I know we have got a share of prospects from there but we continue to miss out on the more recent prospects to PSU and ND. I know Terry Smith is the recruiter for their prospects but we need a staff member with some pull there as well, in there 2025 class they have got verbals from the Aliquipps back and the just got a verbal from Xavier Thomas a defensive back from PCC.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic Prospects
- Thread starter poconopanther
- Start date
I hear what you're saying pocono, but for the most part we haven't missed on many that turned out to be great. It would be nice to land more locals, but I'm not too worried anymore. See list below:
Class of 2024
Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon, Five-star, Penn State
Anthony Speca, Central Catholic, Four-star, Penn State
Cameron Lindsey, Aliquippa, Four-star, PITT
Cole Sullivan, Central Catholic, Three-star, Michigan
Ryan Cory, Pine-Richland, Three-star, Wisconsin
Class of 2023
Ta’Mere Robinson, Brashear, Four-star, Penn State
Rodney Gallagher, Laurel Highlands, Four-star, West Virginia
Lamont Payne, Chartiers Valley, Four-star, Penn State
Braylan Lovelace, Leechburg, Three-star, PITT
Cruce Brookins, Steel Valley, Three-star, PITT
Class of 2022
Jalen Klemm, Pine-Richland, Four-star, Kansas State (Transferred to Washington)
Donovan Hinish, Central Catholic, Three-star, Notre Dame
Sean FitzSimmons, Central Valley, Three-star, PITT
Patrick Body Jr., Gateway, Three-star, Cincinnati (No current team)
Jeremiah Hasley, Pine-Richland, Three-star, Duke
Class of 2021
Elliot Donald, Central Catholic, Four-star, PITT
Derrick Davis Jr., Gateway, Four-star, LSU (Transferred to PITT)
Nahki Johnson, West Mifflin, Four-star, PITT
Donovan McMillon, Peters Township, Four-star, Florida (Transferred to PITT)
Dorien Ford, Baldwin, Three-star, PITT
Class of 2020
Michael Carmody, Mars, Four-star, Notre Dame (Transferring ?)
Dayon Hayes, Westinghouse, Four-star, PITT
Zuriah Fisher, Aliquippa, Three-star, Penn State
Aaron Beatty, Central Catholic, Three-star, North Carolina (Transferred to Albany)
Josh Rawlings, Woodland Hills, Three-star, Virginia
Class of 2019
Andrew Kristofic, Pine-Richland, Four-star, Notre Dame
M.J. Devonshire, Aliquippa, Four-star, Kentucky (Transferred to PITT)
Joey Porter Jr., North Allegheny, Three-star, Penn State - NFL
Will Gipson, Aliquippa, Three-star, PITT (Transferred to Fullerton College)
Michael Katic, Pine-Richland, Three-star, Indiana
Class of 2018
Phil Jurkovec, Pine-Richland, Four-star, Notre Dame (Transferred to Boston College, PITT)
T.J. Banks, East Allegheny, Four-star, West Virginia (Transferred to Akron)
Kwantel Raines, Aliquippa, Four-star, West Virginia (Transferred to Temple)
Devin Danielson, Thomas Jefferson, Three-star, PITT
Jake Kradel, Butler, Three-star, PITT
Class of 2017
Lamont Wade, Clairton, Five-star, Penn State
Paris Ford, Steel Valley, Four-star, PITT
C.J. Thorpe, Central Catholic, Four-star, Penn State
Josh Lugg, North Allegheny, Four-star, Notre Dame
Donovan Jeter, Beaver Falls, Four-star, Michigan
Class of 2016
Miles Sanders, Woodland Hills, Four-star, Penn State - NFL
Damar Hamlin, Central Catholic, Four-star, PITT -NFL
Kaezon Pugh, Aliquippa, Four-star, Pitt (Transferred to Howard)
Khaleke Hudson, McKeesport, Three-star, Michigan
Therran Coleman, Brashear, Three-star, PITT (Transferred to Western Michigan)
Kurt Kinish, Central Catholic, Three Star, ND
Class of 2015
Jordan Whitehead, Central Valley, Four-star, PITT - NFL
