From the Desk of Jim Snyder
Junior Days are a spash
Last week, the Pitt football staff held a Junior Day and had approximately 68 prospects attend. The staff brought in two quarterbacks in the Class of 2005 after Luke Getsy transferred to Akron. Dave Wannstedt got commitments from Shane Murray who led Central Catholic to the AAAA state title. They also got Bill Stull to commit after it appeared he was headed to Kentucky. Stull led Seton-LaSalle to the WPIAL AAA championship.
Ideally most college programs would like to bring in one quarterback each year and clearly Matt Cavanaugh would like to see one brought in as a part of the Class of 2006. Pitt has made an early offer to Pat Devlin from Downington East. Devlin is an early Rivals 100 choice and as a result will be heavily recruited. He already has four other offers and that number will grow as time goes on.
Pitt brought in several quarterbacks last weekend from Western PA. Desmond Brently from Perry, Connor Dixon from South Park, Tyler Huether from Penn-Trafford, Gino Rometo from Plum and Mychal Skinner from Kiski Area were all guests of Pitt at the UConn basketball game. In addition Jeremy Ricker of Bishop McDevitt was invited but did not attend.
A number of these quarterbacks may need to put on a good show at camps or play well this fall to get offers from Pitt. Keep in mind that Pitt did not offer Bill Stull or Shane Murray until after their senior season.
Bishop McDevitt
In case you missed my post, a number of the McDevitt players were invited. It appears they were already committed to a trip to Maryland but in the end their ride fell through and they did not make any visits last weekend.
Baldwin
We had an article on Baldwin’s Jason Pinkston this week. It appears he will evolve into a national recruit. He already has seven scholarship offers. This number could grow dramatically as time goes on. Oklahoma has asked for film. If they offer he could end up with forty offers. Pinkston’s father works for Pitt. He does not teach at Pitt but works for Pitt. This could help the Pitt staff but you never really know. North Allegheny’s Chris Rodgers came from a family where both parents went to Pitt. He then chose Michigan before deciding to transfer to Penn State. Go figure.
Current offers
Here is a list of prospects that we believe currently have offers from Pitt:
Charles Dias OL Ft Lauderdale, FL
Pat Devlin QB Dowington East
Dorin Dickerson Ath West Allegheny
Chris Hanna OL Gateway
Justin Hargrove DE Baldwin
Vidal Hazleton WR Staten Island, NY
Jason Kates DT Bishop McDevitt
Dan Loheyde LB Gateway
Nate Nix LB Thomas Jefferson
Jason Pinkston DL Baldwin
Chad Scofield OL Strongville, OH
Aaron Smith Ath Gateway
Darin Walls DB Woodland Hills
Greg Webster LB Woodland Hills
We have not spoken to LeSean McCoy in the past couple of weeks. The old staff had offered and the new staff probably has too. He is unlikely to commit early to any school.
We are currently in a Quiet Period to allow schools across the country to hold spring practice. The Pitt coaches will start making visits to high schools in mid-April as soon as the spring game is over.
In case you missed my post yesterday on the F&F Board. I spoke to Claude Brown who at first indicated there had been no change in the status of Marlon Terry from Akron Buchtel. He later said Pitt now wants to see his grades from the current 9-week grading period. Something tells me we have something that is close to the situation in New Jersey where Pitt backed away from a wide receiver from New Brunswick. We will check back in several weeks but I am starting to become skeptical you will ever see Terry playing for Pitt.
Wannsetdt does Rivals Radio
In case you missed the interview by Dave Wannstedt on February 24th it has been archived. Simply go one of the Rivals Radio links. The first few seconds are not clear but stay with it. The quality gets much better. Coach Wannstedt lays out his plans for recruiting this year. He also talks a little bit about what you can expect on offense and defense this fall. If you have not had a chance to listen please check it out.
We usually publish a War Room piece on Friday. It will often stay on the F&F Board through the weekend. If you are travelling or busy they are archived on the War Room Archive Board. You can always catch up on old War Room articles.
Aliquippa/Beaver
I hope you had a chance to watch at least a part of the Aliquippa-Beaver Falls. Lance Jeter stole the show by hitting two incredible buzzer beaters. It had to be a heartbreaking loss for the Quips who certainly played well enough to win. Herb Pope fouled out late in regulation but if you saw him you can see he has the potential to be something special. He reminds me of Billy Knight when he runs. It is graceful for a big guy. He made one outlet pass that was as good as any you will see from any of the Pitt inside players.
Profile explanation
One of our readers asked when schools are listed in a player’s profile where does that information come from? The answer is that it comes from the players. No school is going to share its target list with media. It would be an NCAA recruiting violation. Beyond that it would be a big mistake. At the end of they day we are trying to tell our readers where the players would like to go to school. The lists changes as schools recruit them. Eventually they figure out which schools are interested in them and which schools are ignoring them. Many players fill out questionaires. They rest come the info comes from interviews.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
Junior Days are a spash
Last week, the Pitt football staff held a Junior Day and had approximately 68 prospects attend. The staff brought in two quarterbacks in the Class of 2005 after Luke Getsy transferred to Akron. Dave Wannstedt got commitments from Shane Murray who led Central Catholic to the AAAA state title. They also got Bill Stull to commit after it appeared he was headed to Kentucky. Stull led Seton-LaSalle to the WPIAL AAA championship.
