Signing Day is in eight days - Wednesday, Dec. 16 - and here’s the latest that we’re hearing on Pitt’s class.
- When it comes to Pitt’s 2021 recruiting class, the big name to watch leading into Signing Day is Khalil Anderson. He’s a three-star cornerback prospect, but don’t let the rating fool you: he’s one of the best prospects in the class, and his senior season has drawn some interest from other schools.
There are a few things to watch with Anderson. He has two recent offers - Miami and Ole Miss - that are worth monitoring, but there is also the possibility of more schools getting involved. Specifically, the schools to watch Georgia and Clemson; neither school has offered Anderson, but both are monitoring him as an option at cornerback.
As always, there are various moving parts, and one that involves the cornerback recruiting at both Clemson and Georgia is four-star corner Nyland Green. He’s the No. 127 overall recruit in the nation and the No. 9 cornerback prospect, and he’s announcing his commitment today at 10 am. Green has a final four of Auburn, Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee, but it seems like Georgia is the favorite right now.
If Georgia lands Green, that should take the Dawgs out of the mix with Anderson. And even if they miss on Green, it seems like there is at least one other option they will pursue before moving on an offer to Anderson.
As for Clemson, there has been contact with Anderson but from what I’ve been told, the Tigers aren’t likely to make a move with him until they can reassess their recruiting board after Signing Day. That doesn’t totally take Clemson out of the picture, though, as I’ve also heard that the coaches there have been talking to Anderson about delaying his signing until February.
I don’t know how hard they’ve been pushing that angle, but the conversation has been had, from what I’ve been told, so that’s a decision Anderson will have to make.
For whatever it’s worth, our expectation is still that Anderson signs next week. If that happens, it should be Pitt.
As always, this is recruiting we’re talking about and things can change rather abruptly, especially right around Signing Day. For a Clemson example, I remember a couple years ago when the Tigers offered Fort Lauderdale offensive lineman Kaleb Boateng the night before Signing Day in December 2018. Boateng had been a Pitt target but the coaches decided they were content with their offensive line haul and it seemed like he was headed to Arizona or Maryland. But Clemson’s offer - literally hours before the fax machine started - changed his recruitment, and now he’s a Tiger (he even played five snaps against Pitt a couple weeks ago).
So nothing is ever certain until the papers are signed. But that’s the latest on what we’re hearing with Khalil Anderson. I’ve said it a few times: the Pitt coaching staff sees him as one of the top recruits in the class, maybe the best overall prospect, and he’s got play-next-year potential at corner.
I still like Pitt’s chances to sign Anderson. I think the Panthers can hold off Ole Miss and Miami. But the battle will continue all the way to next Wednesday.
- There was a change to Pitt’s commitment list on Monday when Derrveron Maxwell-Black tweeted the following:
I wouldn’t call this a decommitment; I think it was a mutual parting, at best, and probably more along the lines of the Pitt coaches reevaluating Maxwell-Black and reconsidering the scholarship offer. It’s unfortunate to see this happen so close to Signing Day, but that’s how recruiting goes sometimes, and while I think it’s very important for a school like Pitt to stand by its offers as much as possible, those hard decisions do have to get made from time to time. The key is to not make a habit out of it and do it year after year.
- As it stands right now, we’ve confirmed that the following recruits plan to sign with Pitt next Wednesday:
Naquan Brown
Kyle Fugedi
Gavin Bartholomew (Jan. enrollment)
Jake Renda (Jan. enrollment)
Elliot Donald
Trey Andersen (Jan. enrollment)
Stephon Hall
Noah Biglow
Malik Newton (Jan. enrollment)
Preston Lavant
Terrence Enos (Jan. enrollment)
Nate Yarnell (Jan. enrollment)
Myles Alston (Jan. enrollment)
Jaden Bradley
Terrence Rankl (Jan. enrollment)
Javon McIntyre
Rodney Hammond
Nahki Johnson (Jan. enrollment)
The commits who aren’t listed there:
Khalil Anderson
Dorien Ford
Brandon Honorable
Marco Fugar
We addressed Anderson earlier. Ford has always been iffy with contact, so I’m not surprised that we haven’t heard back from him but I don’t get any indication that he isn’t planning to sign. We’ll keep working to confirm. And we’re checking on Honorable and Fugar.
