Hey guys, I know I've been a bit quiet today in terms of recruiting coverage information. I've spent the working the phones and tracking some stuff down, but as we got closer here to signing day, updates on big-time recruitments are occurring virtually in real time. That goes double for early enrollees as college coaches hit their crunch time mode with the dead period just a week away.
It's no secret that the biggest piece to the puzzle remaining in recruiting for Pitt this season is Clairton (Pa.) five-star Lamont Wade. Today's Rivals100 release re-affirmed Wade's position in the Rivals rankings as the country's top defensive back and his recruiting attention is reflective of that. Wade has made official visits to Tennessee, Penn State, and (most recently) West Virginia. His offer list also included programs like Ohio State, Alabama, Duke, Mississippi State, and others who made runs in his recruitment at different times.
I've been consistent for the last two months or so now that this recruitment is largely coming down to Penn State and Pitt ad nothing has changed to make me change my mind on that front. By all reports, West Virginia made a nice impression on the visit this weekend and Wade's in-home visit with the Mountaineers, led by Tony Gibson, went well. Tennessee had a really strong burst of momentum in the late summer/early fall in this recruitment and they really had the Wades intrigued, but things have faded there for a bit.
There was some consternation over Wade's perceived lack of interest down the stretch in Pitt, largely due to the relative silence in recruiting news from him. Lamont has let his dad handle most of the media attention for the last month or so and has been on an "in-person only" policy for interviews for the entire fall.
I spent my afternoon talking to quite a few contacts around Clairton and its football program/athletics department in addition to the Wade family, as I know many of you have been anxious for an update. You have to be careful not to overwork sources during this hectic period of the year with coaches in and out of their door and that applies to the Wades as well. Here's what I picked up from these conversations and my take on how things are looking to play out:
Pitt assistant coach Renaldo Hill were in Clairton at the Wade's home this evening after they took an equipment truck to his playoff game on Friday night at Slippery Rock. There was nothing overwhelming to report about the visit, but it's always positive to get that face time from coaches in the home and around the family. Narduzzi has been the lead recruiter on Wade, but his in-home visit is being saved for a point closer to the decision date. Head coaches are only allowed to make one visit per prospect, while assistant coaches can make several. This is Pitt making sure they're not being outworked by other schools close to the decision, but given how long Wade's recruitment has gone on and how well he knows all of these coaches at his top five schools, the in-homes aren't going to make or break anything.
Wade is planning to make his official visit to Pitt on December 10th - Saturday. I believe Brian Dohn of Scout reported that first and Brian normally does excellent work, so good on him. That will be his final official visit with the dead period beginning on Monday, December 12th. He plays his state championship game on Friday, December 9th at 1 P.M. in Hershey, which is the key reason why he'll be waiting until Saturday for the official. That state championship game and the practices leading up to it will also prevent his official visit to UCLA that had been bandied about, I'm told. UCLA was never a serious contender, but it was going to be a free trip to California in the winter and to a school that has put in a lot of work to recruit him and build relationships. The practices make his schedule incredibly hectic. Although his schoolwork is almost entirely finished and Wade's academics are a matter of showing up at this point before graduating early, it's still an ultra-busy schedule for a high school kid and his family to deal with school, football practice, and multi-millionaire coaches walking in and out of your door every evening. It can get overwhelming.
The final official visit will be an opportunity for the Wade family to see Pitt one last time before deciding and for Pat Narduzzi's Pitt program to make its final pitch to their top target. I'm not going to sugarcoat this: they have ground to make up. I've been consistent and constant in saying that a decision has not been made in Wade's recruitment and it still has not. He's making his Bleacher Report commitment video next week during the dead period prior to the commitment.
