November 4, 2011
It’s time for another edition of In the Pitt, Panther-Lair.com’s rundown of everything going on in Pitt recruiting. This week’s edition will be a little shorter than normal, but there were a few things I wanted to get out there, so here we are.
(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 if what follows stays here. Thanks.)
A new name
I have mentioned a few times that the Pitt coaching staff is looking at adding another receiver in this class, preferably one with some size and speed. And the ideal situation would be to find a receiver who fits that bill in the junior-college ranks.
After doing some digging, I found Roseville (Calif.) Sierra College receiver Courtney Gardner. Gardner has the size Pitt is looking for, as he’s 6’3” 215. And he has the speed, as I’ve seen a few things that seem to indicate he is quite fast.
Here is a rather lengthy highlight tape of Gardnerhttp://www.hudl.com/athlete/886350/.
A little more than a week ago, Gardner talked about the schools recruiting him the hardest, and Pitt wasn’t included among a list of Arkansas, Cal, Nevada, and Iowa State. But I have been communicating with Gardner the past few days, and he said that he and Pitt are “starting to communicate.”
So it sounds like Pitt just started getting involved with Gardner, which would put them behind the other eight schools that have offered him a scholarship. But he told me that, in addition to contact with Pitt getting started, he is also looking at the second weekend in December for a visit.
It seems safe to say that if Gardner is planning to visit, he is interested enough in Pitt for us to take note. I’m still trying to confirm some more details with him - hopefully we’ll speak this weekend - and I’ll pose those details as I get them. But for now, keep an eye on Gardner; he seems like the type of JUCO receiver the coaching staff is looking for.
Some possible leans
I’ve said before that I would classify Bam Bradley as a prospect likely to pick Pitt.
I still think those statements are accurate, but I’m hearing that there are a couple more that could fit into similar categories.
Earlier this week I wrote about focused on the Vikings’ playoff run.
(As a quick aside, I’ve heard talk about Rippy being too high on himself or otherwise self-centered; most recruits who think very highly of themselves are quick to praise themselves. When I asked Rippy this week if he knew he stats from this season, he said he had some tackles on defense and some touchdowns on offense. He really didn’t know the numbers. All he could talk about was the playoffs and trying to help the team have success in the playoffs. Not saying all of that talk about Rippy is baseless or wholly inaccurate, just saying that it hasn’t been all that evident in my experience with him.)
Anyway, from what I’ve been hearing lately, it sure sounds like Pitt is in very good shape with Rippy. Not necessarily a lock or even what I would feel comfortable calling a lean, but more and more it sounds like Pitt is where he’ll end up.
Rippy is a tough kid to get a read on, so I don’t want to get too definitive about it, but things seem to be pointing in that direction. When I spoke to him, Rippy said he was looking most at Pitt, Arizona State, USC, West Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Iowa, and Colorado.
Also this week we ran an article on very good relationship with Pitt.
According to some people I’ve been talking to, it sounds like the relationship is maybe even better than what we wrote in that article. In fact, Pitt could be very close to Pace’s top choice. From what I’ve heard, the main issue may be the storied Glenville-Ohio State connection and continued interest from the Buckeyes’ coaching staff.
Whether or not that interest manifests itself in an offer from OSU remains to be seen - my guess is no - but if it doesn’t happen, I’d have to think Pitt is in the driver’s seat.
The situation appears to be similar with Pace’s teammate, Glenville cornerback V’Angelo Bentley.
A potentially big weekend
Gardner, the junior-college receiver, is likely to visit on the second weekend of December. But the weekend before is looking like it will be a big one. Demitrious Davis are looking at that weekend for their official visits, and the list could be rather sizeable for that weekend.
From what I’ve heard, there’s a good chance that Rippy and Rushel Shell will also visit that weekend, provided there are no conflicts with the playoffs.
The key, though, is to surround uncommitted recruits like Rippy with high-caliber commits who can do some recruiting of their own. As such, if the first weekend in December comes together, expect Chad Voytik to be in town as well. Voytik already took his official visit to Pitt, but he’ll be at the game against Cincinnati on Saturday and will probably make at least one if not more return trips over the next couple months.
