A few numbers we talked about on the live stream last night.
Pitt had 85 scholarship players this season.
11 of them were super seniors - guys who can't return in 2024 because they are out of eligibility (even if they post things on social media that make it sound like they are deciding to leave for the NFL).
That takes the number down to 74. Minus the 7 who have already entered the transfer portal, we're looking at 67 potential returning players.
The recruiting class currently has 21 players in it (or 20, depending on what happens with Tayshawn Banks; I still don't think he's going to sign, but we'll see). Let's call it an even 20 - that would put the number at 87.
Which means they need 2 more players to transfer just to fit the recruiting class. Never mind the additions from the transfer portal that Pitt will certainly pursue.
So we'll probably see close to or upwards of 10 more Pitt players leave via the portal. Which means the total for the year will be close to 20, and that will look bad because that's a pretty big number. It's a quarter of the roster (or nearly a third of the potential returning roster). But it's also necessary for that many to go in order to have the space to fit the recruits and transfers they want to bring in.
I think we all know that on an 85-man roster, there are a bunch of guys who aren't on the two-deep and probably a fair number who never will be. Some of them have already entered the portal this week. More will go, too. That's not going to be the entirety of Pitt's portal losses - there will be players Pitt would really like to keep who will enter the portal, and those will be losses. But I imagine that if 20 players leave, the majority will be guys who weren't on the two-deep to begin with.
It's the new process of roster turnover. And while some will say "They lost 20 guys to the portal; the program is falling apart," the alternative is not turning over that part of the roster in the hopes of bringing in new players who can upgrade the roster.
The other thing too is the super senior rule. Guys like Bangally Kamara and Nate Temple and DeAndre Jules and Brandon George - and probably more to come - wouldn't have been able to return for 2024 if not for the Covid rule. So to some extent, this is part of the transition process in getting back to "normal," so to speak. There are guys in there you would like to have for another year, for sure, but we've seen fewer and fewer guys returning to use those extra years each season. Soon we'll be clear altogether of players who can use that extra year.
But I digress. My point here is the numbers. Pitt will probably need at least 20 transfers just to make room for the players they want to add to the roster in 2024.
Pitt had 85 scholarship players this season.
11 of them were super seniors - guys who can't return in 2024 because they are out of eligibility (even if they post things on social media that make it sound like they are deciding to leave for the NFL).
That takes the number down to 74. Minus the 7 who have already entered the transfer portal, we're looking at 67 potential returning players.
The recruiting class currently has 21 players in it (or 20, depending on what happens with Tayshawn Banks; I still don't think he's going to sign, but we'll see). Let's call it an even 20 - that would put the number at 87.
Which means they need 2 more players to transfer just to fit the recruiting class. Never mind the additions from the transfer portal that Pitt will certainly pursue.
So we'll probably see close to or upwards of 10 more Pitt players leave via the portal. Which means the total for the year will be close to 20, and that will look bad because that's a pretty big number. It's a quarter of the roster (or nearly a third of the potential returning roster). But it's also necessary for that many to go in order to have the space to fit the recruits and transfers they want to bring in.
I think we all know that on an 85-man roster, there are a bunch of guys who aren't on the two-deep and probably a fair number who never will be. Some of them have already entered the portal this week. More will go, too. That's not going to be the entirety of Pitt's portal losses - there will be players Pitt would really like to keep who will enter the portal, and those will be losses. But I imagine that if 20 players leave, the majority will be guys who weren't on the two-deep to begin with.
It's the new process of roster turnover. And while some will say "They lost 20 guys to the portal; the program is falling apart," the alternative is not turning over that part of the roster in the hopes of bringing in new players who can upgrade the roster.
The other thing too is the super senior rule. Guys like Bangally Kamara and Nate Temple and DeAndre Jules and Brandon George - and probably more to come - wouldn't have been able to return for 2024 if not for the Covid rule. So to some extent, this is part of the transition process in getting back to "normal," so to speak. There are guys in there you would like to have for another year, for sure, but we've seen fewer and fewer guys returning to use those extra years each season. Soon we'll be clear altogether of players who can use that extra year.
But I digress. My point here is the numbers. Pitt will probably need at least 20 transfers just to make room for the players they want to add to the roster in 2024.
