The mantra when Gavin was hired was that he would need a couple of years and then he would start recruiting very well. According to Internat’s rankings, so far it isn’t happening.
I’m excluding PSU recruits from this because Sanderson gets who he wants. Pitt doesn’t have a verbal from the top-ranked Pennsylvania kid in ANY weight class. I am excluding the three lightest weights because most of those wrestlers are sophomores and juniors. Above those weights, we are getting beaten for PA recruits by VT(3), UNC (1) and Virginia (1) in the ACC. The top-rated WPIAL wrestler, Hillegas, ranked #2 nationally in his weight class, is going to an ACC rival, VT. The second and third highest nationally-ranked WPIAL seniors, Nijenhuis and Stoudt, are going to Purdue and Princeton. VT has 2 commits from PA ranked #2 nationally, Hillegas and Caldea, a Hwt from Eastern PA. They also have a PA commit ranked 7th at 170. The 3 time state champion from Frazier, ranked #4, is going to Lehigh. Another PA wrestler who is #5 in that weight class is going to Cornell. The top-ranked PA wrestler at 195 is going to Michigan. Pitt doesn’t have one commit from a ranked PA wrestler.
it’s not all bad. Burnett, from Ohio, is rated #5 nationally. The Heavyweight, Whitehill, who recently visited is ranked #8. Per Intermat, he still is committed to Clarion, although it was posted here that he eventually will sign with either Pitt or Rutgers.
However, there is no way to sugarcoat the fact that Gavin’s recruiting has not stepped up in years 2 and 3. A good argument could be made that his first year was his best, with the two transfers and Cole Matthews. Last year, he had two top-ten national commits in Magill and Cooley. This year, so far, only one. And, LOI day is this month.
Meanwhile, VT’s recruiting keeps getting better as does UNC’s and UVA’s. VT’s incoming class arguably could be #2 nationally, behind PSU.
I’m excluding PSU recruits from this because Sanderson gets who he wants. Pitt doesn’t have a verbal from the top-ranked Pennsylvania kid in ANY weight class. I am excluding the three lightest weights because most of those wrestlers are sophomores and juniors. Above those weights, we are getting beaten for PA recruits by VT(3), UNC (1) and Virginia (1) in the ACC. The top-rated WPIAL wrestler, Hillegas, ranked #2 nationally in his weight class, is going to an ACC rival, VT. The second and third highest nationally-ranked WPIAL seniors, Nijenhuis and Stoudt, are going to Purdue and Princeton. VT has 2 commits from PA ranked #2 nationally, Hillegas and Caldea, a Hwt from Eastern PA. They also have a PA commit ranked 7th at 170. The 3 time state champion from Frazier, ranked #4, is going to Lehigh. Another PA wrestler who is #5 in that weight class is going to Cornell. The top-ranked PA wrestler at 195 is going to Michigan. Pitt doesn’t have one commit from a ranked PA wrestler.
it’s not all bad. Burnett, from Ohio, is rated #5 nationally. The Heavyweight, Whitehill, who recently visited is ranked #8. Per Intermat, he still is committed to Clarion, although it was posted here that he eventually will sign with either Pitt or Rutgers.
However, there is no way to sugarcoat the fact that Gavin’s recruiting has not stepped up in years 2 and 3. A good argument could be made that his first year was his best, with the two transfers and Cole Matthews. Last year, he had two top-ten national commits in Magill and Cooley. This year, so far, only one. And, LOI day is this month.
Meanwhile, VT’s recruiting keeps getting better as does UNC’s and UVA’s. VT’s incoming class arguably could be #2 nationally, behind PSU.
