The stretch run is here. The Pitt coaches are on the road for a day or two of off-campus recruiting and then they’ll head home for a big official visit weekend. Then it’s back on the road for more recruiting, another big official visit weekend, another week of recruiting and a final visit weekend before Signing Day.
Yeah, it’s about to be two-plus weeks of news on the recruiting trail, and it starts today. We’ve confirmed the destinations for all nine active Pitt coaches - eight assistants plus Pat Narduzzi - and that’s a good place to start for this rundown.
- We’ll begin with the most notable: that’s Narduzzi and Andre Powell visiting Jaylen Twyman, the Washington, DC, prospect who has been at the top of Pitt’s defensive tackle board for quite some time. As we’ve mentioned since reporting that Narduzzi and Powell would be visiting Twyman, this visit is pretty significant; the head coach only gets one visit with a recruit and Narduzzi is using his now, presumably in the hopes that it will lead to a commitment and a cancellation of Twyman’s planned visits to South Carolina and Missouri.
It’s possible that he could cancel those visits, but it’s probably unlikely as it seems like Twyman is enjoying the process and the visits. But that doesn’t mean this is a wasted visit by Narduzzi: he and Powell can still put in some work to make a positive impression on Twyman, who is already favoring the Panthers. Then they just have to hope that the positive impression lasts through his other visits.
- Also on the defensive tackle front, we confirmed Wednesday that junior college prospect Kam Carter will be taking an official visit to Pitt next weekend. Whereas Twyman potentially represents the future for Pitt’s defensive tackles, Carter could represent a boost to the present. Pitt loses two defensive tackles from the 2016 roster and returns a lot of youth - talented youth but inexperienced youth.
By all indications, Carter is a beast, big and explosive and certainly capable of being an impact player. He’ll have three years of eligibility when he gets to a college, and it sounds like Pitt has a really good shot. His visit next weekend is the only official visit he has set up; he isn’t visiting anywhere this weekend and is considering Louisville or Virginia Tech for a visit the weekend of Jan. 27-29, but he isn’t sure yet if he’ll take a visit that weekend.
Carter told us he’s also looking at Texas and Texas A&M, but he hasn’t visited either of those schools. In fact, he hasn’t visited any of the five schools he says he is considering - meaning the visit to Pitt will be his only visit prior to Signing Day unless he chooses to take one the following weekend.
All of this seems to point in Pitt’s favor. I do think there will be some background checks and character assessments, because Carter has some baggage after being dismissed from Penn State last April. At this point, it looks like Pitt will take him, but I haven’t confirmed that.
- Tight ends coach Tim Salem will be on the east coast Thursday, visiting Pitt commit Owen Drexel in New Jersey and also spending time in Connecticut, where he will visit with cornerback target Jason Pinnock. That visit serves as the precursor to Pinnock’s official visit to Pitt this weekend, and the message on both occasions will be clear:
Pinnock is a priority for Pitt.
As has been mentioned on the board, the specter of a possible Notre Dame offer looms over Pinnock’s recruitment; the Irish have shown interest in him and have scheduled an official visit for him the final weekend of January. But in the last week, Notre Dame has offered two cornerback prospects - neither of which is Pinnock.
So the message from Notre Dame seems to be clear; Pitt needs to make sure that its message is just as clear and hope that the message - one school sees Pinnock as a priority and the other does not - makes an impact.
- From what I can tell, Pitt is currently planning to take one more cornerback in addition to Damarri Mathis, who committed last month. Pinnock is the priority at that spot, but if he doesn’t commit, there are a few other options. Anthony Johnson and Endrickson Boucher are scheduled to visit later this month and Pitt is still working on Kenny Bennett and Bryce Watts.