Sterling Jenkins, Baldwin, Three-star, Penn State
Alex Paulina, Canon-McMillan, Three-star, PITT (Transferred to Waynesburg)
John Petrishen, Central Catholic, Three-star, Penn State (Transferred to PITT)
Brett Zanotto, Franklin Regional, Three-star, Maryland (Transferred to Duquesne)
Class of 2024
Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon, Five-star, Penn State
Anthony Speca, Central Catholic, Four-star, Penn State
Cameron Lindsey, Aliquippa, Four-star, PITT
Cole Sullivan, Central Catholic, Three-star, Michigan
Ryan Cory, Pine-Richland, Three-star, Wisconsin
Class of 2023
Ta’Mere Robinson, Brashear, Four-star, Penn State
Rodney Gallagher, Laurel Highlands, Four-star, West Virginia
Lamont Payne, Chartiers Valley, Four-star, Penn State
Braylan Lovelace, Leechburg, Three-star, PITT
Cruce Brookins, Steel Valley, Three-star, PITT
Class of 2022
Jalen Klemm, Pine-Richland, Four-star, Kansas State (Transferred to Washington)
Donovan Hinish, Central Catholic, Three-star, Notre Dame
Sean FitzSimmons, Central Valley, Three-star, PITT
Patrick Body Jr., Gateway, Three-star, Cincinnati (No current team)
Jeremiah Hasley, Pine-Richland, Three-star, Duke
Class of 2021
Elliot Donald, Central Catholic, Four-star, PITT
Derrick Davis Jr., Gateway, Four-star, LSU (Transferred to PITT)
Nahki Johnson, West Mifflin, Four-star, PITT
Donovan McMillon, Peters Township, Four-star, Florida (Transferred to PITT)
Dorien Ford, Baldwin, Three-star, PITT
Class of 2020
Michael Carmody, Mars, Four-star, Notre Dame (Transferring ?)
Dayon Hayes, Westinghouse, Four-star, PITT
Zuriah Fisher, Aliquippa, Three-star, Penn State
Aaron Beatty, Central Catholic, Three-star, North Carolina (Transferred to Albany)
Josh Rawlings, Woodland Hills, Three-star, Virginia
Class of 2019
Andrew Kristofic, Pine-Richland, Four-star, Notre Dame
M.J. Devonshire, Aliquippa, Four-star, Kentucky (Transferred to PITT)
Joey Porter Jr., North Allegheny, Three-star, Penn State - NFL
Will Gipson, Aliquippa, Three-star, PITT (Transferred to Fullerton College)
Michael Katic, Pine-Richland, Three-star, Indiana
Class of 2018
Phil Jurkovec, Pine-Richland, Four-star, Notre Dame (Transferred to Boston College, PITT)
T.J. Banks, East Allegheny, Four-star, West Virginia (Transferred to Akron)
Kwantel Raines, Aliquippa, Four-star, West Virginia (Transferred to Temple)
Devin Danielson, Thomas Jefferson, Three-star, PITT
Jake Kradel, Butler, Three-star, PITT
Class of 2017
Lamont Wade, Clairton, Five-star, Penn State
Paris Ford, Steel Valley, Four-star, PITT
C.J. Thorpe, Central Catholic, Four-star, Penn State
Josh Lugg, North Allegheny, Four-star, Notre Dame
Donovan Jeter, Beaver Falls, Four-star, Michigan
Class of 2016
Miles Sanders, Woodland Hills, Four-star, Penn State - NFL
Damar Hamlin, Central Catholic, Four-star, PITT -NFL
Kaezon Pugh, Aliquippa, Four-star, Pitt (Transferred to Howard)
Khaleke Hudson, McKeesport, Three-star, Michigan
Therran Coleman, Brashear, Three-star, PITT (Transferred to Western Michigan)
Kurt Kinish, Central Catholic, Three Star, ND
Class of 2015
Jordan Whitehead, Central Valley, Four-star, PITT - NFL
Sterling Jenkins, Baldwin, Three-star, Penn State
Alex Paulina, Canon-McMillan, Three-star, PITT (Transferred to Waynesburg)
John Petrishen, Central Catholic, Three-star, Penn State (Transferred to PITT)
Brett Zanotto, Franklin Regional, Three-star, Maryland (Transferred to Duquesne)
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Is a "wall" around the WPIAL necessary to be a consistent top 10, top 15, top 25 team?
