As you probably saw elsewhere on the board, I spent Sunday in sunny Columbus for the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by Adidas, part of the ongoing Rivals 3 Stripe Camp tour that has been trekking across the country.
I’ve been to a lot of these camps in the past. When I first started, we were going to Nike camps held at Penn State, and those brought a group of recruits from the entire state of Pennsylvania plus New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Over time, Rivals.com’s affiliation with various partners - from VTO Sports to Under Armour and now Adidas - has led the camps to different destinations. And with the NCAA’s ban on these camps being on college campuses, we’ve seen the venue for the most Pitt-centric camp head more toward the Midwest (and, alternately, a camp stop was added in New Jersey).
For the last few years, Columbus has been the camp that was most likely to draw recruits who were of interest to Pitt fans and media. Of course, the weather in Columbus in April/May is always dicey - two years ago, it was snowing and cold and miserable; this year it was sunny and beautiful - but the location is central enough to draw kids from western Pa., Ohio (obviously), Michigan and a few other spots (West Virginia and Indiana, mostly).
At this year’s camp, Michigan was definitely the dominant state. If you look at the articles we’ve run so far - three on Monday morning - all are Michigan recruits, and out of the 200 or so prospects in attendance, there were more prospects from Michigan with Pitt offers than there were from Ohio or Pennsylvania (or those two states put together).
Still, there were some good prospects from all three states and some top Pitt targets were in action on Sunday. Here are some notes on what I saw and who stood out to me.
- One of the first recruits I talked to on Sunday was Sharpsville offensive lineman Ja’Quay Hubbard. He’s hoping for a Pitt offer but knows he has to work out at a prospect camp to earn one from Dave Borbely. If Hubbard is able to take his performance on Sunday and reproduce it at the Pitt camp, there’s a good chance he’ll get that offer, because he was really good. He earned the OL MVP award at the end of camp, and I watched him three-star DE Dontay Hunter and then give three-star DE Michael Fletcher everything he could handle on back-to-back one-on-one reps.
If I saw Hubbard lose a rep, it wasn’t more than one. Like most high school linemen, he needs the standard college strength and conditioning program, but he’s in good enough shape to merit the 11 offers he’s already gotten.
- Speaking of Hunter and Fletcher, they both had trouble with Hubbard, but overall, they were pretty solid. They’re both long defensive ends with good wingspans, although Fletcher is bigger and has longer arms, which he was able to use in the one-on-one competitions.
- Neither Fletcher nor Hunter was the defensive line MVP, though; that honor went to four-star DT Jowon Briggs. He was dominant throughout the camp and he’s the kind of DT - quick and explosive - who excels in that kind of setting. Briggs announced a Pitt offer two weeks ago, but he likely had one earlier and Pitt seems to have a shot with him. The key will be getting him on campus, which he said he plans to do in the next month or two.
- Another defensive lineman who stood out was Solvauhn Moreland from Aliquippa. He took some reps at defensive end, but he checked in at 6’3” and 317 pounds, so his future is likely inside. He had some good reps in the one-on-one’s, though, despite playing end in those drills. On his first rep of the day, he used speed to get inside the offensive tackle. And on his second rep, he drew some “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” with a nice spin move for another win.
Moreland doesn’t have an offer from Pitt and doesn’t seem to hear much from the Panthers, although he did tell me he thinks him and some teammates from Aliquippa will be camping at Pitt in June.
- That may or may not include Will Gipson, a 6’2” 173-pound athlete who plays well with that size. To me, Gipson looks intriguing enough to warrant some attention from Pitt, but it doesn’t seem there is any attention being paid, for whatever reason. We’ll see if he ends up at one of the prospect camps.
- On the topic of local recruits who haven’t heard much from Pitt, there’s Leonard Robinson, a 6’0” 187-pound athlete who worked out at linebacker on Sunday and impressed the Rivals analysts enough to take home LB MVP honors. Robinson is a new name to know - he didn’t even have a Rivals.com profile prior to Sunday’s camp - but he’s worth monitoring. He’s built more like a safety than a linebacker, but he can probably bulk up a bit into a linebacker.
The Pitt coaches have been sending mail to Robinson, but he’ll have to earn his offer at a prospect camp.
- One of the top-rated Pitt targets at the camp was Detroit King safety Marvin Grant, who performed well enough to earn an invite to the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by Adidas (a few players are suggested at each of the 3 Stripe Camps and invited to the Five-Star Challenge for an “elite of the elite” camp next month). Grant’s status as a four-star recruit and his appeal to college coaches were on display Sunday; he’s got good size for a safety and can cover like a corner. Plus, he told me he likes to hit, so he can play a variety of positions in the defense.
