I don’t think I expected Pitt to land a commitment on Sunday - August typically isn’t a big month for recruiting, at least in terms of commitments - but nothing should surprise us any more, so let’s talk about the newest commit and a few other items in Pitt recruiting.
- First off, no: the new commit is not Hykeem Williams. Nothing is ever 100%, but I am about as close to 100% as I can be on that. But since that was where everyone’s minds went when Pat Narduzzi tweeted out a new commitment, let’s talk about Williams.
There’s no question that Pitt is very, very much in the hunt for Williams. I think the Panthers have been no worse than top-two for the five-star receiver basically since he took his unofficial visit this spring, and their position was only strengthened with the official visit he took to Pitt in June.
At the time of that official visit, we were hearing that Georgia was the other school in Williams’ top two along with Pitt, which made sense since the Bulldogs were the only other team he saw on an official visit in June. But in the time since then, Georgia has added a commitment from former Penn State pledge Yazeed Haynes, and while I don’t know if Haynes’ commitment impacted Williams, it does appear that Georgia has slipped in this race.
The new team to watch is Florida State. Williams took an extended unofficial visit to FSU when the latest recruiting period started, and while the Seminoles weren’t discussed as a frontrunner for Williams this summer - at least, they didn’t get brought up as often as Pitt, Georgia and Texas A&M - it sounds like Mike Norvell’s group has surged, and from what I’m hearing, that’s the top two right now:
Pitt and Florida State
FSU’s momentum notwithstanding, the common theme here is Pitt. Ever since Tiquan Underwood arrived, Pitt has been a legitimate contender for Williams, and pairing Underwood with Charlie Partridge in the pursuit has given the Panthers an even stronger chance. In fact, I will go so far as to predict that Williams picks Pitt when he announces his commitment on Sept. 23.
My confidence level there is probably a 6 or 7, so just over half, if you want to look at it that way. But I really do think the Panthers have done that great of a job, and if he sticks to his plan of committing in six weeks, I think he’ll pick Pitt.
- Of course, Sept. 23 is a long way from December (I’m sure many of you have already started typing that reply, so I’ll just get out ahead of it). Getting the commitment is only half the battle, and maybe less; holding onto that commitment is going to be the real challenge, because Williams has said that he plans to commit in September and then take official visits to Florida State and Texas A&M.
That’s a concern. Not necessarily because I think Pitt can’t beat those two schools, but rather because it’s got to be terribly unnerving for a coach to have a recruit committed and then sweat out official visits to other schools.
And when the other schools involved are Florida State and Texas A&M - two schools that would certainly seem like they could induce a recruit to flip his commitment - then you’re going to have a few sleepless nights trying to survive those visits.
Probably the best way this works out would be for Williams to commit to Pitt in September and get those other two official visits in sometime before the third week of December. Signing Day is Dec. 21 and a dead period starts two days ahead of that; as long as Williams isn’t on an official visit the weekend prior to Signing Day, Narduzzi and Underwood and Partridge can get in for an in-home visit right before the contact period ends, just to keep things locked up.
Obviously I’m getting way ahead of myself here. But I could see that scenario playing out over the next four and a half months.
- Let’s get back to today’s news.
Who committed?
The easiest way to approach this is to look at the official visit list. I do not anticipate Pitt landing any summer commitments from recruits who didn’t take official visits. To that end, there are eight recruits who took official visits in June and are currently uncommitted.
We talked about Williams already, and we’ve discussed Jordan Bass before, too. He is set to announce his commitment on Sept. 1, and we expect him to announce for Pitt on that day.
Desmond Umeozulu is interesting and he seems to genuinely like Pitt - he visited unofficially in the spring and came back for an official in June - but Ohio State or South Carolina appear to be the likely destination for the four-star defensive end prospect.
Shelton Lewis was committed to Pitt but decommitted and seems to be trending toward Clemson. Pitt isn’t recruiting Deejay Holmes any longer but I do think they’re still pushing for Jalen Thompson, who is set to commit on Aug. 22; I’m guessing Thompson will end up at Michigan State.
I don’t know what to make of Javious Bond, but I don’t get a strong impression that the staff is trying to get two running backs, at least at this point, and Montravious Lloyd was the top target for Andre Powell.
That leaves Daidren Zipperer. He only has a couple Power Five offers, but I’m surprised by that because he looks like a legit playmaker at receiver. He’s fast, shifty, has good hands and makes plays with the ball. Zipperer is set to announce his commitment on Sept. 24 - one day after Hykeem Williams - and I think there’s a good chance he announces for Pitt.
- I know the next question already: if Zipperer commits and Williams commits, that would give Pitt five receivers in the class, as those two would be joining Kenny Johnson, Zion Fowler and Lamar Seymore.
Would the Panthers really sign five receivers in this class?
Probably not. Which means there might be attrition that comes at some point. We’ll have to keep an eye on that.
- Speaking of receivers, I do think that Lamar Seymore might be one of the most underrated recruits in Pitt’s class. If nothing else, he’s one of the guys we seem to talk about the least, and that probably shouldn’t be the case. Seymore is a big-time playmaker - he’s really dangerous when he gets the ball. He’s probably the best of the three receivers who are currently announced as Pitt commits, and Hykeem Williams is probably the only guy who will surpass him in that regard (assuming Williams commits).
