Pitt made a late push for a four-star target on Wednesday. More on that, the Panthers' remaining targets, early enrollees and more in today's recruiting rundown.
Camden Brown
Arguably the biggest visit on Wednesday was in Florida, where Pitt checked in on newly-minted four-star receiver Camden Brown, the former Pitt commit who backed off his pledge at the start of December but has remained a priority target for the Panthers.
I initially thought Brown would get a visit from Charlie Partridge, but it turns out Partridge brought a few friends to Brown’s house, too.
Clearly, Pitt is making a big push for Brown, and it’s understandable why:
He’s a big receiver who made a bunch of impressive plays this season.
I like the receivers Pitt has coming back next season, but I think Brown is talented enough to get on the field as a freshman, even with the likes of Jordan Addison and Jared Wayne and Jaylon Barden and Jaden Bradley already in place. He’s just that good.
But everybody else knows he’s that good, too. That’s why Georgia offered him shortly after he decommitted from Pitt. That’s why Florida State and West Virginia and Colorado and South Carolina and Arizona all offered him during the fall before he decommitted.
Brown’s top five is an impressive group: Georgia, Auburn, Florida State, South Carolina and Pitt. That’s stiff competition, to be sure.
I don’t think FSU will be the choice. He took an official visit to Tallahassee while he was still committed to Pitt, and from everything I heard, he came out of that visit feeling pretty solid with Pitt.
South Carolina was one of the first schools to have an in-home visit with Brown, but he didn’t take an official visit there.
That leaves Auburn and Georgia. I’m not sure how strongly Kirby Smart and company will push for Brown. They have three receivers already committed and at least three other receiver prospects they are pursuing.
Georgia seems to have a good shot at flipping Marquarius White from Tennessee, but White is a different style of receiver than Brown, who is bigger than White or any of the Bulldogs’ three current receiver commits.
Style notwithstanding, you do have to wonder how many receivers Georgia can take. The Bulldogs have 24 commitments in the class of 2022 and seem to be working on close to 10 prospects; do they have room for Brown? That could be a deciding factor, particularly if Smart and his staff get a strong feeling for some of their more high-priority targets.
So there are moving parts there, to be sure.
Auburn only has two receiver commits and Brown appears to be a priority for the Tigers staff, so that’s a big one to watch.
The key for Pitt is going to be the relationships. Brown’s connection with Partridge, Brennan Marion and Pat Narduzzi helped land his commitment in June. It helped keep him committed through the fall. And it’s the biggest thing working in the Panthers’ favor. I have to believe that his relationships at Pitt are stronger than anywhere else, and that’s likely what those three coaches emphasized during Wednesday night’s in-home visit.
Will that be enough to get Brown back in the fold? I can’t say. Georgia and Auburn are tough to beat. But as we saw Wednesday night, Pitt is going down swinging.
Checking on other targets
I believe that Pitt also visited with four-star tight end Mason Taylor on Wednesday as well. Taylor attends St. Thomas Aquinas with Brown, and the NCAA visit rules say that when a coach visits a school, it counts as a visit for all prospects at that school.
So, by the letter of the rule, Pitt did visit Taylor simply by walking in the door. What we need to confirm is whether Partridge and company also visited Taylor at his home. We’ll try to confirm that today.
In New Jersey, Tim Salem and Cory Sanders visited a number of schools, including Union High School where the top target is four-star defensive back Davison Igbinosun.
Igbinosun took an official visit to Pitt in June but committed to Rutgers in July before backing off that commitment in October. Since then, he has taken official visits to Kentucky, Tennessee and Ole Miss, and it sounds like he’s most likely going to end up at one of those schools.
Remaining targets
Two weeks ago, I ran down a list of six remaining targets that I saw the Pitt staff going after. That list grew by two when Camden Brown and Jordaan Bailey converted from “commits” to “targets,” so let’s look where things stand with each of those:
Mason Taylor: Still committed to LSU and probably tough to flip, but Pitt is still working.
Davison Igbinosun: Pitt got an in-home visit this week, but likely headed to the SEC.
Samuel Okunlola: We haven’t confirmed a visit for Okunlola yet; it will happen today if it happens.
Xavier Townsend: Pitt is still pushing to flip the Iowa State commit, but it will be tough without an official visit. Townsend’s team plays in the state championship this Friday night, so a Saturday-Sunday visit is possible but probably unlikely.
Jayson Jenkins: Visited Boston College last weekend and will visit Pitt this weekend. The Panthers should be able to land him on or after the visit.
Bradley Mann: The former Pitt commit picked Vanderbilt last Wednesday.
Camden Brown: Top five of Pitt, Georgia, Auburn, Florida State and South Carolina. Visiting Georgia this weekend in what will probably be the decider on his recruitment.
Jordaan Bailey: Decommitted last Wednesday but had an in-home visit with Pat Narduzzi and Cory Sanders this week and could return to the class and sign with Pitt next week.
Thursday visits
We’ll be working to confirm visits throughout the day, but we know of two so far:
Narduzzi and Archie Collins will be in Georgia to visit defensive back commit Ryland Gandy and Marion will be in Texas to visit receiver commit Che Nwabuko.
Early enrollees
Speaking of Gandy, he plans to enroll at Pitt in January. In case you missed it a couple days ago, Pitt has five current commits who plan to be early enrollees:
Ryan Baer
Sean FitzSimmons
Addison Copeland
Ryland Gandy
Sam Vander Haar
Stay tuned for more updates throughout the day.
