The football team may have just landed their biggest recruit of the year with RB Chris James. James announced his commitment via twitter a few minutes ago and he’s exactly what this team is missing: a game breaking RB. James is a 3 star back on Rivals, 247, ESPN, and a 4 star on Scout. Here are some highlights from hudl. James chose Pitt over offers from a long list including Tennessee, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, and Michigan State.

James has Day 1 starter type p0tential. The 5’10” 207 pound from Notre Dame Prep in Niles, Illinois has strength, agility, and speed. There are many recruiting gurus who favored James over pre-injury Shai McKenzie, which should tell you something about his potential. I hate to sound like I’m gushing, but seriously, he is a big time RB that the coaches have very high hopes for.

James was pretty much down to Pitt and Wisconsin and when Wisconsin received a verbal from 3* Caleb Kinlaw recently, James’ decision was easy. Let’s hope the momentum from the Notre Dame win carries over to Saturday and the rest of the season on the field and with recruiting. This class could finish very strong with additions like Jamil Kamara, Alex Bookser, Dravon Henry, and Montae Nicholson.

A 7-5 finish, good bowl game, and a strong close to the recruiting class will bring optimism to everyone but PittCritic.