January 20, 2012
Signing Day is less than two weeks away and Pitt has two more weekends to host official visitors as Paul Chryst works to secure the class of 2012. A lot has happened in the last week, so we figured we should pull it all together in another edition of In the Pitt.
The commits
Let’s run down the commitment list and see where everybody stands.
Adam Bisnowaty - Bisnowaty had an in-home visit with Pitt OC/OL coach Bob Bostad this past Sunday, and he is good to go for Pitt. SOLID
Mike Caprara - Caprara committed to Pitt on his official visit last weekend. He’s not going anywhere. SOLID
Trenton Coles - Coles was thinking about looking around before the coaching change, but his official visit this past weekend locked up his commitment. SOLID
Brandyn Cook - As of Wednesday night, Cook had only talked to Chryst once and didn’t have a clear idea of Pitt’s interest. If Chryst says he wants Cook, Cook will be at Pitt. It’s just a question of confirming the former. PENDING
Chris Davis/Demitrious Davis - The twins get lumped together because their futures lie together. The Davis twins visited Arizona last weekend and the staff there is really trying to pursue them, but it seems like they are set on Pitt. The twins and their father have been pretty actively recruiting other kids to Pitt. SOLID
Marzett Geter - Pitt is pretty much Geter’s primary option; I’m not sure he has anywhere else to go. SOLID
Myles Hilliard - Quite a bit of time passed before Hilliard and Pitt had contact, and that passage of time had Hilliard starting to look around. But the coaches finally reached him and visited him last week. He’ll take his official visit this weekend, and he’s set on Pitt. SOLID
Tyrique Jarrett - Jarrett has had several conversations with the coaching staff. He still might be a casualty of eligibility, but he is set on Pitt and he’ll take his official visit this weekend. SOLID
Corey Jones - I haven’t been able to confirm it, but I’ve seen it reported that Jones will take an official visit to Toledo this weekend. That obviously doesn’t make him a Pitt lock, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him flip. PENDING
Jahmahl Pardner - Pardner took his official visit with the old coaching staff, but Pitt assistant Matt House visited him on Wednesday night and things are good between Pitt and Pardner. SOLID
Will Parks - The subject of much message board consternation, Parks has wavered on his Pitt commitment because he doesn’t feel like the new staff has shown him enough love. Scratch that: people around Parks have told him that Pitt didn’t show him enough love. I’ve talked to some people around Parks, and they’ve made it clear that they feel slighted by the way the relationship has developed. Never mind that Pitt hosted Parks for an official visit and the coaches told him they like his film a lot. Either way, Parks will take an official visit to Arizona in two weeks and is also hearing from Rutgers and Penn State. PENDING
Jevonte Pitts - I haven’t been able to get much out of Pitts or Milford Academy, but it sounds like everything is set for him to be at Pitt. SOLID
Devon Porchia - Porchia hasn’t really wavered on his commitment, and that was further solidified this past weekend with an official visit. Pitt tight ends coach Jim Hueber followed that up with an in-home visit on Wednesday night, and Porchia is good with Pitt. SOLID
Darryl Render - Like a number of his fellow commits, Render has been pretty solid throughout the process. Pitt coaches visited him Wednesday night, and even though he took his official visit in early December, he did visit the current staff on campus two weeks ago. SOLID
Rushel Shell - Shell has been one of the catalysts for keeping the class together, quietly working behind the scenes to make sure that everyone is still on board. SOLID
Chad Voytik - Voytik is probably the most important recruit in the class, not just because of the position he plays but because of the respect he commands in the class. Voytik has embraced the role of being a leader in the group, and he has worked as hard - if not harder - than any other recruit to keep the class together. Chryst and assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Joe Rudolph visited Voytik Tuesday night, and not even an offer from Penn State - which he received this week - could shake him off his Pitt commitment. SOLID
Alkwan Williams - Williams took his official visit this past weekend and said it went well. There have been some rumors that he might look around, but I doubt he’ll go anywhere else. SOLID
- So I would categorize them as follows:
The solids
Adam Bisnowaty
Mike Caprara
Trenton Coles
Chris Davis
Demitrious Davis
Marzett Geter
Myles Hilliard
Tyrique Jarrett
Jahmahl Pardner
Devon Porchia
Darryl Render
Rushel Shell
Chad Voytik
Alkwan Williams
The pending
Brandyn Cook
Corey Jones
Will Parks
Decommits
So far, only two recruits have officially de-committed from Pitt: Upper St. Clair linebacker Dakota Conwell and Hamilton (Oh.) offensive tackle Adam Pankey.
