One (and everyone has their personal favorite) of the reasons for angst over Head Coach Paul Chryst’s recruiting strategy has been the slow start to recruiting. Early verbals were few and far between. While other schools were pulling those early commits, Pitt was waiting. Appearing to get left in the dust.
Not this year. It’s not yet March, but Pitt has 3 verbals for the 2015 class. Offensive lineman Alex Paulina kicked things off in January. They added a TE at the end of January and now a linebacker.
The theme with them all is that they are Western Pennsylvania recruits. Three of the top-ten recruits in Westertn PA based on one ranking. If you care to make overarching declarations then it could be seen that the coaching stability and Coach Chryst’s approach to recruiting is starting to bear earlier fruit. At least locally as the players and coaches in the area have come to know and be familiar with him.
We know Chryst isn’t going to come out and try and glitz, glam and dazzle recruits. He’s not going to push. He is going to be himself and let the players and their families make the decision. At this point, though, he has been establishing real relations with the local coaches and players that will be seniors this fall. Now they are much more comfortable with what he is doing and there seems to be a lot more desire to play for him and Pitt.
At least at a local level.
The newest verbal is Kevin Givens out of Altoona.
Altoona coach John Franco said Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan and Michigan State also have shown interest, but he added the Nittany Lions didn’t want to offer a scholarship until Givens met coach James Franklin. His scheduled visit to Penn State was postponed last weekend by inclement weather.
Givens, rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, had offers from Pitt, Boston College, Temple and UMass.
“The (Pitt) coaching staff has been great to him,” Franco said. “He related to them very well.”
Franco labeled Givens, 16, as a “project.”
“He doesn’t get it yet, but when he gets it, look out,” he said. “He has a great frame (6-foot-3, 235 pounds) and can easily put on 30 pounds. He is a great worker in the weight room.”
Givens can play defensive end or outside linebacker, Franco said.
Givens envisions himself at outside linebacker in Pitt’s defense.
“They use their linebackers rushing from the outside,” Givens said, “and that’s where I feel I play best. They showed me schemes and film, and I felt I’d fit in perfectly.”
…
“I just need to learn technique to become a complete overall player,” Givens said. “I feel all of my coaches, recent and past, have helped develop me into the player I am.“They [the Pitt coaches] told me just to keep on working hard. They can help get me where I want to go. The sky’s the limit for me.”
The Panther coaches aren’t the only ones that feel that way. Western Pennsylvania talent evaluator and seven-on-seven travel team organizer Ayo Fapohunda felt Givens was being very under-recruited and mentioned him in the same breath with former Penn State star LaVar Arrington.
“After watching his highlight tape from his junior year, not only are we ready to crown him top LB in the state, but also believe he may be one of the most intriguing prospects in the country,” Fapohunda wrote in his Preps.com blog a month ago. “With offers only from Pitt and Temple, don’t be surprised to start seeing Givens receiving some major D1 attention from the likes of Ohio State, Alabama, and of course nearby Penn State once staffs refocus on class of 2015. With the size, speed, and strength that all coaches are looking for, Givens has to be one of the better looking linebacker prospects we’ve seen in this area in years.”
At this point Givens is a consensus 3-star recruit. If he is as promising as indicated, there will be other schools coming at him. It is nice, though, for this staff to land a very promising player on the defensive side so early.
The other early verbal was tight end Nick Bowers from Kittanning.
He was selected as the Leader Times Player of the Year in 2013, shortly after receiving his first college scholarship offer from Pitt in December when he visited during one of the Panthers’ bowl game practices.
Kittanning coach Frank Fabian said he believes Bowers will remain committed to Pitt throughout his senior season.
“He’s a quiet kid. He’s never going to be the type to go on TV with a bunch of hats in front of him when he makes his decision,” Fabian said. “I think it’s important for him to stay close to home and play in front (of his family). Plus, the way coach (Paul) Chryst uses his tight ends (fits Bowers). You put all those pieces together and it seems like a no-brainer to him.”
Fabian said Bowers played last season at 220 pounds and added 15 during off-season workouts.
“He’s looking like a different kid. He’s always worked hard, but this is the first year he’s really hit the weight room,” Fabian said.
During the past season, Bowers was named Class AA Allegheny Conference offensive player of the year and first-team all-conference as a wide receiver and inside linebacker. Kittanning (9-1) won its first conference championship since 1976.
His star rating is 3-star from a couple sites and unrated/unevaluated at this time from a couple others. Rivals.com does list him as the #12 TE nationally (and the best in Pennsylvania).
In the signing day presser, Coach Chryst conceded that the QB situation was a “little light” in terms of depth. At the same time he denied that there was any goal of pursuing someone from the JUCO ranks or pursue a graduate transfer.
That seemed a bit on the open-ended side. Especially since the question was centered around bringing someone in by spring practices. No plan in place, but if it so happened that a graduate transfer QB wanted to look, well there’s no way he would be at Pitt in the spring practices.
Sure enough, a week after signing day, former USC QB Max Wittek had Pitt on his list of schools to check. That said, Texas looks like the school to beat for his services.
They talk about hiring athletes before other qualified candidates. They talk about Yale’s status being diminished by lack of sports success – both in football/basketball as well as other non-revenue sports.
Athletics and their alumni generate huge dollars for the University endowment. It may not be gate revenue but it actually means more in the long run. Total giving to Yale runs almost half a billion dollars a year.
My only point here is that the conversation is the same.