More importantly, he told me that Pitt hiring Archie Collins has helped the Panthers’ chances with him.
- Speaking of Detroit King - the high school that also produced Avonte Maddox - keep an eye on Peny Boone. He’s a 2020 running back recruit at King and he narrowly missed being the RB MVP at Sunday’s camp. He’s a talented player who excelled in all of the one-on-one drills - the RB/LB drills where a back tries to evade a would-be tackler as well as the standard RB/LB passing drills. He should be on Pitt’s radar for the next class.
- One recruit who should be on Pitt’s radar in the 2019 class is Brenton Strange, a 6’4” 210-pound tight end who is definitely of the modern hybrid receiver/tight end mold. He’s an explosive athlete who really challenged linebackers and safeties in the one-on-one drills. And he did it with a combination of strengths, including his route-running: Strange was always where he was supposed to be, and while the quarterbacks weren’t always in sync with their receiving targets - a common issue at camps like this - Strange managed to give them a consistent target. And he was pretty adept at grabbing passes in traffic, like one reception he made while reaching around and literally catching the ball against the side of the defender’s head. It was that kind of play that won him the Gatorade Award, presented at each camp to the player who stands out for his competitiveness.
Strange has offers from Rutgers and Albany. He told me he hasn’t really heard anything from Pitt, but given the fact that he lives in West Virginia, it would probably make sense for the coaches to try to get him in for a prospect camp. I think they would like what they see.
- The other tight end who stood out on Sunday was Fairfield (Oh.) three-star Erick All. He’s roughly the same size as Strange - about a half-inch taller and 10 pounds heavier - and he’s got an offer from Pitt. Like Strange, he’s a more athletic pass-catching tight end and the kind of guy that the coaches feel like they need on the roster. All visited Pitt last month and the Panthers are among his top choices.
- One other tight end who had a good camp was Trotwood-Madison's Justin Stephens. He’s bigger than Strange or All - 6’4.5” and 236 pounds - and not quite as fast as those two, but he had some standout plays in the camp, including a nice one-handed catch during one-on-ones. He’s a 2019 prospect and I’m not sure if he’s on Pitt’s radar, but if the staff is still looking for tight end prospects, he’s one they should look at.
I’ve been to a lot of these camps in the past. When I first started, we were going to Nike camps held at Penn State, and those brought a group of recruits from the entire state of Pennsylvania plus New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Over time, Rivals.com’s affiliation with various partners - from VTO Sports to Under Armour and now Adidas - has led the camps to different destinations. And with the NCAA’s ban on these camps being on college campuses, we’ve seen the venue for the most Pitt-centric camp head more toward the Midwest (and, alternately, a camp stop was added in New Jersey).
For the last few years, Columbus has been the camp that was most likely to draw recruits who were of interest to Pitt fans and media. Of course, the weather in Columbus in April/May is always dicey - two years ago, it was snowing and cold and miserable; this year it was sunny and beautiful - but the location is central enough to draw kids from western Pa., Ohio (obviously), Michigan and a few other spots (West Virginia and Indiana, mostly).
At this year’s camp, Michigan was definitely the dominant state. If you look at the articles we’ve run so far - three on Monday morning - all are Michigan recruits, and out of the 200 or so prospects in attendance, there were more prospects from Michigan with Pitt offers than there were from Ohio or Pennsylvania (or those two states put together).
Still, there were some good prospects from all three states and some top Pitt targets were in action on Sunday. Here are some notes on what I saw and who stood out to me.
- One of the first recruits I talked to on Sunday was Sharpsville offensive lineman Ja’Quay Hubbard. He’s hoping for a Pitt offer but knows he has to work out at a prospect camp to earn one from Dave Borbely. If Hubbard is able to take his performance on Sunday and reproduce it at the Pitt camp, there’s a good chance he’ll get that offer, because he was really good. He earned the OL MVP award at the end of camp, and I watched him three-star DE Dontay Hunter and then give three-star DE Michael Fletcher everything he could handle on back-to-back one-on-one reps.
If I saw Hubbard lose a rep, it wasn’t more than one. Like most high school linemen, he needs the standard college strength and conditioning program, but he’s in good enough shape to merit the 11 offers he’s already gotten.
- Speaking of Hunter and Fletcher, they both had trouble with Hubbard, but overall, they were pretty solid. They’re both long defensive ends with good wingspans, although Fletcher is bigger and has longer arms, which he was able to use in the one-on-one competitions.
