From the desk of Jim Snyder
It is camping season
This past week they held an Elite Skills Camp at the Cleveland Browns facility in Ohio and in Elite College Combine in New Jersey. Both sites had a few players that Pitt is recruiting. We have seen numerous articles come across the Ticker this past week reporting on both camps. Lot’s of college coaches were also on hand watching so some of these prospects will see offers coming their way soon. Coach Brian Angelichio and Coach Aubrey Hill from Pitt attended the camp in New Jersey.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Chris Hayden-Martin was picked as the MVP among defensive backs and got some nice props from Mike Farrell as the sleeper of the NJ camp.
Chris’ father tells us Pitt, UConn and Villanova have offered this week. I am not sure if they are in writing yet. South Carolina, Alabama, WVU, Syracuse, North Carolina, University of Miami, North Carolina, LSU, Minnesota and Notre Dame have been in contact with Chris this week. They have told him they will be at his high school within the next couple of weeks.
This weekend they will hold a Nike Camp at Purdue. They should draw some players from the state of Ohio.
There is also combine at the UPMC complex this weekend but the Pitt coaches are not allowed to attend. They must be doing testing.
Next weekend a Nike Training Camp will be held at State College on Saturday and one in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sunday. Both camps will have players Pitt is looking at. Rivals.com will report from both camps. The Pantherlair will be in State College. It is our understanding that the Pitt staff will be out in full force for the Nike Camp. They may send seven coaches which is the maximum number allowed to recruit off campus at one time by NCAA rules.
The last we looked 43 players from PA had scholarship offers. Over the past few years about 80 PA players go to Division 1 schools so we still have a way to go. After these Nike Camps we hope to put out the first draft of the Pantherlair’s PA Top 50.
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As a reminder if you are an annual subscriber you can sign up for free text alert messages. You can find details on the top of Between Fifth & Forbes message board.
Some thoughts on the NFL draft
Hopefully you got a chance to see the map Rivals.com put out showing which states produced NFL daft choices this year. Pennsylvania produced 3 of the 255 daft choices. That is a little over 1% of all of those drafted. The three that went to high school in the state of Pennsylvania were Aliquippa’s Darrelle Revis, Hopewell’s Paul Posluszny and Woodland Hills’ Steve Breaston.
All of us like to think the guys from our area are the best. It is after all the players we are most familiar with. I am sometimes guilty of this myself. Maybe these stats are some of the reason Pitt has not fared as well as we would like in recent years?
Some hoops thoughts
This week we had an article on forward Eloy Vargas. His guardian is also his AAU coach and Vargas speaks limited English so we spoke to his AAU coach. Some time ago Coach Gillion told us Vargas would make a decision after the AAU season (July-August). Now he is telling us not until November. If he holds to that thinking it puts the Pitt staff in a bind. Do you wait for Vargas to make up his mind or do you move in another direction so you are not left holding an empty bag?
The reports on the search for an assistant coach have produced a few interesting names. Coach Dan Hurly from St Benedict’s is one. This past season St Benedict’s was 24-1. They finished the season ranked No. 5 in the country. Their only loss was to No. 2 St Patrick’s. St. Benedict’s features five-star forward Sarmado Samuels (6’ 9”) who Rivals has ranked as the No. 7 basketball prospect in the country. Bring him along and it is a no-brainer. Even without Samuels Hurley is a big name in New Jersey basketball. He will help you to recruit in the New York-Philadelphia corridor. He is certainly an interesting candidate. Chris Peak will have an article today breaking down some of the leading candidates to fill Mike Rice’s position.
Last week Rivals’ recruiting analyst Justin Young reported Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor more than held his own playing against five-star guard Tyreke Evans at the King James Classic in Akron. In fact he outplayed him. Rivals.com has Evans ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the country so Pryor is playing well against the very best.
Nobody asked but here is my opinion, Pryor should wait until he completes the AAU basketball season. He should make sure he gets to the Elite quarterback camps. Once he has attended the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp in California this summer and once he completes the AAU basketball season he will have a better idea of where he stacks up in his own mind against the best in the country in both sports. All of this will be done before he heads to Jeannette’s fall football camp in August. He will be better prepared to decide on his primary sport.
Tony spoke to DeJuan Blair while he was at night school this week so he is still apparently still trying to make up a course or two. We will feature DeJuan Blair in the last of our Getting to Know you series today.
