Spoke a little bit tonight with some people near the recruitment of Charles Reeves as well as the man himself. Reeves is obviously a big-time target for Pitt in this 2017 recruiting class with Pitt's needs for tight end and relatively small board. While the Panthers are still recruiting a number of other prospects at tight end, the only guy that's close to being as well-regarded by the Pitt staff as Reeves is Jake Paulson of Kentucky. Pitt wants Reeves badly, there's no mistaking that. It's not a super robust board and he's a priority for the Panthers' coaching staff.
Reeves visited Pitt's campus twice during the offseason, once for the junior day in February and then as a follow-up visit for Pitt's spring game. Pitt had a lot of momentum for Reeves coming out of that spring game and it may have placed them in the driver's seat of the recruitment at that time following his decommitment from Kentucky.
Pitt is still absolutely in the very top group of schools contending for Reeves' signature, but they are in a dogfight right now and some other programs have caught up. Pitt has been embroiled in a recruiting battle with conference foe Syracuse, a program with some recruiting momentum under new head coach Dino Babers. Syracuse has been a bit of a recruiting rival for Pitt these last few months, but they pale in comparison to the Panthers' actual rival, Penn State, who also contends for Reeves. Reeves confirmed to me that he'll be taking a visit to Syracuse next week (he also posted a tweet, embedded below) and also offered that he plans to take visits to Pitt and Penn State.
While Reeves' teasing of a commitment to Syracuse in the near future (by emoji or otherwise) is nothing more than some fun for now, there's no mistaking the Orangemen as a serious threat. All three schools that Reeves is planning visits to and they are arguably the top three contenders for Reeves. Syracuse and Pitt are both badly in need of tight end depth and could play their 2017 recruits as soon as their freshman seasons, while Penn State also needs to bring a player into the roster of missing out on another Ohioan, Matt Dotson.
Reeves is unsure of the dates for his next visits to Pitt or Penn State, but the most likely plan is for official visits in the fall. Reeves said that, one way or another, he'll "most definitely be getting back to Pitt." While there's been a lot of consternation over Syracuse - and rightfully so to a certain extent, they are a threat - Pitt is hardly out of this game. They're very much in the thick of Reeves' recruitment.
On the football side of things, Reeves has been battling back from an ankle sprain that's kept him out of a lot of offseason workouts. He's getting closer to 100%, but he's not still there quite yet and his coach is being cautious. Reeves' status as a senior on this team means that he can afford to miss practice team if it's a better guarantor of health and that's been the game plan.
Reeves often plays outside for the Steubenville Big Red as a wide receiver, which is part of the reason why he's one of the most athletic and dynamic pass-catching tight ends in the entire Midwest, but that position comes with a lot of planting and cutting. He'll want to make sure the ankle is fully healed up before he risks it on any non-essential stuff. As such, Reeves will be sitting out of his August 9th scrimmage with Steubenville that I had planned to attend to interview him further.
As a staff, it goes without saying that Panther-Lair is hoping for a quick recovery and successful senior year for Reeves, as we do with all recruits regardless of which university they attend. You can expect me on the sidelines for Steubenville's game on August 25th when they take on Washington D.C.-area opponent Woodrow Wilson and speedy Virginia Tech commit Sean Savoy.
Reeves visited Pitt's campus twice during the offseason, once for the junior day in February and then as a follow-up visit for Pitt's spring game. Pitt had a lot of momentum for Reeves coming out of that spring game and it may have placed them in the driver's seat of the recruitment at that time following his decommitment from Kentucky.
Pitt is still absolutely in the very top group of schools contending for Reeves' signature, but they are in a dogfight right now and some other programs have caught up. Pitt has been embroiled in a recruiting battle with conference foe Syracuse, a program with some recruiting momentum under new head coach Dino Babers. Syracuse has been a bit of a recruiting rival for Pitt these last few months, but they pale in comparison to the Panthers' actual rival, Penn State, who also contends for Reeves. Reeves confirmed to me that he'll be taking a visit to Syracuse next week (he also posted a tweet, embedded below) and also offered that he plans to take visits to Pitt and Penn State.
While Reeves' teasing of a commitment to Syracuse in the near future (by emoji or otherwise) is nothing more than some fun for now, there's no mistaking the Orangemen as a serious threat. All three schools that Reeves is planning visits to and they are arguably the top three contenders for Reeves. Syracuse and Pitt are both badly in need of tight end depth and could play their 2017 recruits as soon as their freshman seasons, while Penn State also needs to bring a player into the roster of missing out on another Ohioan, Matt Dotson.
Reeves is unsure of the dates for his next visits to Pitt or Penn State, but the most likely plan is for official visits in the fall. Reeves said that, one way or another, he'll "most definitely be getting back to Pitt." While there's been a lot of consternation over Syracuse - and rightfully so to a certain extent, they are a threat - Pitt is hardly out of this game. They're very much in the thick of Reeves' recruitment.
On the football side of things, Reeves has been battling back from an ankle sprain that's kept him out of a lot of offseason workouts. He's getting closer to 100%, but he's not still there quite yet and his coach is being cautious. Reeves' status as a senior on this team means that he can afford to miss practice team if it's a better guarantor of health and that's been the game plan.
Reeves often plays outside for the Steubenville Big Red as a wide receiver, which is part of the reason why he's one of the most athletic and dynamic pass-catching tight ends in the entire Midwest, but that position comes with a lot of planting and cutting. He'll want to make sure the ankle is fully healed up before he risks it on any non-essential stuff. As such, Reeves will be sitting out of his August 9th scrimmage with Steubenville that I had planned to attend to interview him further.
As a staff, it goes without saying that Panther-Lair is hoping for a quick recovery and successful senior year for Reeves, as we do with all recruits regardless of which university they attend. You can expect me on the sidelines for Steubenville's game on August 25th when they take on Washington D.C.-area opponent Woodrow Wilson and speedy Virginia Tech commit Sean Savoy.
