Well Shayne Hale makes it official that he will be verballing tomorrow.
Asked at the U.S. Army awards banquet where he will attend college, Hale said, “Pitt.”
“I went on official visits, and it all just came down to what is best for me. At one time, it was Ohio State. Another time it was Pitt. Once I narrowed it down, it’s Pitt.”
Hale said part of the reason he chose Pitt over Ohio State is that the Panthers wanted him to play primarily linebacker and Ohio State was recruiting him as a defensive end/linebacker. He said he hadn’t called Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt before the banquet, but he planned to do so last night.
The other verbal comes from a former verbal.
On Friday, Johnstown Bishop McCort tight end Mike Cruz, who committed to Pitt on April 1 but reneged three weeks later, made another pledge to the Panthers. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder picked Pitt over scholarship offers from Clemson, Florida State, Illinois and West Virginia.
“I opened my decision up to get a little more comfortable with recruiting,” Cruz said. “After I saw other schools, I knew Pitt was definitely the place for me.
Pitt never stopped recruiting and communicating with Cruz. Greg Gattuso was responsible for Cruz’s recruitment.
Apparently the story is that his mother needed convincing.
“Mike has always really wanted to go to Pitt,†said Bishop McCort head coach Ken Salem. “It took some convincing with his mother, but she did become comfortable with the idea of Mike going to school in an urban environment.â€
For the record, his mom was with him in Pittsburgh when he decided to verbal to the coaches last spring.
Cruz attended Pitt’s Blue Chip Day Saturday. His parents, James and Martha Bernard, came to Pitt yesterday and were given a personal tour of the campus and athletic facilities.
“My mom’s the world to me,” Cruz said. “Having her there while I committed was the greatest thing. I just wanted her to be here for it.
“It was her first time to Pittsburgh. It was an amazing experience.”
Cruz of course made a very foot-in-mouth decommit from Pitt last spring. This after his loving commit earlier that month. Amazing what a difference nearly a year makes. When he verbaled it was all about how deep Pitt was at TE and that it was easy to see him moving to defense. Now, TE is looking mighty thin.
Nice catch by Jonathan Baldwin for a TD!
I know…just an observation I’ve made after watching this game over the last couple of years and reading some of the stories about the egos that some of these kids have when it comes to this kind of stuff.
Still, it’s a big day for these kids and I can’t take it away from them. I can’t say I wouldn’t try and find a creative way to do it if I was in the same position as well.
Amazing how they play this game every year but this is the first time we get to see someone grab that PITT hat and put it on while there’s an OSU hat sitting right next to it. Wanny is on the right track — now let’s use em!!
:’)
I have heartburn with kids going through big productions when picking a school, but I guess when its arranged as part of the whole Army AA game production I can live with it. But when a recruit calls a press conference and does it I just think its ridiculous. I suppose Andrew Johnson’s pink suit and that O Lineman from Maryland’s screwing the University of Maryland over in public really bothered me. Funny how Johnson never had a press conference celebrating his failure at Miami and announcing his transfer (with his tail between his legs) to Akron.
Sometimes it’s not the kids, its the parents or lack of.