Football recruiting summary
This week we had a number of articles on D. J. Woods from Strongsville, Ohio. We have also had video. He has been told he will be given an offer in writing from Pitt when Coach Rhoads, Coach Wannstedt and Coach Hill visit his high school on Monday.
It remains to be seen if Ohio State will offer Woods. Last year the Buckeyes were only able to take 15 players. We have heard they may only be able to take something in the mid-teens again this year. Ohio State already has 8 commitments including one from a wide receiver. If Ohio State does not offer I like Pitt’s chances. Woods ran a 4.35 in the 40 at a combine earlier this year. He might be a great opportunity to increase team speed.
Recruiting analyst Jeremy Crabtree had a very good article on Harold Coates who is originally from Pittsburgh Oliver. He has academic issues in this city school but two years in a Catholic high school and some mentoring from the Youngstown Ursuline coach could put him on the right path. He certainly has a nifty video. Look for him to get an offer from Pitt sometime in the month of May.
We also introduced you to defensive end Pete Massaro this week. He is from Newtown Square in Delaware County and may not be a city guy. He is from the same area as Paul Dunn and the same high school as Bill Mass. This high school has not had a major college football recruit since Bill Mass so he does not figure to be highly recruited. Maybe Dunn and Maas can convince him Pitt is it.
It is our understanding that Pitt has offered linebacker Cameron Johnson from Gonzaga High School in Washington DC. So far he has been covered primarily as a basketball player. He is a member of the DC Assault AAU basketball program. We will start covering him as a linebacker prospect.
We will have an AMP video this morning on Brandon Beachum from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. Beachum has an offer from Pitt.
Quarterbacks Matt Carroll and Tino Sunseri are both likely to end up with Division 1 scholarships. Hopefully you saw the AMP video piece on Sunseri yesterday. Both of their fathers played for Pitt back in golden period. Neither has an offer from Pitt and there is a good chance they won’t get one. I bet you are hoping the Pitt coaches know something about recruiting situation the quarterback position.
And finally we read on the football board that Buddy Morris might be moving close to NTOP. This might help make this poster stronger and he might run faster but we hope he does not lose his sense of humor.
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.
It is camping season
This past week they held an Elite Skills Camp at the Cleveland Browns facility in Ohio and in Elite College Combine in New Jersey. Both sites had a few players that Pitt is recruiting. We have seen numerous articles come across the Ticker this past week reporting on both camps. Lot’s of college coaches were also on hand watching so some of these prospects will see offers coming their way soon. Coach Brian Angelichio and Coach Aubrey Hill from Pitt attended the camp in New Jersey.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Chris Hayden-Martin was picked as the MVP among defensive backs and got some nice props from Mike Farrell as the sleeper of the NJ camp.
Chris’ father tells us Pitt, UConn and Villanova have offered this week. I am not sure if they are in writing yet. South Carolina, Alabama, WVU, Syracuse, North Carolina, University of Miami, North Carolina, LSU, Minnesota and Notre Dame have been in contact with Chris this week. They have told him they will be at his high school within the next couple of weeks.
This weekend they will hold a Nike Camp at Purdue. They should draw some players from the state of Ohio.
There is also combine at the UPMC complex this weekend but the Pitt coaches are not allowed to attend. They must be doing testing.
Next weekend a Nike Training Camp will be held at State College on Saturday and one in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sunday. Both camps will have players Pitt is looking at. Rivals.com will report from both camps. The Pantherlair will be in State College. It is our understanding that the Pitt staff will be out in full force for the Nike Camp. They may send seven coaches which is the maximum number allowed to recruit off campus at one time by NCAA rules.
The last we looked 43 players from PA had scholarship offers. Over the past few years about 80 PA players go to Division 1 schools so we still have a way to go. After these Nike Camps we hope to put out the first draft of the Pantherlair’s PA Top 50.
Sign up for free Text messages
As a reminder if you are an annual subscriber you can sign up for free text alert messages. You can find details on the top of Between Fifth & Forbes message board.
Some thoughts on the NFL draft
Hopefully you got a chance to see the map Rivals.com put out showing which states produced NFL daft choices this year. Pennsylvania produced 3 of the 255 daft choices. That is a little over 1% of all of those drafted. The three that went to high school in the state of Pennsylvania were Aliquippa’s Darrelle Revis, Hopewell’s Paul Posluszny and Woodland Hills’ Steve Breaston.