- First off, no: the new commit is not Hykeem Williams. Nothing is ever 100%, but I am about as close to 100% as I can be on that. But since that was where everyone’s minds went when Pat Narduzzi tweeted out a new commitment, let’s talk about Williams.
There’s no question that Pitt is very, very much in the hunt for Williams. I think the Panthers have been no worse than top-two for the five-star receiver basically since he took his unofficial visit this spring, and their position was only strengthened with the official visit he took to Pitt in June.
At the time of that official visit, we were hearing that Georgia was the other school in Williams’ top two along with Pitt, which made sense since the Bulldogs were the only other team he saw on an official visit in June. But in the time since then, Georgia has added a commitment from former Penn State pledge Yazeed Haynes, and while I don’t know if Haynes’ commitment impacted Williams, it does appear that Georgia has slipped in this race.
The new team to watch is Florida State. Williams took an extended unofficial visit to FSU when the latest recruiting period started, and while the Seminoles weren’t discussed as a frontrunner for Williams this summer - at least, they didn’t get brought up as often as Pitt, Georgia and Texas A&M - it sounds like Mike Norvell’s group has surged, and from what I’m hearing, that’s the top two right now:
Pitt and Florida State
FSU’s momentum notwithstanding, the common theme here is Pitt. Ever since Tiquan Underwood arrived, Pitt has been a legitimate contender for Williams, and pairing Underwood with Charlie Partridge in the pursuit has given the Panthers an even stronger chance. In fact, I will go so far as to predict that Williams picks Pitt when he announces his commitment on Sept. 23.
My confidence level there is probably a 6 or 7, so just over half, if you want to look at it that way. But I really do think the Panthers have done that great of a job, and if he sticks to his plan of committing in six weeks, I think he’ll pick Pitt.
- Of course, Sept. 23 is a long way from December (I’m sure many of you have already started typing that reply, so I’ll just get out ahead of it). Getting the commitment is only half the battle, and maybe less; holding onto that commitment is going to be the real challenge, because Williams has said that he plans to commit in September and then take official visits to Florida State and Texas A&M.
That’s a concern. Not necessarily because I think Pitt can’t beat those two schools, but rather because it’s got to be terribly unnerving for a coach to have a recruit committed and then sweat out official visits to other schools.
And when the other schools involved are Florida State and Texas A&M - two schools that would certainly seem like they could induce a recruit to flip his commitment - then you’re going to have a few sleepless nights trying to survive those visits.
Probably the best way this works out would be for Williams to commit to Pitt in September and get those other two official visits in sometime before the third week of December. Signing Day is Dec. 21 and a dead period starts two days ahead of that; as long as Williams isn’t on an official visit the weekend prior to Signing Day, Narduzzi and Underwood and Partridge can get in for an in-home visit right before the contact period ends, just to keep things locked up.
Obviously I’m getting way ahead of myself here. But I could see that scenario playing out over the next four and a half months.
- Let’s get back to today’s news.
Who committed?
The easiest way to approach this is to look at the official visit list. I do not anticipate Pitt landing any summer commitments from recruits who didn’t take official visits. To that end, there are eight recruits who took official visits in June and are currently uncommitted.
We talked about Williams already, and we’ve discussed Jordan Bass before, too. He is set to announce his commitment on Sept. 1, and we expect him to announce for Pitt on that day.
Desmond Umeozulu is interesting and he seems to genuinely like Pitt - he visited unofficially in the spring and came back for an official in June - but Ohio State or South Carolina appear to be the likely destination for the four-star defensive end prospect.
Shelton Lewis was committed to Pitt but decommitted and seems to be trending toward Clemson. Pitt isn’t recruiting Deejay Holmes any longer but I do think they’re still pushing for Jalen Thompson, who is set to commit on Aug. 22; I’m guessing Thompson will end up at Michigan State.
I don’t know what to make of Javious Bond, but I don’t get a strong impression that the staff is trying to get two running backs, at least at this point, and Montravious Lloyd was the top target for Andre Powell.
That leaves Daidren Zipperer. He only has a couple Power Five offers, but I’m surprised by that because he looks like a legit playmaker at receiver. He’s fast, shifty, has good hands and makes plays with the ball. Zipperer is set to announce his commitment on Sept. 24 - one day after Hykeem Williams - and I think there’s a good chance he announces for Pitt.
- I know the next question already: if Zipperer commits and Williams commits, that would give Pitt five receivers in the class, as those two would be joining Kenny Johnson, Zion Fowler and Lamar Seymore.
Would the Panthers really sign five receivers in this class?
Probably not. Which means there might be attrition that comes at some point. We’ll have to keep an eye on that.
- Speaking of receivers, I do think that Lamar Seymore might be one of the most underrated recruits in Pitt’s class. If nothing else, he’s one of the guys we seem to talk about the least, and that probably shouldn’t be the case. Seymore is a big-time playmaker - he’s really dangerous when he gets the ball. He’s probably the best of the three receivers who are currently announced as Pitt commits, and Hykeem Williams is probably the only guy who will surpass him in that regard (assuming Williams commits).