With that having been said, Penn State is in an excellent position for Wade right now. The Nittany Lions have maintained their momentum out of Wade's official visit to campus in the first weekend of November with near-constant contact from James Franklin and Terry Smith. They've succeeded on the field and have been able to pitch a message of the potential to contend for national and conference championships at one of college football's traditional powers in his home state. That's a powerful message, even though it may not be one welcome to hear from the perspective of Pitt fans or fans of any other school recruiting Wade. All concerns about the potential hot seat facing James Franklin have been erased and the relationships remain strong. If I was making a pick for Wade today if the dead period started tomorrow morning, I would be taking Penn State. I very well may continue to pick Penn State on this one for the next two weeks leading up to his commitment.
With all of that having been said, this is playing out as we've thought it would. Pitt is going to get the final crack at Wade on his final official visit. Pat Narduzzi is the last coach that Lamont Wade will see face-to-face before he makes a commitment on December 17th and Pitt is the last college campus that he'll see. Pitt has continued to make up real ground from the point where they looked dead in the water in the spring. While most of the other challengers to Penn State have faded (Ohio State, Tennessee, UCLA, Alabama, etc.), Pitt has continued to stay in this race and make up ground. Narduzzi has done a good job of connecting with the family and selling the opportunity to Wade to stay in his home town, start for three years at cornerback under a coach with a history of producing top defensive backs, and be a cornerstone recruit for the program.
Those are the pitches that each school has laid out, in a nut shell. That's what the messaging will be all weekend from Pitt following the state championship game and what they'll want to make clear to Wade. Penn State is the likely pick going into the weekend and they know that. They are aware that they're going to have the final chance to leave an impression on him and leave doubt in his mind about Penn State before he decides and that creates a more singular focus than when you're recruiting against two dozen other schools. Pitt's in a position where they need to make up ground to win this recruitment and keep Wade home, but they are also in a position where they're being given the opportunity to do so.
At the end of the day, Lamont Wade has run one of the most well-considered, thorough recruiting processes I have ever seen. He is not going to make an emotional decision after four years of a recruiting process in which he has heard every kind of sales pitch imaginable. He has been consistently guided by knowing what he wants in his college: he wants the chance to play early, he wants a chance to succeed and excel, and he wants to win football games frequently. Everything else is window-dressing. Each of the two schools have made him comfortable on campus and he would be okay ending up at any of them, but those criteria will decide things in the end. Stay tuned for more information as this one gets down to the final hours leading up to his recruitment.
It's no secret that the biggest piece to the puzzle remaining in recruiting for Pitt this season is Clairton (Pa.) five-star Lamont Wade. Today's Rivals100 release re-affirmed Wade's position in the Rivals rankings as the country's top defensive back and his recruiting attention is reflective of that. Wade has made official visits to Tennessee, Penn State, and (most recently) West Virginia. His offer list also included programs like Ohio State, Alabama, Duke, Mississippi State, and others who made runs in his recruitment at different times.
I've been consistent for the last two months or so now that this recruitment is largely coming down to Penn State and Pitt ad nothing has changed to make me change my mind on that front. By all reports, West Virginia made a nice impression on the visit this weekend and Wade's in-home visit with the Mountaineers, led by Tony Gibson, went well. Tennessee had a really strong burst of momentum in the late summer/early fall in this recruitment and they really had the Wades intrigued, but things have faded there for a bit.
There was some consternation over Wade's perceived lack of interest down the stretch in Pitt, largely due to the relative silence in recruiting news from him. Lamont has let his dad handle most of the media attention for the last month or so and has been on an "in-person only" policy for interviews for the entire fall.
I spent my afternoon talking to quite a few contacts around Clairton and its football program/athletics department in addition to the Wade family, as I know many of you have been anxious for an update. You have to be careful not to overwork sources during this hectic period of the year with coaches in and out of their door and that applies to the Wades as well. Here's what I picked up from these conversations and my take on how things are looking to play out:
Pitt assistant coach Renaldo Hill were in Clairton at the Wade's home this evening after they took an equipment truck to his playoff game on Friday night at Slippery Rock. There was nothing overwhelming to report about the visit, but it's always positive to get that face time from coaches in the home and around the family. Narduzzi has been the lead recruiter on Wade, but his in-home visit is being saved for a point closer to the decision date. Head coaches are only allowed to make one visit per prospect, while assistant coaches can make several. This is Pitt making sure they're not being outworked by other schools close to the decision, but given how long Wade's recruitment has gone on and how well he knows all of these coaches at his top five schools, the in-homes aren't going to make or break anything.
