We’re past noon on Signing Day, so let’s take a look at some storylines and other notes surrounding the class.
- Okay, so that’s pretty much it for Signing Day. Pitt announced 15 additions to the 2020 roster, and they were pretty much the 15 we expected. That group, of course, omits a few key players, so let’s start with them:
Jordan Addison - This is the biggest one and a key recruit for Pitt to land. I was told late last week that Addison’s plan was to sign early Wednesday morning, attend his sister’s college graduation and then hold a ceremony on Thursday. Now it seems that the whole thing will take place on Thursday. It seems.
Look, there’s going to be concern over this situation until the pen goes to the paper and somebody punches “412” into the fax machine, and I understand that, but I continue to hear that Addison is solid with Pitt. That’s from multiple sources on this thing, and while I’ll admit that the situation continues to be worth monitoring, I still expect him to announce for Pitt tomorrow.
We’ll update with more info as we get it.
Lucas Krull - I wasn’t sure how Pitt was going to proceed here. There was a Signing Day tweet for Nolan Ulizio last year and one for Stefano Millin the year before so I thought Narduzzi might tweet one out for Krull, the grad transfer tight end from Florida, but nothing came this morning so I’m guessing that’s not the plan this year. Either way, Krull is part of the group of new additions, and he’ll be on campus in January.
Timothy Brown - The other commit who didn’t sign on Wednesday, Brown’s situation is one we’ve discussed quite a few times. Given his legal status after getting arrested this fall, Brown is TBD with Pitt. He’s still on the coaches’ commitment list as Pat Narduzzi and company are willing to wait out the legal process, but there really wasn’t any way they could sign him today with everything still hanging over his head. And if those issues are still unresolved in February, then I don’t think he’ll be signing then either.
- With Brown’s status up in the air and Ahkeem Mesidor signing with West Virginia on Wednesday, I would expect defensive tackle to be an area the Pitt coaches target during the January contact period. Similarly, I think Narduzzi and offensive line coach Dave Borbely will be looking for more linemen. Guys like Alex Atcavage and Owen Snively and David Anderton, who have all had varying degrees of contact with the Pitt staff, particularly in the last couple weeks, so they’ll be names we’ll watch and we’ll also keep an eye out for more.
One guy I don’t think Pitt will take is Florida transfer Chris Bleich. He’s an intriguing target as a young offensive lineman transferring from the SEC, but from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t look like things will work out there.
Of course, there’s also the matter of quarterback; Pitt still doesn’t have one for the 2020 class and it’s going to be really interesting to see what the staff can find in January. There will be recruits who emerge as late-cycle targets, and I imagine Pitt will try to get one of them.
- I’m pretty sure Henry Parrish will continue to be one of the Panthers’ top targets in January. They signed Israel Abanikanda, and with just him, it’s a pretty good running back class. But if Pitt can get Parrish to rejoin the class, it moves into the realm of potentially a great pair of backs. Parrish, as we know, decommitted from the Panthers last week after basically being on the verge of doing so for about four months. But Charlie Partridge is his main recruiter at Pitt and he never let Parrish’s wandering eye prevent him from keeping the relationship intact.
So even after Parrish decommitted, Partridge has continued to work very hard on the Miami (Fla.) Columbus prospect. We’re seeing it all from afar, of course, but Parrish’s succession of options - South Carolina then Miami then Florida, possibly Ole Miss - all seem to have taken different courses. That doesn’t necessarily make Pitt the last man standing, since there will certainly be other schools interested in a four-star running back who is still available in January. But I think Pitt can stay in the conversation due to Partridge’s efforts, and as I’ve mentioned before, they can still send Narduzzi for an in-home visit. That’s not as good as having an official visit available, but it can still give them a fighting chance.
- One other interesting note I picked up on Signing Day relates to the defensive backs. We’ve talked about the commits, Jahvante Royal and Hunter Sellers and, most recently, Buddy Mack, mostly as safety prospects. But from what I’ve heard, I think it’s actually possibly that Royal and Sellers would both come in as cornerback prospects. So instead of signing three safeties and no corners, it looks like Pitt is more likely to approach these guys as two corners and one safety.
Now, Royal and Sellers could both play any of the defensive back spots, so it’s not written in stone. But as we try to sort out the position breakdown of this class, we can think of them as having at least a 50/50 shot, and possibly more, of playing corner.
