A few recruiting items that have been collecting on my computer (broken up into a few parts due to limits on how many characters can be in one post)...
Part 1 - May 31, the Jackson twins, possible offers and Miles Sanders
- Pitt’s prospect camp season is about to get underway, and the first workout will be this Sunday. The Pitt coaches are hoping to have some top targets working out on Sunday, and the possibility definitely exists that a few new offers could go out.
There will probably be a couple hundred recruits in attendance; here’s a dozen or so names we have picked up so far. More will be added this week.
Allderdice WR Tim Jackson - Junior highlights
Allderdice WR James Jackson - Junior highlights
Gateway WR Aidan Howard - Junior highlights
University Prep LB Kenny Robinson (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Apollo Ridge RB Duane Brown (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Beaver Area RB Darius Wise (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Jersey City (NJ) Lincoln WR Frank Darby - Junior highlights
Red Bank (NJ) Red Bank Catholic ATH Eddie Hahn - Junior highlights
Woolwich Township (NJ) Kingsway DE Wale Mustafa - Junior highlights
Woolwich Township (NJ) Kingsway RB Sean Samuels - Junior highlights
Woolwich Township (NJ) Kingsway DB Hanif Jamal - Junior highlights
Dudley (Mass.) Shepherd Hill Regional TE Sean McKeon - Junior highlights
Boston (Mass.) Boston College High WR Nick Gill - Junior highlights
Milton (Mass.) Milton Academy DB Michael Silva (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Duxbury (Mass.) TE Ryan Reagan (2017) - Sophomore highlights
- Probably the most prominent names on that list - certainly the most talked about - are the Jackson twins, Tim and James, from Allderdice. There’s no question about their athletic ability: they’re really good, and the Pitt staff is pretty high on them. But we all know about the grade questions that exist, and Tim and James readily admit that their academic situation is holding them back.
By all accounts, their grades are improving, so that’s a step in the right direction. But I think that what the Jacksons do this Sunday will be as important as what their final report cards say. The grades are important; no question about it. And the grades are a big part of why the Jackson don’t have more offers than they do.
But I think the Pitt coaches really want to work with them in camp, and I also think the staff is excited that Tim and James are planning to work out. Sunday could very well bring offers for two of the better athletes in western Pennsylvania. If that happens, I think Pitt will be at the top of the list for both guys (really, it’s just one list, since they will go to the same school).
- The three local 2017 prospects listed above - Duane Brown, Kenny Robinson and Darius Wise will also be on offer watch. All three are pretty outstanding athletes, and while top sophomores like Lamont Wade and Paris Ford - among quite a few others - have drawn the bulk of the attention thus far, Robinson, Brown and Wise aren’t far behind.
Brown and Wise are both really impressive, and Robinson might be the biggest “freak” of them all. He’s a solid 6’3” and 200-plus pounds, so he’s got good size for a linebacker. And then you watch the first play - just the first one; that’s all you need - on his sophomore highlights, and you see how much athletic ability he’s got in a pretty big body.
I would not be surprised to see one or more of that trio walk away from Sunday’s camp with an offer. The one rub with Robinson is that he is recovering from a hip flexor injury; he has been resting it and plans to be able to work out on Sunday, but he was still healing at the start of this week, so that’s something to keep an eye on.
- Robinson plays for the Evolve seven-on-seven team, so he is tied in with a lot of the recruits we’ve been discussing this spring (the Jackson twins also play for that team). Another Evolve standout is Miles Sanders.
Some time has passed since the Miles Sanders Missile Crisis, that night a few weeks ago when word started spreading that the four-star running back from Woodland Hills had backed away from his Penn State commitment of almost a year. There was some thought that Sanders had put all of those rumors to bed the next day by tweeting that he was solid with Penn State, but as we said at the time: the issue was far from over.
We had been hearing throughout the spring that the new coaching staff at Pitt had reignited Sanders’ interest in the hometown school, with Narduzzi and running backs coach Andre Powell, in particular, connecting with the standout prospect. Sanders’ visit during spring camp only served to reinforce that talk, and we heard that he was planning to attend the “fight night” gathering at Pitt, too, which added even more substance to the rumors (although he ultimately didn’t make that event).
So when Sanders publicly stated that he was still committed to Penn State, it seemed like it might be an attempt to quiet the rumors - and probably get people to leave him alone - more than an actual testament to the firmness of his commitment. We said at the time that Pitt’s recruitment of Sanders was not over, and his reciprocation of that interest likely hadn’t ended either.
Sure enough, Sanders spoke to PennLive.com at the PIAA Track and Field Championships Friday and said he is considering official visits to Pitt and Virginia Tech in addition to Penn State. He also gave what is becoming a relatively common refrain among recruits who aren’t sold on their decisions just yet:
“I am 100 percent Penn State, and I won’t be going anywhere else,” he said. “I’m thinking about taking visits, just to take visits to see, but I’m definitely going to Penn State.”
He continued:
“[Penn State coaches] understand why I want to take my official visits, just because it’s a once in a lifetime experience, but they know I’m 100 percent Penn State. If I take the officials, I’m not going to pick a school off one visit. It’s just me seeing what else is out there.”
We often go back and forth on the semantics of recruiting, but I think we can all agree that “seeing what else is out there” simply isn’t germane to being “100 percent.” And that all comes back to what we’ve been saying: that Sanders’ interest in Pitt is genuine, and the Panthers have a real shot at flipping him. Maybe not today, maybe not even this summer, but unless something drastic happens, Pitt will be in contention for Sanders until the end.