Conwell committed to Arizona after visiting there this past weekend, largely because the Wildcats’ new 3-3-5 defensive scheme fits his skills as an undersized athletic linebacker better than Pitt’s 4-3. Pitt coaches met with Conwell at Upper St. Clair on Thursday to attempt to persuade him to take another look at the Panthers, but Conwell appears to be set on Arizona.
Pankey reopened his recruitment but hasn’t committed anywhere. He will decide between Pitt and West Virginia. Pitt visited him at his home on Monday night and WVU coaches were there on Thursday night. This is a tough one to call and I don’t have a great feel on it; it seems like Pankey is pretty split on the two schools.
I do know that Chad Voytik and the Davis twins have been working on Pankey for Pitt; that can’t hurt.
Other targets on the board
- Speaking of Voytik working on recruiting for Pitt, Pankey’s not the only one he is going after. Voytik met four-star tight end Kent Taylor at the Army All-American Bowl and the two became fast friends. Voytik has done a good job getting Taylor interested in Pitt, and I’ve heard that Taylor spoke to Chryst on Monday of this week. He apparently has interest in visiting Pitt next weekend, but it’s a decision he has to make with his family.
If Taylor does visit next weekend, the timing could work out well since Voytik is looking at taking an unofficial visit that weekend, too.
- Speaking of unofficial visitors during official visits, I expect a number of commits to be on campus Saturday for the Pitt-Louisville game. That game will be a centerpiece of the official visit weekend, and so far Rushel Shell and Darryl Render have said they’re going to be in attendance. I think more will be coming, and we’ll post from the game on who we see.
- Back to Voytik for a moment. The trip to San Antonio for the Army game gave Voytik an opportunity to meet a few more top recruits and try to sell them on Pitt; I’ve even heard that he was working on five-star receiver Stefon Diggs.
Diggs is pretty unlikely, which is why Voytik’s efforts are being focused more on recruits that Pitt can realistically land. I’ve been told that Chryst gave Voytik some top targets to call when they had their in-home visit this week, so he’s been working on recruits like Pankey and J.J. Denman.
- Denman visited Pitt last weekend and will take an official visit to Wisconsin this weekend; after that, he’ll most likely make his decision between the two schools (although Penn State and Rutgers have been trying to get involved). Bostad visited him on Thursday and it seems like Pitt has a great shot.
- Bostad also contacted Cleveland Heights offensive tackle Kyle Dodson, but the four-star recruit is using his fifth and final official visit on Michigan State this weekend. However, I’ve heard there is at least some possibility that Pitt could get an unofficial visit out of Dodson next weekend. We’ll keep an eye on him.
- There have been some questions raised about why Bostad’s name hasn’t shown up in more of the nightly recruiting reports on which coaches have been visiting recruits. I think part of the reason is this: Bostad has been scouring the Midwest looking for offensive linemen. The coaching staff has identified the offensive line as a primary area of concern - I think we’d all agree - and went to work trying to find linemen for the class.
As such, Bostad has been looking for “new” names to recruit to Pitt. “New” as in recruits we haven’t covered on this site before. So while we’re checking in with the recruits we know and a few new names that have emerged, we haven’t come across too many new offensive linemen; if we had, we probably would have heard Bostad’s name a lot more.
Official visit weekend
This weekend is the penultimate official visit for the class of 2012, and so far we have confirmed six names for the weekend:
Cleveland (Oh.) Glenville cornerback Sean Draper
- Draper’s recruitment by Pitt started on Monday, and the coaches impressed him enough to convince him to visit this weekend.
Cleveland (Oh.) Glenville defensive tackle Willie Henry
- Henry has been interested in Pitt for some time, and defensive tackle is an important position for Pitt to restock if the Panthers are going to move back to a 4-3 defense.
Columbus (Oh.) Marion Franklin defensive tackle Terrell Jackson
- Speaking of defensive tackles, Jackson is committed to Duke but had interest from the current Pitt coaches when they were at Wisconsin. Now they want him at Pitt, and the main competition is from Michigan State; if the Spartans offer Jackson a scholarship, he’ll likely take it. If they don’t, Pitt should be able to land him.
