How much did everybody hate the pun in the title? Glad we got that out of the way.
Salem hits the road
You guys may have been following along with his tweets, but Pitt coach Tim Salem has been hitting the recruiting trail hard as of late, making stops all throughout the northeast and New England today and last week and continuing forward. He's made stops in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts and I've heard to expect to see him in New York City and other areas in Massachusetts and Connecticut later this week.
It was a very busy day for Salem, who was at several high schools throughout the day. Perhaps most notable among all of his stops was Groton (Mass.) private school Lawrence Academy, home to a large number of Division I prospects. Some of those names (all 2018s unless otherwise noted) include Rivals250 offensive tackle Finn Dirstine, defensive tackle Ryan Betro, Boston College tight end commit Joey Luchetti, tight end/offensive lineman Cam Reddy, and 2020 QB Brady Martin, who's already receiving serious Division I attention.
I spoke with Dirstine for a bit this evening to get his thoughts on the visit from Salem. Although he can't speak much with coaches while they're at his high school due to NCAA rules, Dirstine says he caught up a bit with coach Salem after the visit.
"I'm expecting to hopefully get offered soon," Dirstine said. "I have been in contact constantly with coach Salem and they seem very interested... [If they were to offer], Pitt would be up there. I want to get to know the school better and get a feel for the program."
The four-star is hoping to do exactly that in the coming weeks/months as he says he'd "love to check it out some day soon." Although Dirstine is a highly-rated prospect in the Rivals250, there may be some room for Pitt to get a steal here given his perhaps somewhat under-recruited status in a state not known as a traditional football hotbed.
"I'm always talking with Boston College and Syracuse and UCLA has been reached out to me recently as well," said Dirstine, who holds offers from BC, 'Cuse, Miami (Fla.), Illinois, Colorado State, and others.
Salem's travels also brought him to Dudley (Mass.) Shepherd Hill Regional, another program that has several Division I prospects, including jumbo athlete Zack Magdis, running back Brendan Mckeon, and running back/athlete Kevin Mensah, who recently transferred into the school from Connecticut. I caught up with Mensah following the visit from Salem:
"The visit from coach Salem went really well," Mensah said. "I'm on their running back chart and they want me up for camp to work with coach Powell and coach Salem himself and hopefully the chance to meet coach Narduzzi."
Mensah plans to make the trek down to Pittsburgh in June for camp and we'll have more updates on him in the future.
Sunshine State Surveillance
Pitt defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was doing his thing down in southern Florida today, as he is wont to do. Charlie seems to have mostly spent his time in the Palm Beach area, where he visited at least two high schools, close in both proximity and title - Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach Lakes. Both schools probably have a million kids who will go Division I, so I'm not going to list each of them with a Rivals profile, just the relevant stops.
Earlier in the day, Partridge stopped at Palm Beach Lakes, which is home to four-star Miami (Fla.) commit Gurvan Hall and athlete/cornerback Teja Young. Pitt has offered Hall, but he committed to the Hurricanes back in late March and doesn't seem interested in looking around just yet. I've been unable to get in touch with Hall, but we know how southern Florida prospects are, so this one could always get fun later in the cycle. It's good for Pitt to stay in touch and show their face.
Young, on the other hand, had a much more productive trip, as he received an offer from Pitt. I posted the offer in this thread and hope to have more with Young in the future, but he did message me to mention that the offer came as a surprise and he didn't know it would be coming until Partridge was in the building at his school.
At Palm Beach Gardens, Partridge stayed to hang out and watch practice. The Gardens were kind to Pitt in the 2017 class, sending offensive tackle early enrollee Jerry Drake to the Panthers. Pitt is hoping to see that trend repeat in 2018, where they've prioritized defensive end Jarrett Jackson.
I'm going to have an at-length update on Jackson at some point soon, as we had a productive conversation this evening, but he was excited to see Partridge make the trip down to his high school. Jackson has had a long-running relationship with Partridge dating back to his days at FAU and the two know each other well and communicate frequently. Pitt will be a major factor for Jackson.
Palm Beach Gardens is also home to center Parker Ogle, who recently received his first offer from Bowling Green and has some potential as an interior OL, possibly at center. Coach Billy Clark has been telling me to watch out for Ogle.
Local prospect gaining steam
Finally, a short update on Munhall (Pa.) Steel Valley defensive back/athlete Amonte Strothers, who's been on a real hot streak as of late. Strothers is a super-long cornerback at the high school level, although he could shift back to safety in college. He checks in at 6-foot-3, 170 pounds.
This evening, Strothers picked up his second Power Five offer of the recruiting process and fourth offer overall, as Purdue joined Syracuse, Kent State, and Toledo in offering Strothers. He says that Pitt has been in contact with him a bit and visited him at Steel Valley, although they've been all over him.
When camp comes around, Strothers will be among the most significant local 2018 guys to keep an eye on, alongside the likes of Kenny White, Julian Major, Ronnie Stevenson, et al. He's only been playing football for one season, but head coach Rod Steele has taken him under his wing and really tutored him along. He's also worked with 2/10ths and Evolve in the offseason.
Keep an eye on Strothers.
Lots more coming soon
I'll have a lot of content coming over these next few days, as I've had a lot of great conversations with Pitt targets in the last 48 hours. Leading off the day tomorrow will be a long-form update with New York quarterback Matt Valecce, who had a ton to say about his offers from Pitt, Rutgers, Boston College, and the frenzied week of recruiting attention that he's had. Valecce is one of the most articulate prospects I've spoken to in recent memory, so look out for that in the morning.