To be honest, that’s going to be key on the official visits: not only do you need to roll out the red carpet and show off all the nice things about Pitt and Pittsburgh and make sure the recruits get to know the players and have a good time, but you also need to sprinkle in some of the bigger names in the current recruiting class. That means Adam Bisnowaty needs to come down to Oakland for an evening, or maybe the Davis twins spend a Saturday night in Pittsburgh, or Voytik makes the trip to Pittsburgh as often as possible (after all, he has family in western Pennsylvania). And Shell has to be around all the time. You have to re-emphasize to official visitors that the pieces are coming together: the quarterback, the running back, the lineman. “Come join the party” has to be the mantra.
Finishing up
So back to the eternal question:
How does the class finish?
As I’ve said, the coaching staff is still expecting this to be a small class (21 or 22), which makes sense since they took bigger classes the last two years (they signed 21 last year but then added Zach Brown, Tom Ricketts, Ray Vinopal, Cullen Christian, Brendan Felder, and gave a scholarship to Trey Anderson). But I’ve also seen enough recruiting to know that chances are good this class will push beyond that “small” designation.
They currently have 18 commitments. I’m not entirely convinced Jevonte Pitts will end up signing with Pitt, and I think there will be at least one academic casualty, so that leaves some extra space.
With all of that in mind, I’ll estimate that maybe they take about six more (although I wouldn’t be surprised if they take seven).
Like I said, I think they get Capers and Bradley, and it seems like Rippy is getting more and more likely. I think they’ll get another defensive end, maybe Stephen Gibson. I also think they have a good shot with Pace, so maybe the best way to say it is that Pitt will take two more defensive linemen, with one tackle and one end.
I don’t have a good enough feel for Gardner yet, but I think Pitt will either get him or another junior-college receiver (there are a few others I am tracking down that I think Pitt might be recruiting). And then I think they’ve got a good shot of landing junior college offensive tackle Tavon Rooks.
That’s just a rough estimation of the class, though. Bentley, Jerald Hawkins are still out there, as are a few recruits in Louisiana. There are probably about a dozen or more targets for the final six or so spots. We’ll get a better feel for how this class will finish when more official visits start getting scheduled.
This post was edited on 11/4 8:10 AM by Chris Peak
It’s time for another edition of In the Pitt, Panther-Lair.com’s rundown of everything going on in Pitt recruiting. This week’s edition will be a little shorter than normal, but there were a few things I wanted to get out there, so here we are.
(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 if what follows stays here. Thanks.)
A new name
I have mentioned a few times that the Pitt coaching staff is looking at adding another receiver in this class, preferably one with some size and speed. And the ideal situation would be to find a receiver who fits that bill in the junior-college ranks.
After doing some digging, I found Roseville (Calif.) Sierra College receiver Courtney Gardner. Gardner has the size Pitt is looking for, as he’s 6’3” 215. And he has the speed, as I’ve seen a few things that seem to indicate he is quite fast.
Here is a rather lengthy highlight tape of Gardnerhttp://www.hudl.com/athlete/886350/.
A little more than a week ago, Gardner talked about the schools recruiting him the hardest, and Pitt wasn’t included among a list of Arkansas, Cal, Nevada, and Iowa State. But I have been communicating with Gardner the past few days, and he said that he and Pitt are “starting to communicate.”
So it sounds like Pitt just started getting involved with Gardner, which would put them behind the other eight schools that have offered him a scholarship. But he told me that, in addition to contact with Pitt getting started, he is also looking at the second weekend in December for a visit.
It seems safe to say that if Gardner is planning to visit, he is interested enough in Pitt for us to take note. I’m still trying to confirm some more details with him - hopefully we’ll speak this weekend - and I’ll pose those details as I get them. But for now, keep an eye on Gardner; he seems like the type of JUCO receiver the coaching staff is looking for.
Some possible leans
I’ve said before that I would classify Bam Bradley as a prospect likely to pick Pitt.
I still think those statements are accurate, but I’m hearing that there are a couple more that could fit into similar categories.
Earlier this week I wrote about focused on the Vikings’ playoff run.
(As a quick aside, I’ve heard talk about Rippy being too high on himself or otherwise self-centered; most recruits who think very highly of themselves are quick to praise themselves. When I asked Rippy this week if he knew he stats from this season, he said he had some tackles on defense and some touchdowns on offense. He really didn’t know the numbers. All he could talk about was the playoffs and trying to help the team have success in the playoffs. Not saying all of that talk about Rippy is baseless or wholly inaccurate, just saying that it hasn’t been all that evident in my experience with him.)
