Is there an Ohio to Pennsylvania movement going on? If you checked Twitter last night or this morning, you may certainly think so. Pitt already has three commits from the state of Ohio in the 2017 class – Kyle Nunn, Carson Van Lynn, and Todd Sibley – and Sibley in particular was getting active yesterday on social media to make sure that number grows before National Signing Day.
For those who aren’t Twitter-fluent, that’s Charles Reeves tweeting to Todd Sibley about an “OH2PA” movement going on in Pitt’s recruiting and Sibley tweeting in the affirmative. It doesn’t take a genius to read into that one and it’s not a secret that Reeves has been heavily interested in Pitt for quite some time. In fact, there’s a very high likelihood that he becomes the fourth member of the “OH2PA movement” (I actually like that term that Reeves coined, I’m going to unabashedly steal it) sooner rather than later.
With that in mind, I decided to take a look at the ten most important targets for Pitt if they were to successfully grow this Ohio-to-Pittsburgh pipeline going forward as Narduzzi and his staff seem to want to.
Charles Reeves – We can’t ignore the kid who sparked this article. Reeves is an uber-athletic pass-catcher at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and he’s on the short list of Pitt’s most important targets regardless of class. The Steubenville (Ohio) native is a standout outside wide receiver for the Big Red, but he’ll definitely shift down to tight end in college and will provide a nice option in the passing game for Pitt. He’s one of the top athletes they’re recruiting regardless of position, and I could see him joining Pitt’s class as soon as this weekend if things fall into place.
Thayer Munford - Thayer Munford is the most important remaining recruiting target for Pitt in the 2017 class not named Lamont Wade. That's how highly I think of the Massillon (Ohio) offensive tackle, a 6-foot-6, 325-pound beast out of Stark County. I view Munford as a prime candidate to prove himself worthy of a fourth-star and this kid has already proved a lot. He has left tackle potential and holds offer from Alabama, Tennessee, Penn State, and others, with the Buckeyes taking a long look. If Pitt can land him in this group, he's a guy who I feel can slide into the two-deep from day one.
Alex Reigelsperger (2018) - The Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne defensive end has been one of Pitt's more noticeable visitors to campus, traveling out to western Pennsylvania from the Dayton area on multiple occasions, including for the Penn State game. Reigelsperger is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior in the 2018 class who's already a really impressive and productive player and looks like he should continue growing and getting better as a defensive end. Pitt, Kentucky, Iowa, Rutgers, and Purdue are his Power Five offers and Penn State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, and others are evaluating Reigelsperger.
Michael Dowell (2018) - Michaell Dowell is probably among the most prominent junior names in recruiting for the Panthers to date, especially among out-of-state guys. The 6-foot, 190-pound Cleveland-area defensive back has excelled at Lakewood St. Ed's and Pitt was his first offer way back in April. Since that point in time Dowell has visited Pitt twice - for a camp in June and for the Panthers' game against Villanova this season. While Michigan State (where his older twin brothers play) has since offered and schools like Notre Dame and Ohio State would be a threat were they to offer, Dowell's consistent interest in Pitt is a big positive for the Panthers. He's an impressive prospect at corner and a real winner as well.
Aeneas Hawkins (2018) - Hawkins, much like Dowell, may be unrated on Rivals to date, but he's a coveted prospect for many of the region's top programs. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida State, Florida, Tennessee, and Penn State are just a small smattering of Hawkins' offers. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive tackle from Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller has tons of connections to Pitt, not least among them that he's a legacy recruit and his former quarterback (MacVittie) is now at Pitt. It's not great for the Panthers that a planned visit to Pitt was canceled due to unforeseen and unusual circumstances (Hawkins had to a play his HS game on a Saturday rather than Friday) and the bigger schools are a big threat, but he has real interest in Pitt and he's a future star.