Sammamish (Wash.) Eastlake cornerback Ryan Lewis
- The nephew of former Pitt player Tim Lewis, Ryan Lewis was recently contacted by Pitt and invited for a visit. Pitt hasn’t offered, but if they do, he’ll likely jump at the opportunity.
Bedford (Oh.) defensive end Myles Hilliard
- Hilliard was concerned when he hadn’t heard from Chryst after the new head coach was hired, but he has spoken to and met with the coaches, and this weekend’s official visit will tie things up for him.
Taylor Allderdice defensive tackle Tyrique Jarrett
- Another defensive tackle visiting this weekend, Jarrett is pretty firm in his commitment to Pitt.
Now, those are the six names we have confirmed so far. There will be more; I am confident of this. We will be working throughout the weekend to find out who else is visiting. But there will be more. If we don’t find out ahead of time, we should be able to identify some recruits at the basketball game on Saturday night.
Headlines
Here’s a rundown of articles from this week, in case you missed anything:
- Woodland Hills linebacker Mike Caprara was offered a scholarship and committed during his official visit last weekend.
- Marzett Geter also took an official visit last weekend, and he was really impressed.
- The Davis twins visited Arizona last weekend, but after returning home they said they are ”110% committed to Pitt.”
- Chad Voytik had his in-home visit with Chryst and Rudolph this week, and he spoke highly of the experience.
- Trenton Coles also took his official visit last weekend.
- Terrell Jackson originally planned to visit Michigan State this week and Pitt next weekend; then he changed his plans.
- Pitt got in the mix for Illinois cornerback in his top three.
- Glenville corner Sean Draper talked to us about his interest in Pitt.
Stay tuned throughout the weekend; we’ll be working to get updates as the weekend goes on and interviews after the visits are over.
Update: Myles Hilliard is taking his official visit to Pitt next weekend. And Jevonte Pitts is not going to be eligible this year, so he has been removed from the commitment list.
Another update: J.J. Denman is visiting Rutgers this weekend, not Wisconsin.
This post was edited on 1/20 2:52 PM by Chris Peak
Signing Day is less than two weeks away and Pitt has two more weekends to host official visitors as Paul Chryst works to secure the class of 2012. A lot has happened in the last week, so we figured we should pull it all together in another edition of In the Pitt.
The commits
Let’s run down the commitment list and see where everybody stands.
Adam Bisnowaty - Bisnowaty had an in-home visit with Pitt OC/OL coach Bob Bostad this past Sunday, and he is good to go for Pitt. SOLID
Mike Caprara - Caprara committed to Pitt on his official visit last weekend. He’s not going anywhere. SOLID
Trenton Coles - Coles was thinking about looking around before the coaching change, but his official visit this past weekend locked up his commitment. SOLID
Brandyn Cook - As of Wednesday night, Cook had only talked to Chryst once and didn’t have a clear idea of Pitt’s interest. If Chryst says he wants Cook, Cook will be at Pitt. It’s just a question of confirming the former. PENDING
Chris Davis/Demitrious Davis - The twins get lumped together because their futures lie together. The Davis twins visited Arizona last weekend and the staff there is really trying to pursue them, but it seems like they are set on Pitt. The twins and their father have been pretty actively recruiting other kids to Pitt. SOLID
Marzett Geter - Pitt is pretty much Geter’s primary option; I’m not sure he has anywhere else to go. SOLID
Myles Hilliard - Quite a bit of time passed before Hilliard and Pitt had contact, and that passage of time had Hilliard starting to look around. But the coaches finally reached him and visited him last week. He’ll take his official visit this weekend, and he’s set on Pitt. SOLID
Tyrique Jarrett - Jarrett has had several conversations with the coaching staff. He still might be a casualty of eligibility, but he is set on Pitt and he’ll take his official visit this weekend. SOLID
Corey Jones - I haven’t been able to confirm it, but I’ve seen it reported that Jones will take an official visit to Toledo this weekend. That obviously doesn’t make him a Pitt lock, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him flip. PENDING
Jahmahl Pardner - Pardner took his official visit with the old coaching staff, but Pitt assistant Matt House visited him on Wednesday night and things are good between Pitt and Pardner. SOLID
