November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving. Hope everyone is having a safe, happy, and gastro-satisfying holiday.
Since it’s the holiday season, it’s time for another edition of In the Pitt, Panther-Lair.com’s rundown of everything going on in Pitt recruiting.
(A brief note: The former incarnation of In the Pitt was known as the War Room, and each War Room carried a disclaimer at the bottom about keeping premium information premium, i.e. not spreading it to other message boards or what-have-you. I don’t mean to be territorial about things, but I would prefer that what follows stays here. Thanks.)
Visit weekends
The football season is still very intriguing, since somehow Pitt at 5-5- has a chance to win the conference (although that could all change by Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon). But the looming end of the season means recruiting is about to shift into high gear.
Specifically, once there are no more games, the coaching staff will look to start building official visit weekends. Given the option, the staff would prefer to not have official visits on game weekends; while you get to showcase the football program and game environment - which isn’t always a good thing - the game takes up a lot of time. Coaches and players are pretty much occupied all day on Saturday and most of Friday night, and that’s valuable time for recruits to be spending with the coaches and players.
On a non-game weekend, though, the recruits get all the attention and the red carpet. Even when the coaches incorporate a basketball game into the visit, those couple hours in the Petersen Events Center are prime “bonding” hours, where the recruits can hang out with current players, coaches, and other recruits.
So it’s not a surprise that the second weekend of December - which is Pitt’s first postseason weekend - just so happens to be lining up as a big official visit weekend.
The big one
The weekend of 12/9 is shaping up as Pitt’s first big official visits weekend, with some big targets expected to be on campus. It’s tough to rank the visitors, but JUCO receiver Courtney Gardner has to be near the top. Gardner is the kind of playmaker the staff wants/needs in order to help the offense become more explosive, and he is one of the top JUCO prospects in the class. Gardner is favoring Arkansas and will visit the Razorbacks the weekend after he visits Pitt, so the staff will have to put on its best show to have a chance.
This week we also learned about JUCO offensive tackle Chandlor Mathews, who doesn’t have an offer but has heard a lot of interest in a short period of time. He’ll be visiting the weekend of 12/9 as well.
Nothing is set yet, but it also sounds like committed to Penn State, but Pitt recently offered, and it appears that he is interested enough to visit.
The coaches will try surround the uncommitted recruits with players who have committed, so new Pitt commit Devon Porchia is also expected to visit on 12/9
Also, Chad Voytik is going to make another trip into Pittsburgh for an unofficial visit, just so he can be around the uncommitted recruits and try to help bring more players into the class.
And this is just the start. Expect more names to come out for the 12/9 weekend.
An earlier weekend
Before that 12/9 visit weekend happens, though, Pitt will have some key visitors on campus a weekend earlier. The main target on the 12/2 weekend will be Shaler tight end/linebacker decommitted from Penn State, even if he won’t officially announce it.
Holtz took an official visit to Purdue last weekend, and there are quite a few rumors - on the message board and elsewhere - that he either committed to Purdue on the visit or is very close to doing so. He still plans to visit Pitt next weekend, but that could be a moot point if he is already set on Purdue.
However, Holtz won’t be alone on the official visit weekend. Pitt commits Demitrious Davis will also take their official visits that weekend.
The Pitt staff had hoped to load the Davis twins onto the 12/9 weekend, but they have personal commitments that weekend, so they’ll be coming in on 12/2. It would be ideal to have the Davis twins on the 12/9 visit weekend because they are great representatives for Pitt who can help build the class. Instead, they’ll have to focus their energies on Holtz.
Pitt commit Darryl Render is going to be in town for the Syracuse game, too. That will be an unofficial visit.
Class size
I know we’ve talked a lot about class size and I’ve maintained that it will be a smaller class. I guess I’m wavering on that to a certain degree, but only because it sounds like a number of recruits in the class aren’t likely to qualify.
In fact, there could be as many as four - don’t ask for names; I’ve only heard the number - who aren’t eligible to get enrolled in the summer. That means Pitt could sign 25, have four be ineligible, and end up enrolling 21.
So look for six more recruits to sign in this class.
JUCO’s
No, Pitt probably won’t sign a junior-college quarterback in this class. But they will delve into the JUCO ranks. Offensive tackle is a priority; Tavon Rooks has already visited (more on him in a second) and we mentioned Chandlor Mathews earlier. They’d like to get one tackle, and there are a couple others they’re monitoring.
As evidenced by the pursuit of Courtney Gardner, the staff also wants a JUCO receiver. They need more playmaking ability at the position, and they’d like a playmaker with decent size. Even if they miss on Gardner, I think they’ll keep looking through the JUCO’s for a receiver.
They’re also probably going to try to get a defensive end from the JUCO ranks. This is relatively new on my radar, so I’ve just begun hunting for possible candidates (and searching for JUCO players can be a real needle-haystack adventure, because they’re all over the place). But I think they feel like they need a ready-to-play defensive end who fits the 3-4 scheme for the next two seasons, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that.