Keep things as/is but hopefully Bell brings in QB's who can win.
That to me is why PITT has never been consistently been a top 10/15/20 type team.
When we flirt with semi-good QB's we typically are a top 25 team.
Keep things as/is but hopefully Bell brings in QB's who can win.
That to me is why PITT has never been consistently been a top 10/15/20 type team.
When we flirt with semi-good QB's we typically are a top 25 team.
There is zero path to us being consistently that high. I'll take finishing in the top 25 50% of the time. So far, Narduzzi is 2 for 9.
And Savage, two years of Peterman, and three years of Pickett ended with a non top 25 finish, so I don't know where that notion comes from.
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I hate to write the WPIAL off entirely, because there have even been some lesser-rated guys (Dane Jackson, Geno Stone, Kenny Robinson, James Conner for a hot minute, etc.) who got drafted. But I do wonder if landing that big 2021 WPIAL DL haul actually hurt us because Narduzzi felt obligated to extend offers to highly-rated local rather than doing thorough evaluations. Maybe I'm just making things up.
If Pitt had, for instance, Dorien Ford and some random dude from a school they seldom recruit in Florida rated similarly, you don't think preference would be given to the local recruit so as to promote goodwill among the locals? I would say that definitely happens. I've even heard there is a recent WPIAL recruit who, after his senior season, very likely would have been dropped if not for the high school he attended.
And obviously they were taking Donald if he wanted to come here. I only said "maybe" because it's more than likely they would have taken he and Johnson anyway.
The 2021 class had a lot of big names that have not produced much.. Would love to know what would have happened if Pitt got 5 3 stars from florida same year and saw what they would have done.
That's basically what I'm saying. The last two big WPIAL years were 2017 and 2021. It was almost a blessing in disguise to strike out as much as we did in 2017, because we got Pinnock instead of Wade, Twyman instead of Jeter, etc.
I mean it's certainly possible they would have offered these guys anyway and it's a moot point.
Ehhh, lots of big schools were after most of those guys. Donald had a bunch of big time offers but everyone knew it was pretty much a given where he was going to land. Penn State tried to flip Johnson for two years and we held onto him. Ford was the only one that the big players had kinda backed off of as the cycle moved along, and hindsight says that there was probably a reason for that.
Herein lies the problem. Which is it? Had you stated 1st that they were rated similarly no problem, that is easy to understand. But you wrote that they were not thoroughly evaluated. Narduzzi would be a real fool to take local talent that has small chance of success .
Not to derail the thread, but Ford's recruitment had so many red flags it was ridiculous, but nobody wanted to hear it back then. The big boys peeled off way earlier than the end.
On the other hand, he did go to Central his freshman year, so maybe it does fit into this thread.
Some posters get hysterical when a local kid goes elsewhere. They say it's sour grapes when you say they are overrated. They get really mad when you say Western PA is overrated. But the truth is the truth.
Like I said, when I was in high school, when you watched a high school game you would see six Division I players on the field. Now you're lucky if there are six Division I players in the entire WPIAL.
The SEC used to come to PA to recruit. The 1976 Georgia Bulldogs won the SEC championship and had two starters from Western PA (Kevin McLee - Uniontown & Bobby Thompson - McKeesport).
They need to focus on places that have the biggest concentration of highly rated players that compete against each other (Florida, Texas, DC/MD/VA, Georgia).
If Pitt were annually a top 25 program, this topic more than likely wouldn't exist.
Everyone loves Pittsburgh. Everyone from the city to outer regions of Southwest Pennsylvania loves Pittsburgh tradition.
Unfortunately not a lot of top tier players want to join a program that struggles to compete with the best. Especially when that said program is right in the middle of a run down Steel Mill area.
Everyone loves Pittsburgh. Everyone from the city to outer regions of Southwest Pennsylvania loves Pittsburgh tradition.
Unfortunately not a lot of top tier players want to join a program that struggles to compete with the best. Especially when that said program is right in the middle of a run down Steel Mill area.
Savage at best was the 4th best QB in the ACC that year.
Peterman at best was the 4th best QB in the ACC.
Pickett was an average QB for 3 out of the 4 years he played here.