Will Parks - The subject of much message board consternation, Parks has wavered on his Pitt commitment because he doesn’t feel like the new staff has shown him enough love. Scratch that: people around Parks have told him that Pitt didn’t show him enough love. I’ve talked to some people around Parks, and they’ve made it clear that they feel slighted by the way the relationship has developed. Never mind that Pitt hosted Parks for an official visit and the coaches told him they like his film a lot. Either way, Parks will take an official visit to Arizona in two weeks and is also hearing from Rutgers and Penn State. PENDING
Jevonte Pitts - I haven’t been able to get much out of Pitts or Milford Academy, but it sounds like everything is set for him to be at Pitt. SOLID
Devon Porchia - Porchia hasn’t really wavered on his commitment, and that was further solidified this past weekend with an official visit. Pitt tight ends coach Jim Hueber followed that up with an in-home visit on Wednesday night, and Porchia is good with Pitt. SOLID
Darryl Render - Like a number of his fellow commits, Render has been pretty solid throughout the process. Pitt coaches visited him Wednesday night, and even though he took his official visit in early December, he did visit the current staff on campus two weeks ago. SOLID
Rushel Shell - Shell has been one of the catalysts for keeping the class together, quietly working behind the scenes to make sure that everyone is still on board. SOLID
Chad Voytik - Voytik is probably the most important recruit in the class, not just because of the position he plays but because of the respect he commands in the class. Voytik has embraced the role of being a leader in the group, and he has worked as hard - if not harder - than any other recruit to keep the class together. Chryst and assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Joe Rudolph visited Voytik Tuesday night, and not even an offer from Penn State - which he received this week - could shake him off his Pitt commitment. SOLID
Alkwan Williams - Williams took his official visit this past weekend and said it went well. There have been some rumors that he might look around, but I doubt he’ll go anywhere else. SOLID
- So I would categorize them as follows:
The solids
Adam Bisnowaty
Mike Caprara
Trenton Coles
Chris Davis
Demitrious Davis
Marzett Geter
Myles Hilliard
Tyrique Jarrett
Jahmahl Pardner
Devon Porchia
Darryl Render
Rushel Shell
Chad Voytik
Alkwan Williams
The pending
Brandyn Cook
Corey Jones
Will Parks
Decommits
So far, only two recruits have officially de-committed from Pitt: Upper St. Clair linebacker Dakota Conwell and Hamilton (Oh.) offensive tackle Adam Pankey.
Conwell committed to Arizona after visiting there this past weekend, largely because the Wildcats’ new 3-3-5 defensive scheme fits his skills as an undersized athletic linebacker better than Pitt’s 4-3. Pitt coaches met with Conwell at Upper St. Clair on Thursday to attempt to persuade him to take another look at the Panthers, but Conwell appears to be set on Arizona.
Pankey reopened his recruitment but hasn’t committed anywhere. He will decide between Pitt and West Virginia. Pitt visited him at his home on Monday night and WVU coaches were there on Thursday night. This is a tough one to call and I don’t have a great feel on it; it seems like Pankey is pretty split on the two schools.
I do know that Chad Voytik and the Davis twins have been working on Pankey for Pitt; that can’t hurt.
Other targets on the board
- Speaking of Voytik working on recruiting for Pitt, Pankey’s not the only one he is going after. Voytik met four-star tight end Kent Taylor at the Army All-American Bowl and the two became fast friends. Voytik has done a good job getting Taylor interested in Pitt, and I’ve heard that Taylor spoke to Chryst on Monday of this week. He apparently has interest in visiting Pitt next weekend, but it’s a decision he has to make with his family.
If Taylor does visit next weekend, the timing could work out well since Voytik is looking at taking an unofficial visit that weekend, too.
- Speaking of unofficial visitors during official visits, I expect a number of commits to be on campus Saturday for the Pitt-Louisville game. That game will be a centerpiece of the official visit weekend, and so far Rushel Shell and Darryl Render have said they’re going to be in attendance. I think more will be coming, and we’ll post from the game on who we see.
- Back to Voytik for a moment. The trip to San Antonio for the Army game gave Voytik an opportunity to meet a few more top recruits and try to sell them on Pitt; I’ve even heard that he was working on five-star receiver Stefon Diggs.