On Tavon Rooks: we reported this week that he visited USF and has scheduled two more visits (Kansas State on 12/9, WVU on 12/16), after which he’ll make a decision and enroll in January.
Rooks previously told us that he would probably pick Pitt or West Virginia since they were closest to his hometown of Baltimore and it’s important for him to be close to home and his mother. But when I talked to him this week, he said that one of his assistant coaches had a talk with him and convinced him to look at some other schools - Kansas State and USF - and not to make his decision based solely on location.
So Rooks has a renewed interest in those two schools, in addition to Pitt and WVU. But I still think being close to home is important to him, so I don’t think it’s a total change of pace. He is exploring all of his options, but I think he’s still more likely to land at Pitt or WVU. We’ll find out after the visits.
Odds and ends
- I forget who said this on the board, but when considering Jahmahl Pardner’s commitment look at Pardner as a replacement for Marchez Coates, who de-committed from Pitt this fall and committed to North Carolina State.
While a lot of people are unimpressed by Pardner’s offer sheet - mostly MAC schools - it does compare favorably Coates’ offers (Pitt, Eastern Michigan, Robert Morris, and eventually NC State). It’s also worth noting that Pitt more or less decided to part ways with Coates after they learned he had visited NC State while still verbally committed to Pitt. Pardner’s offer came after the coaches saw his senior film.
- I still think that Bam Bradley and Wayne Capers are the most likely to commit from Pitt’s remaining targets, and it doesn’t sound like Deaysean Rippy is too far behind. That would be three of the six remaining spots; it wouldn’t be a surprise if the other three are the three JUCO positions I mentioned (OT, WR, DE), but that would leave out a number of recruits Pitt is targeting/pursuing, guys like V’Angelo Bentley or Alex Pace or Demetrious Cox or the Louisiana kids.
Pitt would take those recruits if they committed, but space is limited, and I think they are pretty anxious to get some ready-to-contribute players, particularly at those positions I listed.
- This is a little random and there might be nothing to it, but keep an eye on South Bend (Ind.) athlete David Perkins. He had committed to Notre Dame and then opened his recruitment; I’m hearing unverifiable whispers that he may have some interest in visiting Pitt. I haven’t gotten anything close to confirmation on that, but I figured I’d throw it out there since I’ve heard a little bit hinting at that.
Don’t get your hopes up, but we’ll keep an eye on it.
Happy Thanksgiving. Hope everyone is having a safe, happy, and gastro-satisfying holiday.
Since it’s the holiday season, it’s time for another edition of In the Pitt, Panther-Lair.com’s rundown of everything going on in Pitt recruiting.
(A brief note: The former incarnation of In the Pitt was known as the War Room, and each War Room carried a disclaimer at the bottom about keeping premium information premium, i.e. not spreading it to other message boards or what-have-you. I don’t mean to be territorial about things, but I would prefer that what follows stays here. Thanks.)
Visit weekends
The football season is still very intriguing, since somehow Pitt at 5-5- has a chance to win the conference (although that could all change by Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon). But the looming end of the season means recruiting is about to shift into high gear.
Specifically, once there are no more games, the coaching staff will look to start building official visit weekends. Given the option, the staff would prefer to not have official visits on game weekends; while you get to showcase the football program and game environment - which isn’t always a good thing - the game takes up a lot of time. Coaches and players are pretty much occupied all day on Saturday and most of Friday night, and that’s valuable time for recruits to be spending with the coaches and players.
On a non-game weekend, though, the recruits get all the attention and the red carpet. Even when the coaches incorporate a basketball game into the visit, those couple hours in the Petersen Events Center are prime “bonding” hours, where the recruits can hang out with current players, coaches, and other recruits.
So it’s not a surprise that the second weekend of December - which is Pitt’s first postseason weekend - just so happens to be lining up as a big official visit weekend.
The big one
The weekend of 12/9 is shaping up as Pitt’s first big official visits weekend, with some big targets expected to be on campus. It’s tough to rank the visitors, but JUCO receiver Courtney Gardner has to be near the top. Gardner is the kind of playmaker the staff wants/needs in order to help the offense become more explosive, and he is one of the top JUCO prospects in the class. Gardner is favoring Arkansas and will visit the Razorbacks the weekend after he visits Pitt, so the staff will have to put on its best show to have a chance.
This week we also learned about JUCO offensive tackle Chandlor Mathews, who doesn’t have an offer but has heard a lot of interest in a short period of time. He’ll be visiting the weekend of 12/9 as well.
Nothing is set yet, but it also sounds like committed to Penn State, but Pitt recently offered, and it appears that he is interested enough to visit.
The coaches will try surround the uncommitted recruits with players who have committed, so new Pitt commit Devon Porchia is also expected to visit on 12/9
Also, Chad Voytik is going to make another trip into Pittsburgh for an unofficial visit, just so he can be around the uncommitted recruits and try to help bring more players into the class.