- When it comes to Pitt’s 2021 recruiting class, the big name to watch leading into Signing Day is Khalil Anderson. He’s a three-star cornerback prospect, but don’t let the rating fool you: he’s one of the best prospects in the class, and his senior season has drawn some interest from other schools.
There are a few things to watch with Anderson. He has two recent offers - Miami and Ole Miss - that are worth monitoring, but there is also the possibility of more schools getting involved. Specifically, the schools to watch Georgia and Clemson; neither school has offered Anderson, but both are monitoring him as an option at cornerback.
As always, there are various moving parts, and one that involves the cornerback recruiting at both Clemson and Georgia is four-star corner Nyland Green. He’s the No. 127 overall recruit in the nation and the No. 9 cornerback prospect, and he’s announcing his commitment today at 10 am. Green has a final four of Auburn, Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee, but it seems like Georgia is the favorite right now.
If Georgia lands Green, that should take the Dawgs out of the mix with Anderson. And even if they miss on Green, it seems like there is at least one other option they will pursue before moving on an offer to Anderson.
As for Clemson, there has been contact with Anderson but from what I’ve been told, the Tigers aren’t likely to make a move with him until they can reassess their recruiting board after Signing Day. That doesn’t totally take Clemson out of the picture, though, as I’ve also heard that the coaches there have been talking to Anderson about delaying his signing until February.
I don’t know how hard they’ve been pushing that angle, but the conversation has been had, from what I’ve been told, so that’s a decision Anderson will have to make.
For whatever it’s worth, our expectation is still that Anderson signs next week. If that happens, it should be Pitt.
As always, this is recruiting we’re talking about and things can change rather abruptly, especially right around Signing Day. For a Clemson example, I remember a couple years ago when the Tigers offered Fort Lauderdale offensive lineman Kaleb Boateng the night before Signing Day in December 2018. Boateng had been a Pitt target but the coaches decided they were content with their offensive line haul and it seemed like he was headed to Arizona or Maryland. But Clemson’s offer - literally hours before the fax machine started - changed his recruitment, and now he’s a Tiger (he even played five snaps against Pitt a couple weeks ago).
So nothing is ever certain until the papers are signed. But that’s the latest on what we’re hearing with Khalil Anderson. I’ve said it a few times: the Pitt coaching staff sees him as one of the top recruits in the class, maybe the best overall prospect, and he’s got play-next-year potential at corner.
I still like Pitt’s chances to sign Anderson. I think the Panthers can hold off Ole Miss and Miami. But the battle will continue all the way to next Wednesday.
- There was a change to Pitt’s commitment list on Monday when Derrveron Maxwell-Black tweeted the following:
I wouldn’t call this a decommitment; I think it was a mutual parting, at best, and probably more along the lines of the Pitt coaches reevaluating Maxwell-Black and reconsidering the scholarship offer. It’s unfortunate to see this happen so close to Signing Day, but that’s how recruiting goes sometimes, and while I think it’s very important for a school like Pitt to stand by its offers as much as possible, those hard decisions do have to get made from time to time. The key is to not make a habit out of it and do it year after year.
- As it stands right now, we’ve confirmed that the following recruits plan to sign with Pitt next Wednesday:
Naquan Brown
Kyle Fugedi
Gavin Bartholomew (Jan. enrollment)
Jake Renda (Jan. enrollment)
Elliot Donald
Trey Andersen (Jan. enrollment)
Stephon Hall
Noah Biglow
Malik Newton (Jan. enrollment)
Preston Lavant
Terrence Enos (Jan. enrollment)
Nate Yarnell (Jan. enrollment)
Myles Alston (Jan. enrollment)
Jaden Bradley
Terrence Rankl (Jan. enrollment)
Javon McIntyre
Rodney Hammond
Nahki Johnson (Jan. enrollment)
The commits who aren’t listed there:
Khalil Anderson
Dorien Ford
Brandon Honorable
Marco Fugar
We addressed Anderson earlier. Ford has always been iffy with contact, so I’m not surprised that we haven’t heard back from him but I don’t get any indication that he isn’t planning to sign. We’ll keep working to confirm. And we’re checking on Honorable and Fugar.
