Just to update where things stand with top Pitt defensive end target TyJuan Garbutt from some people I spoke with last night:
- Garbutt had a fantastic time on his official visit and bonded really well with many of the commits. He's stayed in near constant contact with a few of them since then, including Darian Street and Tyler Sear. You can read his update with Chris here
- Garbutt still plans to make his official visit to Virginia Tech this weekend, his final official visit of the process. It will start on the 20th and run to the 22nd. VT is, of course, the school he was previously committed to until backing off of the pledge in June.
- Pitt and Virginia Tech have both sent assistant coaches on in-home visits with Garbutt this week following and prior to the official visits, but neither has sent their head coach.
- Following Garbutt's official to Virginia Tech, he's going to sit down with his family and begin the deliberation process of making a commitment to the school of his choice. The decision is expected during the week, although the day of the week is not clear. I was told not to be surprised if it comes as soon as Monday, but:
- Given the notes two spots above that neither school has sent their head coaches for an in-home, don't be surprised if both Narduzzi and Fuente look to get to sit down with Garbutt and his family following the OV and push that decision back from Monday.
- I still think that, although Pitt did an excellent job and hit it out of the park on the official visit, it could be tough to beat the Hokies down the stretch here. He's saying all of the right things to Pitt's commits and all of that and seemed to genuinely love his visit, but this one feels a bit different than Proctor's. VT has the final visit. On the other hand, you can make the argument that there's nothing Garbutt could possibly be shown by VT on this trip to convince him that he hasn't already seen in his first 500 visits. He's more familiar with the Hokies and that's important, but Pitt is hoping their late surge was enough. We'll have to see if they can sustain the momentum throughout this official visit to VT and pull off the upset or if the hometown team wins out. It goes without saying that beating VT for either one of Proctor or Garbutt would be a plus and landing both would be a home run.
- Garbutt had a fantastic time on his official visit and bonded really well with many of the commits. He's stayed in near constant contact with a few of them since then, including Darian Street and Tyler Sear. You can read his update with Chris here
- Garbutt still plans to make his official visit to Virginia Tech this weekend, his final official visit of the process. It will start on the 20th and run to the 22nd. VT is, of course, the school he was previously committed to until backing off of the pledge in June.
- Pitt and Virginia Tech have both sent assistant coaches on in-home visits with Garbutt this week following and prior to the official visits, but neither has sent their head coach.
- Following Garbutt's official to Virginia Tech, he's going to sit down with his family and begin the deliberation process of making a commitment to the school of his choice. The decision is expected during the week, although the day of the week is not clear. I was told not to be surprised if it comes as soon as Monday, but:
- Given the notes two spots above that neither school has sent their head coaches for an in-home, don't be surprised if both Narduzzi and Fuente look to get to sit down with Garbutt and his family following the OV and push that decision back from Monday.
- I still think that, although Pitt did an excellent job and hit it out of the park on the official visit, it could be tough to beat the Hokies down the stretch here. He's saying all of the right things to Pitt's commits and all of that and seemed to genuinely love his visit, but this one feels a bit different than Proctor's. VT has the final visit. On the other hand, you can make the argument that there's nothing Garbutt could possibly be shown by VT on this trip to convince him that he hasn't already seen in his first 500 visits. He's more familiar with the Hokies and that's important, but Pitt is hoping their late surge was enough. We'll have to see if they can sustain the momentum throughout this official visit to VT and pull off the upset or if the hometown team wins out. It goes without saying that beating VT for either one of Proctor or Garbutt would be a plus and landing both would be a home run.