And this is just the start. Expect more names to come out for the 12/9 weekend.
An earlier weekend
Before that 12/9 visit weekend happens, though, Pitt will have some key visitors on campus a weekend earlier. The main target on the 12/2 weekend will be Shaler tight end/linebacker decommitted from Penn State, even if he won’t officially announce it.
Holtz took an official visit to Purdue last weekend, and there are quite a few rumors - on the message board and elsewhere - that he either committed to Purdue on the visit or is very close to doing so. He still plans to visit Pitt next weekend, but that could be a moot point if he is already set on Purdue.
However, Holtz won’t be alone on the official visit weekend. Pitt commits Demitrious Davis will also take their official visits that weekend.
The Pitt staff had hoped to load the Davis twins onto the 12/9 weekend, but they have personal commitments that weekend, so they’ll be coming in on 12/2. It would be ideal to have the Davis twins on the 12/9 visit weekend because they are great representatives for Pitt who can help build the class. Instead, they’ll have to focus their energies on Holtz.
Pitt commit Darryl Render is going to be in town for the Syracuse game, too. That will be an unofficial visit.
Class size
I know we’ve talked a lot about class size and I’ve maintained that it will be a smaller class. I guess I’m wavering on that to a certain degree, but only because it sounds like a number of recruits in the class aren’t likely to qualify.
In fact, there could be as many as four - don’t ask for names; I’ve only heard the number - who aren’t eligible to get enrolled in the summer. That means Pitt could sign 25, have four be ineligible, and end up enrolling 21.
So look for six more recruits to sign in this class.
JUCO’s
No, Pitt probably won’t sign a junior-college quarterback in this class. But they will delve into the JUCO ranks. Offensive tackle is a priority; Tavon Rooks has already visited (more on him in a second) and we mentioned Chandlor Mathews earlier. They’d like to get one tackle, and there are a couple others they’re monitoring.
As evidenced by the pursuit of Courtney Gardner, the staff also wants a JUCO receiver. They need more playmaking ability at the position, and they’d like a playmaker with decent size. Even if they miss on Gardner, I think they’ll keep looking through the JUCO’s for a receiver.
They’re also probably going to try to get a defensive end from the JUCO ranks. This is relatively new on my radar, so I’ve just begun hunting for possible candidates (and searching for JUCO players can be a real needle-haystack adventure, because they’re all over the place). But I think they feel like they need a ready-to-play defensive end who fits the 3-4 scheme for the next two seasons, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that.
On Tavon Rooks: we reported this week that he visited USF and has scheduled two more visits (Kansas State on 12/9, WVU on 12/16), after which he’ll make a decision and enroll in January.
Rooks previously told us that he would probably pick Pitt or West Virginia since they were closest to his hometown of Baltimore and it’s important for him to be close to home and his mother. But when I talked to him this week, he said that one of his assistant coaches had a talk with him and convinced him to look at some other schools - Kansas State and USF - and not to make his decision based solely on location.
So Rooks has a renewed interest in those two schools, in addition to Pitt and WVU. But I still think being close to home is important to him, so I don’t think it’s a total change of pace. He is exploring all of his options, but I think he’s still more likely to land at Pitt or WVU. We’ll find out after the visits.
Odds and ends
- I forget who said this on the board, but when considering Jahmahl Pardner’s commitment look at Pardner as a replacement for Marchez Coates, who de-committed from Pitt this fall and committed to North Carolina State.
While a lot of people are unimpressed by Pardner’s offer sheet - mostly MAC schools - it does compare favorably Coates’ offers (Pitt, Eastern Michigan, Robert Morris, and eventually NC State). It’s also worth noting that Pitt more or less decided to part ways with Coates after they learned he had visited NC State while still verbally committed to Pitt. Pardner’s offer came after the coaches saw his senior film.
- I still think that Bam Bradley and Wayne Capers are the most likely to commit from Pitt’s remaining targets, and it doesn’t sound like Deaysean Rippy is too far behind. That would be three of the six remaining spots; it wouldn’t be a surprise if the other three are the three JUCO positions I mentioned (OT, WR, DE), but that would leave out a number of recruits Pitt is targeting/pursuing, guys like V’Angelo Bentley or Alex Pace or Demetrious Cox or the Louisiana kids.
Pitt would take those recruits if they committed, but space is limited, and I think they are pretty anxious to get some ready-to-contribute players, particularly at those positions I listed.
- This is a little random and there might be nothing to it, but keep an eye on South Bend (Ind.) athlete David Perkins. He had committed to Notre Dame and then opened his recruitment; I’m hearing unverifiable whispers that he may have some interest in visiting Pitt. I haven’t gotten anything close to confirmation on that, but I figured I’d throw it out there since I’ve heard a little bit hinting at that.
Don’t get your hopes up, but we’ll keep an eye on it.