When Rod Rutherford, Tyler Palko, Bill Stull, and Kenny Pickett made all conference - where did we typically finish? If I'm not mistaken, we finished in and around the top 25 - correct?
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You said "when we flirt with semi-good QBs." Is a 4th or 5th round pick not at least semi-good, or would you like to move the goal posts all the way to, "When Dan Marino is our QB, we tend to be a decent team."?
You said "when we flirt with semi-good QBs." Is a 4th or 5th round pick not at least semi-good, or would you like to move the goal posts all the way to, "When Dan Marino is our QB, we tend to be a decent team."?
Semi-good should get you at least 3rd team all conference - right?
A guy can be a late round draft pick and be the 4th or 5th best QB in his conference. It happens all the time. Draft position is usually due to projection and potential not production in college. Even Matt Canada thought Peterman was an ordinary QB in the grand scheme of things.
It's early in the game for Thomas, but if you saw Central at all this year, he was a good player. However, at this time he's not ranked at all, as he is on the small side. His brother is in the NFL with the Colts; maybe they are hoping he will follow a similar path.
I didn't see Hardy coming, that's for sure. He was pretty small at Penn Hills. I don't know if PN even offered him.
I didn't see Hardy coming, that's for sure. He was pretty small at Penn Hills. I don't know if PN even offered him.
We have way different definitions of what "semi-good" means, I suppose. There were about seven or eight ACC quarterbacks in 2016 who I'd have rather had than Bill Stull. The fact that Stull made all-conference in a bad Big East and Peterman didn't make all conference in an ACC that had like four 1st round picks starting tells me nothing.
Is Thomas related to the kid who went to Yale and is now in the NFL?
well the good thing was Stull wasn't competing against ACC QB's at any point of his career while playing in the Big East.
What you're failing to follow is that Stull was thought be the best of the best in the Big East QB's as per the coaches. So in every game he played PITT had the QB advantage.
Peterman at best was the 4th best QB in the league, so PITT had a disadvantage at the most important position on the field in at least 4 of the games. The team with the better QB usually has more success over a period of time then the team that doesn't have that QB.
My overall point is when PITT lines up a QB who is usually a 1st/2nd/3rd team all conference QB they typically find themselves in the top 25 - no?
pittdan77
Athletic Director
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I don't think you write the WPIAL off but it's not like Pitt isn't getting similar or better talent elsewhere, most of the time. Like this year, I do think Martin will be very good for PSU once they figure out what to do with him but I think Pitt got the better athlete with Lindsey. Doesn't mean you wouldn't have liked to have had Q but Pitt has never won every battle for players in the WPIAL so I don't know why this is something to wring our hands over.
Pitt will never get another WPIAL recruit over PSU as long as Narduzzi and Franklin are there. Period.
They just got one this year - Cam Lindsey.
I doubt he had a commitable offer from PSU. Those days are over.
He is a 4-star recruit and is listed as having an offer from them. You are wrong once again.
Saying this As a Central Catholic alum: it is the most overrated HS in western PA. Everybody is over recruited. Juice is not worth the squeeze.
Other than Damar Hamlin in his waiver-year, name me another Central player that was an All-Conference player at any level? I’ll hang up and wait.
Other than Damar Hamlin in his waiver-year, name me another Central player that was an All-Conference player at any level? I’ll hang up and wait.
No, we'll still get some. But they will be 3-stars that just want to stay home. The 4-stars will be very few in number, because they will want schools that will at least be in the running for the top bowl games, if not a championship.
Did Rodney Thomas not go to Central Catholic? He was all conference at Yale and now a starting safety in the NFL.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
pittdan77
Athletic Director
If Franklin and Smith wanted him, he would have gone. Sorry. The days of Wanny or early Narduzzi beating PSU for local recruits is over.
Are the freshmen the real deal (Moon & Thompson)? People at north hills thought Thompson was the next Lavar and could have started as an 8th grader if allowed. But he switched to Central and rode the pine behind Anth. Maybe better in the long run as it saved some wear & tear on the body but I don't think he has any P5 offers yet whereas Moon does.
Yes the kid that grew 4 inches in college that was at an FCS school won an all conference award.
They have 8 D1 kids a year