- Okay, so that’s pretty much it for Signing Day. Pitt announced 15 additions to the 2020 roster, and they were pretty much the 15 we expected. That group, of course, omits a few key players, so let’s start with them:
Jordan Addison - This is the biggest one and a key recruit for Pitt to land. I was told late last week that Addison’s plan was to sign early Wednesday morning, attend his sister’s college graduation and then hold a ceremony on Thursday. Now it seems that the whole thing will take place on Thursday. It seems.
Look, there’s going to be concern over this situation until the pen goes to the paper and somebody punches “412” into the fax machine, and I understand that, but I continue to hear that Addison is solid with Pitt. That’s from multiple sources on this thing, and while I’ll admit that the situation continues to be worth monitoring, I still expect him to announce for Pitt tomorrow.
We’ll update with more info as we get it.
Lucas Krull - I wasn’t sure how Pitt was going to proceed here. There was a Signing Day tweet for Nolan Ulizio last year and one for Stefano Millin the year before so I thought Narduzzi might tweet one out for Krull, the grad transfer tight end from Florida, but nothing came this morning so I’m guessing that’s not the plan this year. Either way, Krull is part of the group of new additions, and he’ll be on campus in January.
Timothy Brown - The other commit who didn’t sign on Wednesday, Brown’s situation is one we’ve discussed quite a few times. Given his legal status after getting arrested this fall, Brown is TBD with Pitt. He’s still on the coaches’ commitment list as Pat Narduzzi and company are willing to wait out the legal process, but there really wasn’t any way they could sign him today with everything still hanging over his head. And if those issues are still unresolved in February, then I don’t think he’ll be signing then either.
- With Brown’s status up in the air and Ahkeem Mesidor signing with West Virginia on Wednesday, I would expect defensive tackle to be an area the Pitt coaches target during the January contact period. Similarly, I think Narduzzi and offensive line coach Dave Borbely will be looking for more linemen. Guys like Alex Atcavage and Owen Snively and David Anderton, who have all had varying degrees of contact with the Pitt staff, particularly in the last couple weeks, so they’ll be names we’ll watch and we’ll also keep an eye out for more.
One guy I don’t think Pitt will take is Florida transfer Chris Bleich. He’s an intriguing target as a young offensive lineman transferring from the SEC, but from what I’ve heard, it doesn’t look like things will work out there.
Of course, there’s also the matter of quarterback; Pitt still doesn’t have one for the 2020 class and it’s going to be really interesting to see what the staff can find in January. There will be recruits who emerge as late-cycle targets, and I imagine Pitt will try to get one of them.
- I’m pretty sure Henry Parrish will continue to be one of the Panthers’ top targets in January. They signed Israel Abanikanda, and with just him, it’s a pretty good running back class. But if Pitt can get Parrish to rejoin the class, it moves into the realm of potentially a great pair of backs. Parrish, as we know, decommitted from the Panthers last week after basically being on the verge of doing so for about four months. But Charlie Partridge is his main recruiter at Pitt and he never let Parrish’s wandering eye prevent him from keeping the relationship intact.
So even after Parrish decommitted, Partridge has continued to work very hard on the Miami (Fla.) Columbus prospect. We’re seeing it all from afar, of course, but Parrish’s succession of options - South Carolina then Miami then Florida, possibly Ole Miss - all seem to have taken different courses. That doesn’t necessarily make Pitt the last man standing, since there will certainly be other schools interested in a four-star running back who is still available in January. But I think Pitt can stay in the conversation due to Partridge’s efforts, and as I’ve mentioned before, they can still send Narduzzi for an in-home visit. That’s not as good as having an official visit available, but it can still give them a fighting chance.
- One other interesting note I picked up on Signing Day relates to the defensive backs. We’ve talked about the commits, Jahvante Royal and Hunter Sellers and, most recently, Buddy Mack, mostly as safety prospects. But from what I’ve heard, I think it’s actually possibly that Royal and Sellers would both come in as cornerback prospects. So instead of signing three safeties and no corners, it looks like Pitt is more likely to approach these guys as two corners and one safety.
Now, Royal and Sellers could both play any of the defensive back spots, so it’s not written in stone. But as we try to sort out the position breakdown of this class, we can think of them as having at least a 50/50 shot, and possibly more, of playing corner.