Ideally most college programs would like to bring in one quarterback each year and clearly Matt Cavanaugh would like to see one brought in as a part of the Class of 2006. Pitt has made an early offer to Pat Devlin from Downington East. Devlin is an early Rivals 100 choice and as a result will be heavily recruited. He already has four other offers and that number will grow as time goes on.
Pitt brought in several quarterbacks last weekend from Western PA. Desmond Brently from Perry, Connor Dixon from South Park, Tyler Huether from Penn-Trafford, Gino Rometo from Plum and Mychal Skinner from Kiski Area were all guests of Pitt at the UConn basketball game. In addition Jeremy Ricker of Bishop McDevitt was invited but did not attend.
A number of these quarterbacks may need to put on a good show at camps or play well this fall to get offers from Pitt. Keep in mind that Pitt did not offer Bill Stull or Shane Murray until after their senior season.
Bishop McDevitt
In case you missed my post, a number of the McDevitt players were invited. It appears they were already committed to a trip to Maryland but in the end their ride fell through and they did not make any visits last weekend.
Baldwin
We had an article on Baldwin’s Jason Pinkston this week. It appears he will evolve into a national recruit. He already has seven scholarship offers. This number could grow dramatically as time goes on. Oklahoma has asked for film. If they offer he could end up with forty offers. Pinkston’s father works for Pitt. He does not teach at Pitt but works for Pitt. This could help the Pitt staff but you never really know. North Allegheny’s Chris Rodgers came from a family where both parents went to Pitt. He then chose Michigan before deciding to transfer to Penn State. Go figure.
Current offers
Here is a list of prospects that we believe currently have offers from Pitt:
Charles Dias OL Ft Lauderdale, FL
Pat Devlin QB Dowington East
Dorin Dickerson Ath West Allegheny
Chris Hanna OL Gateway
Justin Hargrove DE Baldwin
Vidal Hazleton WR Staten Island, NY
Jason Kates DT Bishop McDevitt
Dan Loheyde LB Gateway
Nate Nix LB Thomas Jefferson
Jason Pinkston DL Baldwin
Chad Scofield OL Strongville, OH
Aaron Smith Ath Gateway
Darin Walls DB Woodland Hills
Greg Webster LB Woodland Hills
We have not spoken to LeSean McCoy in the past couple of weeks. The old staff had offered and the new staff probably has too. He is unlikely to commit early to any school.
We are currently in a Quiet Period to allow schools across the country to hold spring practice. The Pitt coaches will start making visits to high schools in mid-April as soon as the spring game is over.
In case you missed my post yesterday on the F&F Board. I spoke to Claude Brown who at first indicated there had been no change in the status of Marlon Terry from Akron Buchtel. He later said Pitt now wants to see his grades from the current 9-week grading period. Something tells me we have something that is close to the situation in New Jersey where Pitt backed away from a wide receiver from New Brunswick. We will check back in several weeks but I am starting to become skeptical you will ever see Terry playing for Pitt.
Wannsetdt does Rivals Radio
In case you missed the interview by Dave Wannstedt on February 24th it has been archived. Simply go one of the Rivals Radio links. The first few seconds are not clear but stay with it. The quality gets much better. Coach Wannstedt lays out his plans for recruiting this year. He also talks a little bit about what you can expect on offense and defense this fall. If you have not had a chance to listen please check it out.
We usually publish a War Room piece on Friday. It will often stay on the F&F Board through the weekend. If you are travelling or busy they are archived on the War Room Archive Board. You can always catch up on old War Room articles.
Aliquippa/Beaver
I hope you had a chance to watch at least a part of the Aliquippa-Beaver Falls. Lance Jeter stole the show by hitting two incredible buzzer beaters. It had to be a heartbreaking loss for the Quips who certainly played well enough to win. Herb Pope fouled out late in regulation but if you saw him you can see he has the potential to be something special. He reminds me of Billy Knight when he runs. It is graceful for a big guy. He made one outlet pass that was as good as any you will see from any of the Pitt inside players.
Profile explanation
One of our readers asked when schools are listed in a player’s profile where does that information come from? The answer is that it comes from the players. No school is going to share its target list with media. It would be an NCAA recruiting violation. Beyond that it would be a big mistake. At the end of they day we are trying to tell our readers where the players would like to go to school. The lists changes as schools recruit them. Eventually they figure out which schools are interested in them and which schools are ignoring them. Many players fill out questionaires. They rest come the info comes from interviews.
The War Room is targeted towards our premium customers. We ask that all information reported in the War Room MUST stay right here! That’s the way this deal works. When this information is repeated outside of the Between Fifth and Forbes forum it only cheapens the price of yours and every other die hard who have purchased premium services. The War Room is one of our more popular features...thank you all for keeping the information on this board.
Note to Pantherlair.com Fans: The staff at Pantherlair.com works diligently to bring you the best information on University of Pittsburgh football and basketball recruiting (in addition to game coverage). Thousands of Panther fans visit our site on a daily basis. We have received a tremendous amount of e-mail thanking us for our efforts. If you like our site, please feel free to tell other fans about it. “Spread the word” and let’s add to our online family of Panther fans.
