Signing day is over, though, players can still sign up until April 1. So Tamarcus Porter, who apparently hasn’t signed with anyone at this point, could still be part of Pitt’s class. Got to admit, I’m not going to worry much about it at this point. Sure I’d like him to sign with Pitt, but I suspect I’ll be more pissed about OL Eric Rodemoyer signing with WVU in a couple years than if Porter, a Safety, goes to Wake Forest. Losing any O-Lineman seems worse than a Safety right now.
Should also point out that Bishop-McDevitt RB LeSean McCoy surprised everyone by choosing Miami. Or rather, he will choose Miami. He has a year of prep school ahead of him. You never know. Next year, he could sign with Pitt…
Now how did the Pitt recruiting class do compared to other schools. Ultimately, Pitt fell from the Top-10. There is quite a bit of variance.
Rivals.com placed Pitt all the way down at #21.
Scout.com had the highest ranking for Pitt at #11.
ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. struck the dead middle and had Pitt at #16 (Insider Subs.).
I think ESPN’s ranking would have been higher, but they actually had no evaluations (and to their credit were honest enough to admit it) on 4 of Pitt’s recruits: Fields, Hughes, Mathews and Romeus.
I’m also thinking ESPN needs to rethink it’s rankings system:
Click for the enlarged view.
Princeton and William & Mary make the list of top-25??
Scout.com recruiting expert, Jamie Newberg broke down the top-25 recruiting classes for SI.com, and said this about Pitt:
HEAD OF THE CLASS:
TE Nate Byham (1), DT John Malecki (19)
NEWBERG’S ANALYSIS: In his first full year of recruiting, coach Dave Wannstedt & Co. landed a host of Hot 100 prospects: Byham, the nation’s top tight end; running back Kevin Collier; wide receiver Dorin Dickerson and offensive lineman Joe Thomas. Collier could emerge as a franchise back. The Panthers scored big on the D-line, especially at tackle with Jason Pinkston and Malecki. Pitt went down to Florida and found some talent for its secondary, with safety Tamarcus Porter and cornerback Ricky Gary, who are teammates from Pahokee. Landing safety Elijah Fields was a great way to close out this class.
BIG FISH THAT GOT AWAY: CB Darrin Walls (Notre Dame)
I guess they still think Porter will sign with Pitt.
Pitt easily had the best recruiting classes of all the Big East schools. Louisville was #2 in all the rankings. USF, UConn and Cinci were #6-8 in all rankings. The disagreements were over #3-5.
Scout.com and ESPN.com both had Syracuse take in the #3 class. Rivals.com went with Rutgers. BE Champs WVU managed #4 at best.
Here’s what Talman at Rivals.com had to say about Pitt’s class.
Starting out hot, head coach Dave Wannstedt had the pieces coming together early in the process towards one of the top classes in the country. With another talented year in Pennsylvania, the Panthers dominated in-state and had fans looking past a rough 2005 season.
Biggest recruit: Dorin Dickerson, rated as the No. 5 player in the state of Pennsylvania, is truly a phenomenal athlete who can provide an early boost for the Panthers in a number of different spots.
Sleeper: A rising star in the Sunshine State, three-star athlete Tamarcus Porter brings skills at both receiver and corner. His versatility will go a long ways at Pittsburgh.
Maybe I should rethink my opinion on Porter.