- Neither Fletcher nor Hunter was the defensive line MVP, though; that honor went to four-star DT Jowon Briggs. He was dominant throughout the camp and he’s the kind of DT - quick and explosive - who excels in that kind of setting. Briggs announced a Pitt offer two weeks ago, but he likely had one earlier and Pitt seems to have a shot with him. The key will be getting him on campus, which he said he plans to do in the next month or two.
- Another defensive lineman who stood out was Solvauhn Moreland from Aliquippa. He took some reps at defensive end, but he checked in at 6’3” and 317 pounds, so his future is likely inside. He had some good reps in the one-on-one’s, though, despite playing end in those drills. On his first rep of the day, he used speed to get inside the offensive tackle. And on his second rep, he drew some “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” with a nice spin move for another win.
Moreland doesn’t have an offer from Pitt and doesn’t seem to hear much from the Panthers, although he did tell me he thinks him and some teammates from Aliquippa will be camping at Pitt in June.
- That may or may not include Will Gipson, a 6’2” 173-pound athlete who plays well with that size. To me, Gipson looks intriguing enough to warrant some attention from Pitt, but it doesn’t seem there is any attention being paid, for whatever reason. We’ll see if he ends up at one of the prospect camps.
- On the topic of local recruits who haven’t heard much from Pitt, there’s Leonard Robinson, a 6’0” 187-pound athlete who worked out at linebacker on Sunday and impressed the Rivals analysts enough to take home LB MVP honors. Robinson is a new name to know - he didn’t even have a Rivals.com profile prior to Sunday’s camp - but he’s worth monitoring. He’s built more like a safety than a linebacker, but he can probably bulk up a bit into a linebacker.
The Pitt coaches have been sending mail to Robinson, but he’ll have to earn his offer at a prospect camp.
- One of the top-rated Pitt targets at the camp was Detroit King safety Marvin Grant, who performed well enough to earn an invite to the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by Adidas (a few players are suggested at each of the 3 Stripe Camps and invited to the Five-Star Challenge for an “elite of the elite” camp next month). Grant’s status as a four-star recruit and his appeal to college coaches were on display Sunday; he’s got good size for a safety and can cover like a corner. Plus, he told me he likes to hit, so he can play a variety of positions in the defense.
More importantly, he told me that Pitt hiring Archie Collins has helped the Panthers’ chances with him.
- Speaking of Detroit King - the high school that also produced Avonte Maddox - keep an eye on Peny Boone. He’s a 2020 running back recruit at King and he narrowly missed being the RB MVP at Sunday’s camp. He’s a talented player who excelled in all of the one-on-one drills - the RB/LB drills where a back tries to evade a would-be tackler as well as the standard RB/LB passing drills. He should be on Pitt’s radar for the next class.
- One recruit who should be on Pitt’s radar in the 2019 class is Brenton Strange, a 6’4” 210-pound tight end who is definitely of the modern hybrid receiver/tight end mold. He’s an explosive athlete who really challenged linebackers and safeties in the one-on-one drills. And he did it with a combination of strengths, including his route-running: Strange was always where he was supposed to be, and while the quarterbacks weren’t always in sync with their receiving targets - a common issue at camps like this - Strange managed to give them a consistent target. And he was pretty adept at grabbing passes in traffic, like one reception he made while reaching around and literally catching the ball against the side of the defender’s head. It was that kind of play that won him the Gatorade Award, presented at each camp to the player who stands out for his competitiveness.
Strange has offers from Rutgers and Albany. He told me he hasn’t really heard anything from Pitt, but given the fact that he lives in West Virginia, it would probably make sense for the coaches to try to get him in for a prospect camp. I think they would like what they see.
- The other tight end who stood out on Sunday was Fairfield (Oh.) three-star Erick All. He’s roughly the same size as Strange - about a half-inch taller and 10 pounds heavier - and he’s got an offer from Pitt. Like Strange, he’s a more athletic pass-catching tight end and the kind of guy that the coaches feel like they need on the roster. All visited Pitt last month and the Panthers are among his top choices.
- One other tight end who had a good camp was Trotwood-Madison's Justin Stephens. He’s bigger than Strange or All - 6’4.5” and 236 pounds - and not quite as fast as those two, but he had some standout plays in the camp, including a nice one-handed catch during one-on-ones. He’s a 2019 prospect and I’m not sure if he’s on Pitt’s radar, but if the staff is still looking for tight end prospects, he’s one they should look at.