Salem hits the road
You guys may have been following along with his tweets, but Pitt coach Tim Salem has been hitting the recruiting trail hard as of late, making stops all throughout the northeast and New England today and last week and continuing forward. He's made stops in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts and I've heard to expect to see him in New York City and other areas in Massachusetts and Connecticut later this week.
It was a very busy day for Salem, who was at several high schools throughout the day. Perhaps most notable among all of his stops was Groton (Mass.) private school Lawrence Academy, home to a large number of Division I prospects. Some of those names (all 2018s unless otherwise noted) include Rivals250 offensive tackle Finn Dirstine, defensive tackle Ryan Betro, Boston College tight end commit Joey Luchetti, tight end/offensive lineman Cam Reddy, and 2020 QB Brady Martin, who's already receiving serious Division I attention.
I spoke with Dirstine for a bit this evening to get his thoughts on the visit from Salem. Although he can't speak much with coaches while they're at his high school due to NCAA rules, Dirstine says he caught up a bit with coach Salem after the visit.
"I'm expecting to hopefully get offered soon," Dirstine said. "I have been in contact constantly with coach Salem and they seem very interested... [If they were to offer], Pitt would be up there. I want to get to know the school better and get a feel for the program."
The four-star is hoping to do exactly that in the coming weeks/months as he says he'd "love to check it out some day soon." Although Dirstine is a highly-rated prospect in the Rivals250, there may be some room for Pitt to get a steal here given his perhaps somewhat under-recruited status in a state not known as a traditional football hotbed.
"I'm always talking with Boston College and Syracuse and UCLA has been reached out to me recently as well," said Dirstine, who holds offers from BC, 'Cuse, Miami (Fla.), Illinois, Colorado State, and others.
Salem's travels also brought him to Dudley (Mass.) Shepherd Hill Regional, another program that has several Division I prospects, including jumbo athlete Zack Magdis, running back Brendan Mckeon, and running back/athlete Kevin Mensah, who recently transferred into the school from Connecticut. I caught up with Mensah following the visit from Salem:
"The visit from coach Salem went really well," Mensah said. "I'm on their running back chart and they want me up for camp to work with coach Powell and coach Salem himself and hopefully the chance to meet coach Narduzzi."
Mensah plans to make the trek down to Pittsburgh in June for camp and we'll have more updates on him in the future.
Sunshine State Surveillance
Pitt defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was doing his thing down in southern Florida today, as he is wont to do. Charlie seems to have mostly spent his time in the Palm Beach area, where he visited at least two high schools, close in both proximity and title - Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach Lakes. Both schools probably have a million kids who will go Division I, so I'm not going to list each of them with a Rivals profile, just the relevant stops.
Earlier in the day, Partridge stopped at Palm Beach Lakes, which is home to four-star Miami (Fla.) commit Gurvan Hall and athlete/cornerback Teja Young. Pitt has offered Hall, but he committed to the Hurricanes back in late March and doesn't seem interested in looking around just yet. I've been unable to get in touch with Hall, but we know how southern Florida prospects are, so this one could always get fun later in the cycle. It's good for Pitt to stay in touch and show their face.
Young, on the other hand, had a much more productive trip, as he received an offer from Pitt. I posted the offer in this thread and hope to have more with Young in the future, but he did message me to mention that the offer came as a surprise and he didn't know it would be coming until Partridge was in the building at his school.
At Palm Beach Gardens, Partridge stayed to hang out and watch practice. The Gardens were kind to Pitt in the 2017 class, sending offensive tackle early enrollee Jerry Drake to the Panthers. Pitt is hoping to see that trend repeat in 2018, where they've prioritized defensive end Jarrett Jackson.
I'm going to have an at-length update on Jackson at some point soon, as we had a productive conversation this evening, but he was excited to see Partridge make the trip down to his high school. Jackson has had a long-running relationship with Partridge dating back to his days at FAU and the two know each other well and communicate frequently. Pitt will be a major factor for Jackson.
Palm Beach Gardens is also home to center Parker Ogle, who recently received his first offer from Bowling Green and has some potential as an interior OL, possibly at center. Coach Billy Clark has been telling me to watch out for Ogle.
Local prospect gaining steam
Finally, a short update on Munhall (Pa.) Steel Valley defensive back/athlete Amonte Strothers, who's been on a real hot streak as of late. Strothers is a super-long cornerback at the high school level, although he could shift back to safety in college. He checks in at 6-foot-3, 170 pounds.
This evening, Strothers picked up his second Power Five offer of the recruiting process and fourth offer overall, as Purdue joined Syracuse, Kent State, and Toledo in offering Strothers. He says that Pitt has been in contact with him a bit and visited him at Steel Valley, although they've been all over him.
When camp comes around, Strothers will be among the most significant local 2018 guys to keep an eye on, alongside the likes of Kenny White, Julian Major, Ronnie Stevenson, et al. He's only been playing football for one season, but head coach Rod Steele has taken him under his wing and really tutored him along. He's also worked with 2/10ths and Evolve in the offseason.
Keep an eye on Strothers.
Lots more coming soon
I'll have a lot of content coming over these next few days, as I've had a lot of great conversations with Pitt targets in the last 48 hours. Leading off the day tomorrow will be a long-form update with New York quarterback Matt Valecce, who had a ton to say about his offers from Pitt, Rutgers, Boston College, and the frenzied week of recruiting attention that he's had. Valecce is one of the most articulate prospects I've spoken to in recent memory, so look out for that in the morning.
