Pat Narduzzi and Matt Canada were out of commission on Tuesday, but the rest of the Pitt staff was active with visits to some of the Panthers’ top targets. Here’s a look at who they visited.
- Probably the biggest of Tuesday’s visits was offensive line coach John Peterson’s trip to Highland Springs (Va.) for a meeting with four-star tackle Mekhi Becton. A long-time target, Becton has come further into focus as a priority recently and he has been receptive to the contact with Peterson.
On Tuesday, Peterson had an in-home visit with Becton, and while they discussed a number of topics, one focus was the matter of an official visit. Becton hasn’t scheduled a visit to Pitt - “Not yet,” he said - but Peterson emphasized it and it seems like Becton is leaning toward taking one.
The staff would like to get one more offensive lineman in the class to go with Gabe Houy, Owen Drexel and Carter Warren, and obviously Becton would be a huge grab.
- The Pitt staff had another visit with a four-star prospect in Virginia on Tuesday when receivers coach Kevin Sherman and defensive line coach Tom Sims visited defensive end Tyjuan Garbutt. His story is well-known: he was committed to Virginia Tech but reopened his recruitment shortly after attending Pitt’s 7-on-7 camp.
Since then, the general school of thought has been that the Panthers and the Hokies are the favorites to land him, although things seem to be pointing toward Garbutt ending up in Blacksburg when it’s all said and done. He has laid low in recruiting lately as far as publicity, so not much has come out. But if Pitt can get Garbutt on campus again - he was most recently at Pitt for the Penn State game this fall - then the Panthers will at least have a shot.
- As seems to be the case every day, Pitt had a presence in Florida on Tuesday. This time it was tight ends coach Tim Salem and running backs coach Andre Powell. Salem has a geographic area in the Sunshine State, which is why he’s been down there so much; Powell was there for a much more specific reason.
Powell’s main stop on Tuesday was Lakeland, where Pitt has two targets: cornerback Damarri Mathis and running back Anthony Davis. Last week, defensive coordinator Josh Conklin put in some good work with both guys but especially Mathis; on Tuesday, Powell came in to further boost Pitt’s standing with Davis.
A four-star prospect, Davis is big-time and could add another playmaking element to the Panthers’ offense. Both he and Mathis will be on campus this weekend for an official visit, and the staff - which did so well on official visits last year - will look to make quite the impression on both guys. Mathis seems to be a candidate for a commitment, but a very good visit could swing Davis as well.
- Salem’s visits were with a pair of defenders: cornerback Endrickson Boucher and defensive end Stephon Zayas. From what we have been told, Pitt was looking to schedule an official visit with Boucher on Tuesday’s visit; we’re working to confirm a date on that. Zayas is scheduled to visit the weekend of Jan. 13-15; he’ll be at UCF this weekend and will visit N.C. State the weekend of Jan. 20-22.
- Speaking of N.C. State defensive end recruits, Salem is also planning to visit Deslin Alexandre on Wednesday. Alexandre is committed to N.C. State but is considering an official visit to Pitt for this coming weekend before he enrolls in January. Pitt’s got a decent chance for a flip if Alexandre makes the visit. We’ll see what develops on Wednesday.
- This is an interesting development:
That’s D’Jaundrae Edwards, the receiver Pitt was recruiting until this past weekend, when Salem told him Pitt couldn’t take him as an early enrollee. Now that Edwards is pushing back his enrollment, it would seem like an opportunity could reopen at Pitt. Edwards posted that tweet late Tuesday night; we reached out to him but as of this post, he has not responded. We’ll let you know what he says when we hear back from him.
- Probably the biggest of Tuesday’s visits was offensive line coach John Peterson’s trip to Highland Springs (Va.) for a meeting with four-star tackle Mekhi Becton. A long-time target, Becton has come further into focus as a priority recently and he has been receptive to the contact with Peterson.
On Tuesday, Peterson had an in-home visit with Becton, and while they discussed a number of topics, one focus was the matter of an official visit. Becton hasn’t scheduled a visit to Pitt - “Not yet,” he said - but Peterson emphasized it and it seems like Becton is leaning toward taking one.
The staff would like to get one more offensive lineman in the class to go with Gabe Houy, Owen Drexel and Carter Warren, and obviously Becton would be a huge grab.
- The Pitt staff had another visit with a four-star prospect in Virginia on Tuesday when receivers coach Kevin Sherman and defensive line coach Tom Sims visited defensive end Tyjuan Garbutt. His story is well-known: he was committed to Virginia Tech but reopened his recruitment shortly after attending Pitt’s 7-on-7 camp.
Since then, the general school of thought has been that the Panthers and the Hokies are the favorites to land him, although things seem to be pointing toward Garbutt ending up in Blacksburg when it’s all said and done. He has laid low in recruiting lately as far as publicity, so not much has come out. But if Pitt can get Garbutt on campus again - he was most recently at Pitt for the Penn State game this fall - then the Panthers will at least have a shot.
- As seems to be the case every day, Pitt had a presence in Florida on Tuesday. This time it was tight ends coach Tim Salem and running backs coach Andre Powell. Salem has a geographic area in the Sunshine State, which is why he’s been down there so much; Powell was there for a much more specific reason.
Powell’s main stop on Tuesday was Lakeland, where Pitt has two targets: cornerback Damarri Mathis and running back Anthony Davis. Last week, defensive coordinator Josh Conklin put in some good work with both guys but especially Mathis; on Tuesday, Powell came in to further boost Pitt’s standing with Davis.
A four-star prospect, Davis is big-time and could add another playmaking element to the Panthers’ offense. Both he and Mathis will be on campus this weekend for an official visit, and the staff - which did so well on official visits last year - will look to make quite the impression on both guys. Mathis seems to be a candidate for a commitment, but a very good visit could swing Davis as well.
- Salem’s visits were with a pair of defenders: cornerback Endrickson Boucher and defensive end Stephon Zayas. From what we have been told, Pitt was looking to schedule an official visit with Boucher on Tuesday’s visit; we’re working to confirm a date on that. Zayas is scheduled to visit the weekend of Jan. 13-15; he’ll be at UCF this weekend and will visit N.C. State the weekend of Jan. 20-22.
- Speaking of N.C. State defensive end recruits, Salem is also planning to visit Deslin Alexandre on Wednesday. Alexandre is committed to N.C. State but is considering an official visit to Pitt for this coming weekend before he enrolls in January. Pitt’s got a decent chance for a flip if Alexandre makes the visit. We’ll see what develops on Wednesday.
- This is an interesting development:
That’s D’Jaundrae Edwards, the receiver Pitt was recruiting until this past weekend, when Salem told him Pitt couldn’t take him as an early enrollee. Now that Edwards is pushing back his enrollment, it would seem like an opportunity could reopen at Pitt. Edwards posted that tweet late Tuesday night; we reached out to him but as of this post, he has not responded. We’ll let you know what he says when we hear back from him.