Part 1 - May 31, the Jackson twins, possible offers and Miles Sanders
- Pitt’s prospect camp season is about to get underway, and the first workout will be this Sunday. The Pitt coaches are hoping to have some top targets working out on Sunday, and the possibility definitely exists that a few new offers could go out.
There will probably be a couple hundred recruits in attendance; here’s a dozen or so names we have picked up so far. More will be added this week.
Allderdice WR Tim Jackson - Junior highlights
Allderdice WR James Jackson - Junior highlights
Gateway WR Aidan Howard - Junior highlights
University Prep LB Kenny Robinson (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Apollo Ridge RB Duane Brown (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Beaver Area RB Darius Wise (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Jersey City (NJ) Lincoln WR Frank Darby - Junior highlights
Red Bank (NJ) Red Bank Catholic ATH Eddie Hahn - Junior highlights
Woolwich Township (NJ) Kingsway DE Wale Mustafa - Junior highlights
Woolwich Township (NJ) Kingsway RB Sean Samuels - Junior highlights
Woolwich Township (NJ) Kingsway DB Hanif Jamal - Junior highlights
Dudley (Mass.) Shepherd Hill Regional TE Sean McKeon - Junior highlights
Boston (Mass.) Boston College High WR Nick Gill - Junior highlights
Milton (Mass.) Milton Academy DB Michael Silva (2017) - Sophomore highlights
Duxbury (Mass.) TE Ryan Reagan (2017) - Sophomore highlights
- Probably the most prominent names on that list - certainly the most talked about - are the Jackson twins, Tim and James, from Allderdice. There’s no question about their athletic ability: they’re really good, and the Pitt staff is pretty high on them. But we all know about the grade questions that exist, and Tim and James readily admit that their academic situation is holding them back.
By all accounts, their grades are improving, so that’s a step in the right direction. But I think that what the Jacksons do this Sunday will be as important as what their final report cards say. The grades are important; no question about it. And the grades are a big part of why the Jackson don’t have more offers than they do.
But I think the Pitt coaches really want to work with them in camp, and I also think the staff is excited that Tim and James are planning to work out. Sunday could very well bring offers for two of the better athletes in western Pennsylvania. If that happens, I think Pitt will be at the top of the list for both guys (really, it’s just one list, since they will go to the same school).
- The three local 2017 prospects listed above - Duane Brown, Kenny Robinson and Darius Wise will also be on offer watch. All three are pretty outstanding athletes, and while top sophomores like Lamont Wade and Paris Ford - among quite a few others - have drawn the bulk of the attention thus far, Robinson, Brown and Wise aren’t far behind.
Brown and Wise are both really impressive, and Robinson might be the biggest “freak” of them all. He’s a solid 6’3” and 200-plus pounds, so he’s got good size for a linebacker. And then you watch the first play - just the first one; that’s all you need - on his sophomore highlights, and you see how much athletic ability he’s got in a pretty big body.
I would not be surprised to see one or more of that trio walk away from Sunday’s camp with an offer. The one rub with Robinson is that he is recovering from a hip flexor injury; he has been resting it and plans to be able to work out on Sunday, but he was still healing at the start of this week, so that’s something to keep an eye on.
- Robinson plays for the Evolve seven-on-seven team, so he is tied in with a lot of the recruits we’ve been discussing this spring (the Jackson twins also play for that team). Another Evolve standout is Miles Sanders.
Some time has passed since the Miles Sanders Missile Crisis, that night a few weeks ago when word started spreading that the four-star running back from Woodland Hills had backed away from his Penn State commitment of almost a year. There was some thought that Sanders had put all of those rumors to bed the next day by tweeting that he was solid with Penn State, but as we said at the time: the issue was far from over.
We had been hearing throughout the spring that the new coaching staff at Pitt had reignited Sanders’ interest in the hometown school, with Narduzzi and running backs coach Andre Powell, in particular, connecting with the standout prospect. Sanders’ visit during spring camp only served to reinforce that talk, and we heard that he was planning to attend the “fight night” gathering at Pitt, too, which added even more substance to the rumors (although he ultimately didn’t make that event).
So when Sanders publicly stated that he was still committed to Penn State, it seemed like it might be an attempt to quiet the rumors - and probably get people to leave him alone - more than an actual testament to the firmness of his commitment. We said at the time that Pitt’s recruitment of Sanders was not over, and his reciprocation of that interest likely hadn’t ended either.
Sure enough, Sanders spoke to PennLive.com at the PIAA Track and Field Championships Friday and said he is considering official visits to Pitt and Virginia Tech in addition to Penn State. He also gave what is becoming a relatively common refrain among recruits who aren’t sold on their decisions just yet:
“I am 100 percent Penn State, and I won’t be going anywhere else,” he said. “I’m thinking about taking visits, just to take visits to see, but I’m definitely going to Penn State.”
He continued:
“[Penn State coaches] understand why I want to take my official visits, just because it’s a once in a lifetime experience, but they know I’m 100 percent Penn State. If I take the officials, I’m not going to pick a school off one visit. It’s just me seeing what else is out there.”
We often go back and forth on the semantics of recruiting, but I think we can all agree that “seeing what else is out there” simply isn’t germane to being “100 percent.” And that all comes back to what we’ve been saying: that Sanders’ interest in Pitt is genuine, and the Panthers have a real shot at flipping him. Maybe not today, maybe not even this summer, but unless something drastic happens, Pitt will be in contention for Sanders until the end.
