Pitt had some top targets at Friday's game, including a quartet of recruits who are committed to other schools. Here's a rundown on who was there and what it means.
2016 Woodland Hills RB Miles Sanders
2016 Central Catholic DB Damar Hamlin
2016 McKeesport DB Khaleke Hudson
2016 Clairton ATH Aaron Mathews
2016 Upper St. Clair OL Brandon Ford
2016 Valley WR Tyson Hill
2016 Cincinnati (Oh.) Moeller QB Thomas MacVittie
2016 Brooklyn (NY) Poly Prep OL Justin Morgan
2016 Brooklyn (NY) Poly Prep LB Elias Reynolds
2016 Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha OL Elijah Johnson
2016 Middletown (NJ) South OL Thomas Lopez
2016 Severn (Md.) Annapolis Area WR Chayce Branson
2016 St. Catharines (Ontario) Canada Prep K Dante Brown
2017 Clairton DB Lamont Wade
2017 Seton LaSalle DB Paris Ford
2017 Peters Township RB TJ Kpan
2017 Clearfield ATH Ryan Lezzer
2017 Gateway ATH Jaquan Brisker
2017 Gaithersburg (Md.) Avalon QB Isaiah Robinson
2018 Malvern Prep QB Kevin Doyle
2018 Penn Hills WR Julian Major
- Obviously the biggest name on the list is right at the top: four-star Woodland Hills RB Miles Sanders. This makes multiple Pitt games that the Penn State commit has attended this season, as he continues to show interest in the Panthers. The next step is to watch for Sanders to take an official visit to Pitt; so much of his recruitment has happened behind closed doors and that will likely continue, but public overtures like visiting for a game are worth noting.
- Right up there with Sanders in terms of Pitt's local priorities is Damar Hamlin, the four-star prospect from Central Catholic. He was a late arrival at the game on Friday, but his appearance made him five-for-six on Pitt games this season.
- Khaleke Hudson has made it to multiple Pitt games this season, too, and I keep hearing that his interest in Pitt is climbing. There may be a push for him to leave the area, but Pitt is making up ground.
- I believe Aaron Mathews has been at every Pitt game this season (if he has missed any, he hasn't missed more than one). So while he is holding out hope he can get a shot at playing receiver, Pitt's recruitment of him as a defensive player hasn't eliminated his interest in the Panthers.
- Those four local recruits - Sanders, Hamlin, Hudson and Mathews - were the biggest names in attendance, but they might be surpassed in pure intrigue by Justin Morgan, Elias Reynolds and Elijah Johnson, since all three of those recruits are currently committed to Rutgers.
- Morgan has said in the past that he planned to take an official visit to Pitt and that he would ultimately decide between Pitt and Rutgers. This trip was an unofficial visit, so he'll be back at Pitt again at some point. Reynolds is a teammate of Morgan's and has said similar things about wanting to take an official visit to Pitt; in fact, Reynolds and Morgan visited Pitt together this summer. And Johnson is in the same boat. Pitt is actively pursuing all three of those guys, and they will probably be on campus again.
- So with Sanders, Morgan, Reynolds and Johnson, Pitt hosted four Big Ten commits on Saturday.
- Chayce Branson is a name to keep an eye on, perhaps as a walk-on possibility. If you click on his name, that goes to his Hudl film; he seems to make some plays in those highlights, and Pitt is still evaluating him.
- Dante Brown is pretty interesting, too. He's from Canada Prep in Ontario and he's a kicker - if you click on his name, it takes you to highlights of him making a 51-yard field goal, among others. We've seen that this coaching staff is looking at kickers in this class, so Brown is another name to keep an eye on.
- We'll also keep an eye on Isaiah Robinson, a junior quarterback prospect with good size. Here are hisjunior highlights.
- Kevin Doyle is one of two QB prospects in the 2018 class that Pitt has offered so far, so it was big for Pitt to get him to come across the state for a visit.
- One recruit who was planning to attend but couldn't make it was 2016 RB Robert Washington. Washington is a pretty special player who ran into some personal difficulties over the last two years. But he's still looking for a college destination and he was hoping to attend Pitt's game on Friday. That trip didn't happen, but he does plan to take an official visit to Pitt in the near future.