All of us like to think the guys from our area are the best. It is after all the players we are most familiar with. I am sometimes guilty of this myself. Maybe these stats are some of the reason Pitt has not fared as well as we would like in recent years?
Some hoops thoughts
This week we had an article on forward Eloy Vargas. His guardian is also his AAU coach and Vargas speaks limited English so we spoke to his AAU coach. Some time ago Coach Gillion told us Vargas would make a decision after the AAU season (July-August). Now he is telling us not until November. If he holds to that thinking it puts the Pitt staff in a bind. Do you wait for Vargas to make up his mind or do you move in another direction so you are not left holding an empty bag?
The reports on the search for an assistant coach have produced a few interesting names. Coach Dan Hurly from St Benedict’s is one. This past season St Benedict’s was 24-1. They finished the season ranked No. 5 in the country. Their only loss was to No. 2 St Patrick’s. St. Benedict’s features five-star forward Sarmado Samuels (6’ 9”) who Rivals has ranked as the No. 7 basketball prospect in the country. Bring him along and it is a no-brainer. Even without Samuels Hurley is a big name in New Jersey basketball. He will help you to recruit in the New York-Philadelphia corridor. He is certainly an interesting candidate. Chris Peak will have an article today breaking down some of the leading candidates to fill Mike Rice’s position.
Last week Rivals’ recruiting analyst Justin Young reported Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor more than held his own playing against five-star guard Tyreke Evans at the King James Classic in Akron. In fact he outplayed him. Rivals.com has Evans ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the country so Pryor is playing well against the very best.
Nobody asked but here is my opinion, Pryor should wait until he completes the AAU basketball season. He should make sure he gets to the Elite quarterback camps. Once he has attended the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp in California this summer and once he completes the AAU basketball season he will have a better idea of where he stacks up in his own mind against the best in the country in both sports. All of this will be done before he heads to Jeannette’s fall football camp in August. He will be better prepared to decide on his primary sport.
Tony spoke to DeJuan Blair while he was at night school this week so he is still apparently still trying to make up a course or two. We will feature DeJuan Blair in the last of our Getting to Know you series today.
Football recruiting summary
This week we had a number of articles on D. J. Woods from Strongsville, Ohio. We have also had video. He has been told he will be given an offer in writing from Pitt when Coach Rhoads, Coach Wannstedt and Coach Hill visit his high school on Monday.
It remains to be seen if Ohio State will offer Woods. Last year the Buckeyes were only able to take 15 players. We have heard they may only be able to take something in the mid-teens again this year. Ohio State already has 8 commitments including one from a wide receiver. If Ohio State does not offer I like Pitt’s chances. Woods ran a 4.35 in the 40 at a combine earlier this year. He might be a great opportunity to increase team speed.
Recruiting analyst Jeremy Crabtree had a very good article on Harold Coates who is originally from Pittsburgh Oliver. He has academic issues in this city school but two years in a Catholic high school and some mentoring from the Youngstown Ursuline coach could put him on the right path. He certainly has a nifty video. Look for him to get an offer from Pitt sometime in the month of May.
We also introduced you to defensive end Pete Massaro this week. He is from Newtown Square in Delaware County and may not be a city guy. He is from the same area as Paul Dunn and the same high school as Bill Mass. This high school has not had a major college football recruit since Bill Mass so he does not figure to be highly recruited. Maybe Dunn and Maas can convince him Pitt is it.
It is our understanding that Pitt has offered linebacker Cameron Johnson from Gonzaga High School in Washington DC. So far he has been covered primarily as a basketball player. He is a member of the DC Assault AAU basketball program. We will start covering him as a linebacker prospect.
We will have an AMP video this morning on Brandon Beachum from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. Beachum has an offer from Pitt.
Quarterbacks Matt Carroll and Tino Sunseri are both likely to end up with Division 1 scholarships. Hopefully you saw the AMP video piece on Sunseri yesterday. Both of their fathers played for Pitt back in golden period. Neither has an offer from Pitt and there is a good chance they won’t get one. I bet you are hoping the Pitt coaches know something about recruiting situation the quarterback position.
And finally we read on the football board that Buddy Morris might be moving close to NTOP. This might help make this poster stronger and he might run faster but we hope he does not lose his sense of humor.
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.