Camden Brown
Arguably the biggest visit on Wednesday was in Florida, where Pitt checked in on newly-minted four-star receiver Camden Brown, the former Pitt commit who backed off his pledge at the start of December but has remained a priority target for the Panthers.
I initially thought Brown would get a visit from Charlie Partridge, but it turns out Partridge brought a few friends to Brown’s house, too.
Clearly, Pitt is making a big push for Brown, and it’s understandable why:
He’s a big receiver who made a bunch of impressive plays this season.
I like the receivers Pitt has coming back next season, but I think Brown is talented enough to get on the field as a freshman, even with the likes of Jordan Addison and Jared Wayne and Jaylon Barden and Jaden Bradley already in place. He’s just that good.
But everybody else knows he’s that good, too. That’s why Georgia offered him shortly after he decommitted from Pitt. That’s why Florida State and West Virginia and Colorado and South Carolina and Arizona all offered him during the fall before he decommitted.
Brown’s top five is an impressive group: Georgia, Auburn, Florida State, South Carolina and Pitt. That’s stiff competition, to be sure.
I don’t think FSU will be the choice. He took an official visit to Tallahassee while he was still committed to Pitt, and from everything I heard, he came out of that visit feeling pretty solid with Pitt.
South Carolina was one of the first schools to have an in-home visit with Brown, but he didn’t take an official visit there.
That leaves Auburn and Georgia. I’m not sure how strongly Kirby Smart and company will push for Brown. They have three receivers already committed and at least three other receiver prospects they are pursuing.
Georgia seems to have a good shot at flipping Marquarius White from Tennessee, but White is a different style of receiver than Brown, who is bigger than White or any of the Bulldogs’ three current receiver commits.
Style notwithstanding, you do have to wonder how many receivers Georgia can take. The Bulldogs have 24 commitments in the class of 2022 and seem to be working on close to 10 prospects; do they have room for Brown? That could be a deciding factor, particularly if Smart and his staff get a strong feeling for some of their more high-priority targets.
So there are moving parts there, to be sure.
Auburn only has two receiver commits and Brown appears to be a priority for the Tigers staff, so that’s a big one to watch.
The key for Pitt is going to be the relationships. Brown’s connection with Partridge, Brennan Marion and Pat Narduzzi helped land his commitment in June. It helped keep him committed through the fall. And it’s the biggest thing working in the Panthers’ favor. I have to believe that his relationships at Pitt are stronger than anywhere else, and that’s likely what those three coaches emphasized during Wednesday night’s in-home visit.
Will that be enough to get Brown back in the fold? I can’t say. Georgia and Auburn are tough to beat. But as we saw Wednesday night, Pitt is going down swinging.
Checking on other targets
I believe that Pitt also visited with four-star tight end Mason Taylor on Wednesday as well. Taylor attends St. Thomas Aquinas with Brown, and the NCAA visit rules say that when a coach visits a school, it counts as a visit for all prospects at that school.
So, by the letter of the rule, Pitt did visit Taylor simply by walking in the door. What we need to confirm is whether Partridge and company also visited Taylor at his home. We’ll try to confirm that today.
In New Jersey, Tim Salem and Cory Sanders visited a number of schools, including Union High School where the top target is four-star defensive back Davison Igbinosun.
Igbinosun took an official visit to Pitt in June but committed to Rutgers in July before backing off that commitment in October. Since then, he has taken official visits to Kentucky, Tennessee and Ole Miss, and it sounds like he’s most likely going to end up at one of those schools.
Remaining targets
Two weeks ago, I ran down a list of six remaining targets that I saw the Pitt staff going after. That list grew by two when Camden Brown and Jordaan Bailey converted from “commits” to “targets,” so let’s look where things stand with each of those:
Mason Taylor: Still committed to LSU and probably tough to flip, but Pitt is still working.
Davison Igbinosun: Pitt got an in-home visit this week, but likely headed to the SEC.
Samuel Okunlola: We haven’t confirmed a visit for Okunlola yet; it will happen today if it happens.
Xavier Townsend: Pitt is still pushing to flip the Iowa State commit, but it will be tough without an official visit. Townsend’s team plays in the state championship this Friday night, so a Saturday-Sunday visit is possible but probably unlikely.
Jayson Jenkins: Visited Boston College last weekend and will visit Pitt this weekend. The Panthers should be able to land him on or after the visit.
Bradley Mann: The former Pitt commit picked Vanderbilt last Wednesday.
Camden Brown: Top five of Pitt, Georgia, Auburn, Florida State and South Carolina. Visiting Georgia this weekend in what will probably be the decider on his recruitment.
Jordaan Bailey: Decommitted last Wednesday but had an in-home visit with Pat Narduzzi and Cory Sanders this week and could return to the class and sign with Pitt next week.
Thursday visits
We’ll be working to confirm visits throughout the day, but we know of two so far:
Narduzzi and Archie Collins will be in Georgia to visit defensive back commit Ryland Gandy and Marion will be in Texas to visit receiver commit Che Nwabuko.
Early enrollees
Speaking of Gandy, he plans to enroll at Pitt in January. In case you missed it a couple days ago, Pitt has five current commits who plan to be early enrollees:
Ryan Baer
Sean FitzSimmons
Addison Copeland
Ryland Gandy
Sam Vander Haar
Stay tuned for more updates throughout the day.