JaVonte Richardson - Richardson is rated by Rivals as one of the country's top five "athletes" in the country. Richardson is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound freak who pretty much does anything he wants on the football field for the Maple Heights (Ohio) Mustangs, but will likely play wide receiver at the next level. He's committed to Kentucky, but the coaching situation in Lexington is volatile and this could play into Pitt's hands. Pitt is the only school that Richardson has spoken about since committing to Kentucky back in March, when the Panthers sent him an official offer letter in August. This is a big maybe, but if the coaching situation does change at Kentucky, Pitt would love to capitalize and add Richardson. He's just barely outside of the Rivals100 and he's a true stud.
Brian AsaMoah (2018) - AsaMoah is the most recent offer, regardless of class, that Pitt has issued. AsaMoah picked up the offer from the Panthers when he visited campus this past weekend for the Marshall game and the Columbus-area standout was "extremely interested" in Pitt after the offer and visit. AsaMoah's position is still a bit up in the air, but it seems as though the 6-foot-1, 205-pound ATH likely ends up at linebacker. AsaMoah is a teammate of former Pitt target Derrius Mullins. Although it's early, this is one to watch.
Tyreke Smith, Antwuan Johnson, Jeremiah Wood (all 2018) - Three defensive prospects, all of whom have visited or will visit Pitt, all of whom are waiting on that offer from the Panthers.
Smith is a freaky defensive lineman/tight end with offers from Penn State, Michigan State, and others. He's a hell of an athlete at 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds, but he's raw and still learning the game. He's already visited Pitt twice - in August to check things out and again for the Penn State game. The sky is the limit, but he just needs to get reps and learn the game after not playing since middle school.
Johnson is a true middle linebacker at 6-foot-1 and 229 pounds as a junior and he's a former Michigan commit. The Dayton (Ohio) Dunbar already holds offers from Michigan, Louisville, Kentucky, and Indiana. He's visited all four of those programs and will visit Pitt for the first time this weekend - a visit I feel could very well lead to an offer. He's rated as the country's 12th-best inside LB in 2018.
Wood visited Pittsburgh on the weekend of the Penn State game, coming out from the Columbus area. He's an impressive 6-foot, 185-pound defensive back out of Pickerington (Ohio) Central and the younger brother of former Ohio State safety Jamie Wood. Kentucky and Iowa State are the only offers for Wood to date, but Michigan State (where his teammate Xavier Henderson is committed) and Ohio State are evaluating Wood, among many other teams. Pitt will have a very close eye on his junior film.
For those who aren’t Twitter-fluent, that’s Charles Reeves tweeting to Todd Sibley about an “OH2PA” movement going on in Pitt’s recruiting and Sibley tweeting in the affirmative. It doesn’t take a genius to read into that one and it’s not a secret that Reeves has been heavily interested in Pitt for quite some time. In fact, there’s a very high likelihood that he becomes the fourth member of the “OH2PA movement” (I actually like that term that Reeves coined, I’m going to unabashedly steal it) sooner rather than later.
With that in mind, I decided to take a look at the ten most important targets for Pitt if they were to successfully grow this Ohio-to-Pittsburgh pipeline going forward as Narduzzi and his staff seem to want to.
Charles Reeves – We can’t ignore the kid who sparked this article. Reeves is an uber-athletic pass-catcher at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and he’s on the short list of Pitt’s most important targets regardless of class. The Steubenville (Ohio) native is a standout outside wide receiver for the Big Red, but he’ll definitely shift down to tight end in college and will provide a nice option in the passing game for Pitt. He’s one of the top athletes they’re recruiting regardless of position, and I could see him joining Pitt’s class as soon as this weekend if things fall into place.
Thayer Munford - Thayer Munford is the most important remaining recruiting target for Pitt in the 2017 class not named Lamont Wade. That's how highly I think of the Massillon (Ohio) offensive tackle, a 6-foot-6, 325-pound beast out of Stark County. I view Munford as a prime candidate to prove himself worthy of a fourth-star and this kid has already proved a lot. He has left tackle potential and holds offer from Alabama, Tennessee, Penn State, and others, with the Buckeyes taking a long look. If Pitt can land him in this group, he's a guy who I feel can slide into the two-deep from day one.