But the new name for Wednesday was Verenzo Holmes. A Ball State commit from Georgia who doesn’t have any Power Five offers but has impressed the Pitt staff dating back to the summer, Holmes is scheduled to visit next weekend (Jan. 20-22) and will host Renaldo Hill for an in-home visit on Thursday. The fact that Hill is visiting Holmes this week - when there are limited opportunities for visits due to the short week - seems to point toward how much Pitt likes him, but he does not have an offer from the Panthers.
Holmes thinks he’s got a shot at landing an offer from Pitt when he visits, but as far as I can gather, there is a cause-and-effect at play here: if Pinnock commits to Pitt, then Holmes probably won’t get the offer. If Pinnock doesn’t commit and a week passes, then all bets are off. And if Pitt offers Holmes, he will probably commit.
There are a couple other targets to watch at cornerback if Pitt has to put out some new offers; we’re working to gather some names.
- Wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman will be in Florida on Thursday to visit with Vero Beach standout Michael Smith. Not much has been heard from Smith since his official visit to Pitt in December - which he spoke very highly of - but one of the more notable developments was an offer from Notre Dame that he picked up last month.
Smith has an official visit scheduled to Georgia Tech for this weekend and Notre Dame for next weekend. But he told me Wednesday night that the Notre Dame visit might not happen and he might commit before then. If that commitment happens, I have to say I like Pitt’s chances a lot.
We talked a lot about Smith when he popped up on the radar in December; to refresh, Smith had a breakout season in 2016, catching 67 passes for 1,561 yards and 24 touchdowns. He’s a 6’2” 205-pound playmaker, and his senior film is really impressive.
- Speaking of Florida, I think Pitt has a good chance of landing another playmaker from the Sunshine State: four-star running back Anthony Davis. Davis visited Pitt the same weekend as Smith, and his teammate at Lakeland is Damarri Mathis, who also visited that weekend and has since committed.
Davis keeps a very low profile in recruiting, but he said at the Under Armour All-America Game that his top three schools are Pitt, Louisville and North Carolina; Oregon might also be in the mix and it sounds like he’ll visit those schools this month, but I’ve heard a couple indications that he is favoring the Panthers.
Davis would be a heck of a piece to go with Todd Sibley in this class.
Yeah, it’s about to be two-plus weeks of news on the recruiting trail, and it starts today. We’ve confirmed the destinations for all nine active Pitt coaches - eight assistants plus Pat Narduzzi - and that’s a good place to start for this rundown.
- We’ll begin with the most notable: that’s Narduzzi and Andre Powell visiting Jaylen Twyman, the Washington, DC, prospect who has been at the top of Pitt’s defensive tackle board for quite some time. As we’ve mentioned since reporting that Narduzzi and Powell would be visiting Twyman, this visit is pretty significant; the head coach only gets one visit with a recruit and Narduzzi is using his now, presumably in the hopes that it will lead to a commitment and a cancellation of Twyman’s planned visits to South Carolina and Missouri.
It’s possible that he could cancel those visits, but it’s probably unlikely as it seems like Twyman is enjoying the process and the visits. But that doesn’t mean this is a wasted visit by Narduzzi: he and Powell can still put in some work to make a positive impression on Twyman, who is already favoring the Panthers. Then they just have to hope that the positive impression lasts through his other visits.
- Also on the defensive tackle front, we confirmed Wednesday that junior college prospect Kam Carter will be taking an official visit to Pitt next weekend. Whereas Twyman potentially represents the future for Pitt’s defensive tackles, Carter could represent a boost to the present. Pitt loses two defensive tackles from the 2016 roster and returns a lot of youth - talented youth but inexperienced youth.
By all indications, Carter is a beast, big and explosive and certainly capable of being an impact player. He’ll have three years of eligibility when he gets to a college, and it sounds like Pitt has a really good shot. His visit next weekend is the only official visit he has set up; he isn’t visiting anywhere this weekend and is considering Louisville or Virginia Tech for a visit the weekend of Jan. 27-29, but he isn’t sure yet if he’ll take a visit that weekend.