2016 Woodland Hills RB Miles Sanders
2016 Central Catholic DB Damar Hamlin
2016 McKeesport DB Khaleke Hudson
2016 Clairton ATH Aaron Mathews
2016 Upper St. Clair OL Brandon Ford
2016 Valley WR Tyson Hill
2016 Cincinnati (Oh.) Moeller QB Thomas MacVittie
2016 Brooklyn (NY) Poly Prep OL Justin Morgan
2016 Brooklyn (NY) Poly Prep LB Elias Reynolds
2016 Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha OL Elijah Johnson
2016 Middletown (NJ) South OL Thomas Lopez
2016 Severn (Md.) Annapolis Area WR Chayce Branson
2016 St. Catharines (Ontario) Canada Prep K Dante Brown
2017 Clairton DB Lamont Wade
2017 Seton LaSalle DB Paris Ford
2017 Peters Township RB TJ Kpan
2017 Clearfield ATH Ryan Lezzer
2017 Gateway ATH Jaquan Brisker
2017 Gaithersburg (Md.) Avalon QB Isaiah Robinson
2018 Malvern Prep QB Kevin Doyle
2018 Penn Hills WR Julian Major
- Obviously the biggest name on the list is right at the top: four-star Woodland Hills RB Miles Sanders. This makes multiple Pitt games that the Penn State commit has attended this season, as he continues to show interest in the Panthers. The next step is to watch for Sanders to take an official visit to Pitt; so much of his recruitment has happened behind closed doors and that will likely continue, but public overtures like visiting for a game are worth noting.
- Right up there with Sanders in terms of Pitt's local priorities is Damar Hamlin, the four-star prospect from Central Catholic. He was a late arrival at the game on Friday, but his appearance made him five-for-six on Pitt games this season.
- Khaleke Hudson has made it to multiple Pitt games this season, too, and I keep hearing that his interest in Pitt is climbing. There may be a push for him to leave the area, but Pitt is making up ground.
- I believe Aaron Mathews has been at every Pitt game this season (if he has missed any, he hasn't missed more than one). So while he is holding out hope he can get a shot at playing receiver, Pitt's recruitment of him as a defensive player hasn't eliminated his interest in the Panthers.
- Those four local recruits - Sanders, Hamlin, Hudson and Mathews - were the biggest names in attendance, but they might be surpassed in pure intrigue by Justin Morgan, Elias Reynolds and Elijah Johnson, since all three of those recruits are currently committed to Rutgers.
- Morgan has said in the past that he planned to take an official visit to Pitt and that he would ultimately decide between Pitt and Rutgers. This trip was an unofficial visit, so he'll be back at Pitt again at some point. Reynolds is a teammate of Morgan's and has said similar things about wanting to take an official visit to Pitt; in fact, Reynolds and Morgan visited Pitt together this summer. And Johnson is in the same boat. Pitt is actively pursuing all three of those guys, and they will probably be on campus again.
- So with Sanders, Morgan, Reynolds and Johnson, Pitt hosted four Big Ten commits on Saturday.
- Chayce Branson is a name to keep an eye on, perhaps as a walk-on possibility. If you click on his name, that goes to his Hudl film; he seems to make some plays in those highlights, and Pitt is still evaluating him.
- Dante Brown is pretty interesting, too. He's from Canada Prep in Ontario and he's a kicker - if you click on his name, it takes you to highlights of him making a 51-yard field goal, among others. We've seen that this coaching staff is looking at kickers in this class, so Brown is another name to keep an eye on.
- We'll also keep an eye on Isaiah Robinson, a junior quarterback prospect with good size. Here are hisjunior highlights.
- Kevin Doyle is one of two QB prospects in the 2018 class that Pitt has offered so far, so it was big for Pitt to get him to come across the state for a visit.
- One recruit who was planning to attend but couldn't make it was 2016 RB Robert Washington. Washington is a pretty special player who ran into some personal difficulties over the last two years. But he's still looking for a college destination and he was hoping to attend Pitt's game on Friday. That trip didn't happen, but he does plan to take an official visit to Pitt in the near future.
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