Alex Reigelsperger (2018) - The Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne defensive end has been one of Pitt's more noticeable visitors to campus, traveling out to western Pennsylvania from the Dayton area on multiple occasions, including for the Penn State game. Reigelsperger is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior in the 2018 class who's already a really impressive and productive player and looks like he should continue growing and getting better as a defensive end. Pitt, Kentucky, Iowa, Rutgers, and Purdue are his Power Five offers and Penn State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, and others are evaluating Reigelsperger.
Michael Dowell (2018) - Michaell Dowell is probably among the most prominent junior names in recruiting for the Panthers to date, especially among out-of-state guys. The 6-foot, 190-pound Cleveland-area defensive back has excelled at Lakewood St. Ed's and Pitt was his first offer way back in April. Since that point in time Dowell has visited Pitt twice - for a camp in June and for the Panthers' game against Villanova this season. While Michigan State (where his older twin brothers play) has since offered and schools like Notre Dame and Ohio State would be a threat were they to offer, Dowell's consistent interest in Pitt is a big positive for the Panthers. He's an impressive prospect at corner and a real winner as well.
Aeneas Hawkins (2018) - Hawkins, much like Dowell, may be unrated on Rivals to date, but he's a coveted prospect for many of the region's top programs. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida State, Florida, Tennessee, and Penn State are just a small smattering of Hawkins' offers. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive tackle from Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller has tons of connections to Pitt, not least among them that he's a legacy recruit and his former quarterback (MacVittie) is now at Pitt. It's not great for the Panthers that a planned visit to Pitt was canceled due to unforeseen and unusual circumstances (Hawkins had to a play his HS game on a Saturday rather than Friday) and the bigger schools are a big threat, but he has real interest in Pitt and he's a future star.
JaVonte Richardson - Richardson is rated by Rivals as one of the country's top five "athletes" in the country. Richardson is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound freak who pretty much does anything he wants on the football field for the Maple Heights (Ohio) Mustangs, but will likely play wide receiver at the next level. He's committed to Kentucky, but the coaching situation in Lexington is volatile and this could play into Pitt's hands. Pitt is the only school that Richardson has spoken about since committing to Kentucky back in March, when the Panthers sent him an official offer letter in August. This is a big maybe, but if the coaching situation does change at Kentucky, Pitt would love to capitalize and add Richardson. He's just barely outside of the Rivals100 and he's a true stud.
Brian AsaMoah (2018) - AsaMoah is the most recent offer, regardless of class, that Pitt has issued. AsaMoah picked up the offer from the Panthers when he visited campus this past weekend for the Marshall game and the Columbus-area standout was "extremely interested" in Pitt after the offer and visit. AsaMoah's position is still a bit up in the air, but it seems as though the 6-foot-1, 205-pound ATH likely ends up at linebacker. AsaMoah is a teammate of former Pitt target Derrius Mullins. Although it's early, this is one to watch.
Tyreke Smith, Antwuan Johnson, Jeremiah Wood (all 2018) - Three defensive prospects, all of whom have visited or will visit Pitt, all of whom are waiting on that offer from the Panthers.
Smith is a freaky defensive lineman/tight end with offers from Penn State, Michigan State, and others. He's a hell of an athlete at 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds, but he's raw and still learning the game. He's already visited Pitt twice - in August to check things out and again for the Penn State game. The sky is the limit, but he just needs to get reps and learn the game after not playing since middle school.
Johnson is a true middle linebacker at 6-foot-1 and 229 pounds as a junior and he's a former Michigan commit. The Dayton (Ohio) Dunbar already holds offers from Michigan, Louisville, Kentucky, and Indiana. He's visited all four of those programs and will visit Pitt for the first time this weekend - a visit I feel could very well lead to an offer. He's rated as the country's 12th-best inside LB in 2018.
Wood visited Pittsburgh on the weekend of the Penn State game, coming out from the Columbus area. He's an impressive 6-foot, 185-pound defensive back out of Pickerington (Ohio) Central and the younger brother of former Ohio State safety Jamie Wood. Kentucky and Iowa State are the only offers for Wood to date, but Michigan State (where his teammate Xavier Henderson is committed) and Ohio State are evaluating Wood, among many other teams. Pitt will have a very close eye on his junior film.
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