Carter told us he’s also looking at Texas and Texas A&M, but he hasn’t visited either of those schools. In fact, he hasn’t visited any of the five schools he says he is considering - meaning the visit to Pitt will be his only visit prior to Signing Day unless he chooses to take one the following weekend.
All of this seems to point in Pitt’s favor. I do think there will be some background checks and character assessments, because Carter has some baggage after being dismissed from Penn State last April. At this point, it looks like Pitt will take him, but I haven’t confirmed that.
- Tight ends coach Tim Salem will be on the east coast Thursday, visiting Pitt commit Owen Drexel in New Jersey and also spending time in Connecticut, where he will visit with cornerback target Jason Pinnock. That visit serves as the precursor to Pinnock’s official visit to Pitt this weekend, and the message on both occasions will be clear:
Pinnock is a priority for Pitt.
As has been mentioned on the board, the specter of a possible Notre Dame offer looms over Pinnock’s recruitment; the Irish have shown interest in him and have scheduled an official visit for him the final weekend of January. But in the last week, Notre Dame has offered two cornerback prospects - neither of which is Pinnock.
So the message from Notre Dame seems to be clear; Pitt needs to make sure that its message is just as clear and hope that the message - one school sees Pinnock as a priority and the other does not - makes an impact.
- From what I can tell, Pitt is currently planning to take one more cornerback in addition to Damarri Mathis, who committed last month. Pinnock is the priority at that spot, but if he doesn’t commit, there are a few other options. Anthony Johnson and Endrickson Boucher are scheduled to visit later this month and Pitt is still working on Kenny Bennett and Bryce Watts.
But the new name for Wednesday was Verenzo Holmes. A Ball State commit from Georgia who doesn’t have any Power Five offers but has impressed the Pitt staff dating back to the summer, Holmes is scheduled to visit next weekend (Jan. 20-22) and will host Renaldo Hill for an in-home visit on Thursday. The fact that Hill is visiting Holmes this week - when there are limited opportunities for visits due to the short week - seems to point toward how much Pitt likes him, but he does not have an offer from the Panthers.
Holmes thinks he’s got a shot at landing an offer from Pitt when he visits, but as far as I can gather, there is a cause-and-effect at play here: if Pinnock commits to Pitt, then Holmes probably won’t get the offer. If Pinnock doesn’t commit and a week passes, then all bets are off. And if Pitt offers Holmes, he will probably commit.
There are a couple other targets to watch at cornerback if Pitt has to put out some new offers; we’re working to gather some names.
- Wide receivers coach Kevin Sherman will be in Florida on Thursday to visit with Vero Beach standout Michael Smith. Not much has been heard from Smith since his official visit to Pitt in December - which he spoke very highly of - but one of the more notable developments was an offer from Notre Dame that he picked up last month.
Smith has an official visit scheduled to Georgia Tech for this weekend and Notre Dame for next weekend. But he told me Wednesday night that the Notre Dame visit might not happen and he might commit before then. If that commitment happens, I have to say I like Pitt’s chances a lot.
We talked a lot about Smith when he popped up on the radar in December; to refresh, Smith had a breakout season in 2016, catching 67 passes for 1,561 yards and 24 touchdowns. He’s a 6’2” 205-pound playmaker, and his senior film is really impressive.
- Speaking of Florida, I think Pitt has a good chance of landing another playmaker from the Sunshine State: four-star running back Anthony Davis. Davis visited Pitt the same weekend as Smith, and his teammate at Lakeland is Damarri Mathis, who also visited that weekend and has since committed.
Davis keeps a very low profile in recruiting, but he said at the Under Armour All-America Game that his top three schools are Pitt, Louisville and North Carolina; Oregon might also be in the mix and it sounds like he’ll visit those schools this month, but I’ve heard a couple indications that he is favoring the Panthers.
Davis would be a heck of a piece to go with Todd Sibley in this class.