Diggs is pretty unlikely, which is why Voytik’s efforts are being focused more on recruits that Pitt can realistically land. I’ve been told that Chryst gave Voytik some top targets to call when they had their in-home visit this week, so he’s been working on recruits like Pankey and J.J. Denman.
- Denman visited Pitt last weekend and will take an official visit to Wisconsin this weekend; after that, he’ll most likely make his decision between the two schools (although Penn State and Rutgers have been trying to get involved). Bostad visited him on Thursday and it seems like Pitt has a great shot.
- Bostad also contacted Cleveland Heights offensive tackle Kyle Dodson, but the four-star recruit is using his fifth and final official visit on Michigan State this weekend. However, I’ve heard there is at least some possibility that Pitt could get an unofficial visit out of Dodson next weekend. We’ll keep an eye on him.
- There have been some questions raised about why Bostad’s name hasn’t shown up in more of the nightly recruiting reports on which coaches have been visiting recruits. I think part of the reason is this: Bostad has been scouring the Midwest looking for offensive linemen. The coaching staff has identified the offensive line as a primary area of concern - I think we’d all agree - and went to work trying to find linemen for the class.
As such, Bostad has been looking for “new” names to recruit to Pitt. “New” as in recruits we haven’t covered on this site before. So while we’re checking in with the recruits we know and a few new names that have emerged, we haven’t come across too many new offensive linemen; if we had, we probably would have heard Bostad’s name a lot more.
Official visit weekend
This weekend is the penultimate official visit for the class of 2012, and so far we have confirmed six names for the weekend:
Cleveland (Oh.) Glenville cornerback Sean Draper
- Draper’s recruitment by Pitt started on Monday, and the coaches impressed him enough to convince him to visit this weekend.
Cleveland (Oh.) Glenville defensive tackle Willie Henry
- Henry has been interested in Pitt for some time, and defensive tackle is an important position for Pitt to restock if the Panthers are going to move back to a 4-3 defense.
Columbus (Oh.) Marion Franklin defensive tackle Terrell Jackson
- Speaking of defensive tackles, Jackson is committed to Duke but had interest from the current Pitt coaches when they were at Wisconsin. Now they want him at Pitt, and the main competition is from Michigan State; if the Spartans offer Jackson a scholarship, he’ll likely take it. If they don’t, Pitt should be able to land him.
Sammamish (Wash.) Eastlake cornerback Ryan Lewis
- The nephew of former Pitt player Tim Lewis, Ryan Lewis was recently contacted by Pitt and invited for a visit. Pitt hasn’t offered, but if they do, he’ll likely jump at the opportunity.
Bedford (Oh.) defensive end Myles Hilliard
- Hilliard was concerned when he hadn’t heard from Chryst after the new head coach was hired, but he has spoken to and met with the coaches, and this weekend’s official visit will tie things up for him.
Taylor Allderdice defensive tackle Tyrique Jarrett
- Another defensive tackle visiting this weekend, Jarrett is pretty firm in his commitment to Pitt.
Now, those are the six names we have confirmed so far. There will be more; I am confident of this. We will be working throughout the weekend to find out who else is visiting. But there will be more. If we don’t find out ahead of time, we should be able to identify some recruits at the basketball game on Saturday night.
Headlines
Here’s a rundown of articles from this week, in case you missed anything:
- Woodland Hills linebacker Mike Caprara was offered a scholarship and committed during his official visit last weekend.
- Marzett Geter also took an official visit last weekend, and he was really impressed.
- The Davis twins visited Arizona last weekend, but after returning home they said they are ”110% committed to Pitt.”
- Chad Voytik had his in-home visit with Chryst and Rudolph this week, and he spoke highly of the experience.
- Trenton Coles also took his official visit last weekend.
- Terrell Jackson originally planned to visit Michigan State this week and Pitt next weekend; then he changed his plans.
- Pitt got in the mix for Illinois cornerback in his top three.
- Glenville corner Sean Draper talked to us about his interest in Pitt.
Stay tuned throughout the weekend; we’ll be working to get updates as the weekend goes on and interviews after the visits are over.
Update: Myles Hilliard is taking his official visit to Pitt next weekend. And Jevonte Pitts is not going to be eligible this year, so he has been removed from the commitment list.
Another update: J.J. Denman is visiting Rutgers this weekend, not Wisconsin.
This post was edited on 1/20 2:52 PM by Chris Peak