Wade is planning to make his official visit to Pitt on December 10th - Saturday. I believe Brian Dohn of Scout reported that first and Brian normally does excellent work, so good on him. That will be his final official visit with the dead period beginning on Monday, December 12th. He plays his state championship game on Friday, December 9th at 1 P.M. in Hershey, which is the key reason why he'll be waiting until Saturday for the official. That state championship game and the practices leading up to it will also prevent his official visit to UCLA that had been bandied about, I'm told. UCLA was never a serious contender, but it was going to be a free trip to California in the winter and to a school that has put in a lot of work to recruit him and build relationships. The practices make his schedule incredibly hectic. Although his schoolwork is almost entirely finished and Wade's academics are a matter of showing up at this point before graduating early, it's still an ultra-busy schedule for a high school kid and his family to deal with school, football practice, and multi-millionaire coaches walking in and out of your door every evening. It can get overwhelming.
The final official visit will be an opportunity for the Wade family to see Pitt one last time before deciding and for Pat Narduzzi's Pitt program to make its final pitch to their top target. I'm not going to sugarcoat this: they have ground to make up. I've been consistent and constant in saying that a decision has not been made in Wade's recruitment and it still has not. He's making his Bleacher Report commitment video next week during the dead period prior to the commitment.
With that having been said, Penn State is in an excellent position for Wade right now. The Nittany Lions have maintained their momentum out of Wade's official visit to campus in the first weekend of November with near-constant contact from James Franklin and Terry Smith. They've succeeded on the field and have been able to pitch a message of the potential to contend for national and conference championships at one of college football's traditional powers in his home state. That's a powerful message, even though it may not be one welcome to hear from the perspective of Pitt fans or fans of any other school recruiting Wade. All concerns about the potential hot seat facing James Franklin have been erased and the relationships remain strong. If I was making a pick for Wade today if the dead period started tomorrow morning, I would be taking Penn State. I very well may continue to pick Penn State on this one for the next two weeks leading up to his commitment.
With all of that having been said, this is playing out as we've thought it would. Pitt is going to get the final crack at Wade on his final official visit. Pat Narduzzi is the last coach that Lamont Wade will see face-to-face before he makes a commitment on December 17th and Pitt is the last college campus that he'll see. Pitt has continued to make up real ground from the point where they looked dead in the water in the spring. While most of the other challengers to Penn State have faded (Ohio State, Tennessee, UCLA, Alabama, etc.), Pitt has continued to stay in this race and make up ground. Narduzzi has done a good job of connecting with the family and selling the opportunity to Wade to stay in his home town, start for three years at cornerback under a coach with a history of producing top defensive backs, and be a cornerstone recruit for the program.
Those are the pitches that each school has laid out, in a nut shell. That's what the messaging will be all weekend from Pitt following the state championship game and what they'll want to make clear to Wade. Penn State is the likely pick going into the weekend and they know that. They are aware that they're going to have the final chance to leave an impression on him and leave doubt in his mind about Penn State before he decides and that creates a more singular focus than when you're recruiting against two dozen other schools. Pitt's in a position where they need to make up ground to win this recruitment and keep Wade home, but they are also in a position where they're being given the opportunity to do so.
At the end of the day, Lamont Wade has run one of the most well-considered, thorough recruiting processes I have ever seen. He is not going to make an emotional decision after four years of a recruiting process in which he has heard every kind of sales pitch imaginable. He has been consistently guided by knowing what he wants in his college: he wants the chance to play early, he wants a chance to succeed and excel, and he wants to win football games frequently. Everything else is window-dressing. Each of the two schools have made him comfortable on campus and he would be okay ending up at any of them, but those criteria will decide things in the end. Stay tuned for more information as this one gets down to the final hours leading up to his recruitment.
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