Considered something of a surprise in the midst of training camp, but hey.

Pitt received a verbal commitment from St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) defensive end Deonte Gibson tonight.

Gibson (6’3”, 225 pounds) chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from West Virginia, Stanford, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Colorado, Louisville and Kansas.

I expect that the Plain Dealer will have something at some point, but nothing at the moment. Gibson is a solid 3-star recruit. Rivals.com lists him at #36 in their top-50 Ohio recruits.

ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. also has him in the solid 3-star range (Insider subs.) that will likely take a redshirt in Pitt’s program.

He plays defensive end and while there could be a possibility that he moves to linebacker in college we feel he will most likely stay at end at the next level. He displays the frame to be able to add more bulk once he gets into college weight program. He can help himself at times by crowding the ball more, but displays for the most part a good get-off.