable playing time came late in the season, though. In LSU’s November win over UAB and Citrus Bowl win over Purdue, the 6’0” 210-pounder lined up in the backfield. He carried the ball five times for 28 yards against UAB and then recorded six carries for 29 yards and a touchdown in the bowl game.
From everything we’ve heard - and have reported here for the last few weeks - Pitt doesn’t appear to be sold on him as a defensive player, but the staff is interested in him playing running back, and they hosted him for a visit this weekend.
- Pat Narduzzi tweeted on Sunday that Pitt landed a commitment, and we believe it was Davis who committed. I imagine an announcement should come soon on that (again, the short timeframe for the spring semester and all of that).
Pitt could certainly use another veteran running back on the 2023 roster. Davis isn’t exactly full of experience - he carried the ball 11 times at LSU - but he’ll be going into his third year of college, which is valuable. Rodney Hammond will be Pitt’s top back this coming season and C’Bo Flemister will be right behind him (assuming he returns). After that, Pitt has two freshmen in TJ Harvison (who is already on campus) and Montravius Lloyd (who will get here in June).
Another upperclassmen between the top two and the freshmen would be good to have, and Davis should fill that spot.
- Beyond that, we’ll see what develops. I have heard a couple times from a few different people that there are more changes coming to the roster. The expectations seem to be for Pitt to add anywhere from 6-8 more players to the roster, either from the transfer portal or the 2023 recruiting class.
That will require a bit of attrition, of course, but I don’t think anyone should be surprised by more departures.
- Finally, the continuing saga of Dante Cephas is still ongoing. The Kent State transfer receiver and former Penn Hills standout was an early portal target for Pitt and a lot of other schools. His interests seemed to span a few conferences, but as the new year approached, it became clear that he was going to have limited options, if any, for transferring ahead of the spring semester due to issues with qualifying credits. That pushed his potential transfer to post-spring, when he could presumably go as a grad transfer.
A week or two ago - as Bob Dylan said, I have no sense of time - it looked like he would follow that path and pursue his path as a grad transfer with a move to Pitt. Now it sounds like Penn State is more likely. But I’m also hearing continuing doubts about if/when he’ll actually be able to transfer.
My guess is this will go on for a bit longer, but it may end up being a case of “Believe it when he steps on the field,” regardless of which school he picks.
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