Anyway, from what I’ve been hearing lately, it sure sounds like Pitt is in very good shape with Rippy. Not necessarily a lock or even what I would feel comfortable calling a lean, but more and more it sounds like Pitt is where he’ll end up.
Rippy is a tough kid to get a read on, so I don’t want to get too definitive about it, but things seem to be pointing in that direction. When I spoke to him, Rippy said he was looking most at Pitt, Arizona State, USC, West Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Iowa, and Colorado.
Also this week we ran an article on very good relationship with Pitt.
According to some people I’ve been talking to, it sounds like the relationship is maybe even better than what we wrote in that article. In fact, Pitt could be very close to Pace’s top choice. From what I’ve heard, the main issue may be the storied Glenville-Ohio State connection and continued interest from the Buckeyes’ coaching staff.
Whether or not that interest manifests itself in an offer from OSU remains to be seen - my guess is no - but if it doesn’t happen, I’d have to think Pitt is in the driver’s seat.
The situation appears to be similar with Pace’s teammate, Glenville cornerback V’Angelo Bentley.
A potentially big weekend
Gardner, the junior-college receiver, is likely to visit on the second weekend of December. But the weekend before is looking like it will be a big one. Demitrious Davis are looking at that weekend for their official visits, and the list could be rather sizeable for that weekend.
From what I’ve heard, there’s a good chance that Rippy and Rushel Shell will also visit that weekend, provided there are no conflicts with the playoffs.
The key, though, is to surround uncommitted recruits like Rippy with high-caliber commits who can do some recruiting of their own. As such, if the first weekend in December comes together, expect Chad Voytik to be in town as well. Voytik already took his official visit to Pitt, but he’ll be at the game against Cincinnati on Saturday and will probably make at least one if not more return trips over the next couple months.
To be honest, that’s going to be key on the official visits: not only do you need to roll out the red carpet and show off all the nice things about Pitt and Pittsburgh and make sure the recruits get to know the players and have a good time, but you also need to sprinkle in some of the bigger names in the current recruiting class. That means Adam Bisnowaty needs to come down to Oakland for an evening, or maybe the Davis twins spend a Saturday night in Pittsburgh, or Voytik makes the trip to Pittsburgh as often as possible (after all, he has family in western Pennsylvania). And Shell has to be around all the time. You have to re-emphasize to official visitors that the pieces are coming together: the quarterback, the running back, the lineman. “Come join the party” has to be the mantra.
Finishing up
So back to the eternal question:
How does the class finish?
As I’ve said, the coaching staff is still expecting this to be a small class (21 or 22), which makes sense since they took bigger classes the last two years (they signed 21 last year but then added Zach Brown, Tom Ricketts, Ray Vinopal, Cullen Christian, Brendan Felder, and gave a scholarship to Trey Anderson). But I’ve also seen enough recruiting to know that chances are good this class will push beyond that “small” designation.
They currently have 18 commitments. I’m not entirely convinced Jevonte Pitts will end up signing with Pitt, and I think there will be at least one academic casualty, so that leaves some extra space.
With all of that in mind, I’ll estimate that maybe they take about six more (although I wouldn’t be surprised if they take seven).
Like I said, I think they get Capers and Bradley, and it seems like Rippy is getting more and more likely. I think they’ll get another defensive end, maybe Stephen Gibson. I also think they have a good shot with Pace, so maybe the best way to say it is that Pitt will take two more defensive linemen, with one tackle and one end.
I don’t have a good enough feel for Gardner yet, but I think Pitt will either get him or another junior-college receiver (there are a few others I am tracking down that I think Pitt might be recruiting). And then I think they’ve got a good shot of landing junior college offensive tackle Tavon Rooks.
That’s just a rough estimation of the class, though. Bentley, Jerald Hawkins are still out there, as are a few recruits in Louisiana. There are probably about a dozen or more targets for the final six or so spots. We’ll get a better feel for how this class will finish when more official visits start getting scheduled.
This post was edited on 11/4 8:10 AM by Chris Peak