When I review a list of resume’s, I do look for Pitt graduates and than Duquesne when the backgrounds and transferable skill sets are similar. Institution is not the end all. When calling on customers, I definitely look at their respective backgrounds to find commonality. It is easier to call on someone from Pitt and Duquesne than from PSU. That is what opens doors, the relationships. Taking it a step further a discussion between managers that come from a successful collegiate sports team, leads to another link in the relationship. So yes, institution attendance and sport success is important. I hang with several Yale and Harvard grads. When they interact, the Yalee’s stick together and they definitely talk sports, typically, football, lacrosse, rowing and basketball. They are equally yolked with great sports again, the common discussion point. They don’t say we are number one and you are number 4 academically because they know the rankings are manipulated. Hell, one of the programs is eliminating testing in classes because it just doesn’t matter. Test taking is manipulated just as much due to peer pressure on professors. The professors get ranked by their students so grade inflation than leads to higher professor rankings which leads to higher graduation rates, which leads to higher academic rankings…. It’s a farce and the masses continue to believe the propaganda. That is why your donations should go to athletics (where you can actually see an improvement in performance), versus to the institution that has been manipulating you for years under the guise of top tier academia. I love Pitt and the education, but these institutions have changed from those of higher learning to corporatization and getting the money!
As noted in this blog, we have a great deal to be proud of as Pitt grads. Would not invalidate anyone’s reason for pride in their school. Sports are fun but in my book nothing comes close to that little vaccine that Doc Salk whipped up and bravely first tested on himself! The number of deaths and maimed he and his team saved from polio world-wide is mind boggling! Hail to Pitt! UPone
Hail to Pitt! Beat the Seminoles!
At home, and after a weeks rest, losing is not an option.
Hopefully Jamie worked on things that needed work and Patterson and Zanna healed up.
Pitt baseball down 7-2 in 7th to Fordham.
Hail to Pitt!
While successful football etc. may raise the awareness of schools with kids…. children… immature humans of young age.
The fact is, pure and simple:
For the quality, high SAT score students, with real parents who are successful and educated, that academically aspiring universities want…
…. you know, the kind of student that goes on to a great career and thus enhances the reputation of his/her university… thereby raising the value of the degree…
that student and their parents don’t give a S$%^ about the football program.
I mean get real.
Never in the history of this country, at all of the workshops for parents, private counseling ,etc. for colleges… has there ever been a discussion about football and how to choose your college.
Just like the “top 10 party schools” helps a university, so does sports… ie. for immature students looking for what is cool.
– It’s average SAT scores, GPA etc, out of state students, statistics that drives up school rankings.
– Its quality of the professors/research/grant dollars.
– It’s how well the graduate are view by their employer surveys.
Pitt continues to improve its prestige, and the value of our degree, by continually raising these statistics.
… 25% of interview is about football. Wow. If that is an engineering firm you work for tell me what bridges you build so I can stay away from them…
… I know what the water cooler talk is at your company… “yeah man, if I didn’t get injured in high school I would have made the NFL.”
As for Pitt degree not well respected in SE… No S$%^… really? Just like anyone who comes to Pittsburgh with a SEC degree… etc. runs into the same thing.
Man I never would have thought that in Alabama they have an affinity for Alabama and Auburn Degrees… I mean… here in PA we don’t talk about Pitt, PSU and Temple…????
Pitt is now a highly ranked university. Pitt Main campus is surprisingly hard to get on to. A Pitt degree is a piece of real estate with increasing equity and value.
I have read some really F$%^’d up comments hear since yesterday.
Chas step up with some sports posts man.
Seriously.
Anyway, where is the game day thread?
your skepticism of rankings is not unfounded nor your statement about college and marketing; yet they are tangential to the argument by some here that football success = value of degree.
I work around the world guys. Seriously, the inferiority complex of Pitt degree is misplaced. Pitt is a top 100 institution in world by all ranking systems. It is well respected in most professions and by other academic institutions. And it is constantly getting better.
LMFAO…. Ok buddy. You clearly know who I am and what I do.
You write as if your horizon never rose above the sports locker room so interesting you talk about limited horizons.
I have been in many, many places around the world and choose to come back and live in Pgh.
Too many “Pitt fans” here write as if you have not been back to Pittsburgh in the last few years either.
@ upitt, You have an inferiority complex about your university that I simply do not share.
H2P
While NCAA Football and Basketball are immensely profitable and popular, the vast majority could care less. Albeit, this may not be true in the South, hence our friend’s from Texas passion on the subject.
I doubt any consideration is given during the Rhode’s scholarship review process, or admittance to Law or Medical School, although it might be taken into consideration in Dixie.
I guess it is difficult living in SEC land where talking about football is a lot like comparing the size of your….
I think Pitt Dad is right, the discussion is amusing.
As a parent member of PART I used to do college fairs and college days for Pitt at High Schools in the area. Kids were aware of Pitt sports but both parents and students wanted to know about the academics and about financial aid – Pitt has been very generous to NY area students with academic scholarships. They like the idea that Pitt is at the higher levels of D1 sports but that’s not, in general, what makes them want to get in.
All -Many think that George Washington University is highly respected academically right? They were recently de-listed by USNews for manipulating data that effected their ranking. I am telling you they are not alone and every year, several schools get busted. Us lawyers bust them when a student gets out and can’t find a job and sues based on lack of employment opportunities when the stats indicated 98% employed 6 months post graduation. Dig deep and you find stats are manipulated to get students on campus. These statistics are not auditable, by anyone. This should put an end to how great any institution is when relying on ranking.
Pitt is great because of the people that went to Pitt and have become success stories. Get our heads out of the sand and take rankings for what they are….debate materials but other than that….nada! I love the passion we have for protecting whatever the ranking is, but let’s be realistic.
That is why sport is so important. There is a ranking at the end of a sports season based on what you did on the field for a season. You aren’t supposed to manipulate results. Those that do should receive sanctions from the ncaa for whatever that institution is worth.
Chas…get some football content or we are going to bust. Hope you are well! Let’s Go Pitt! Big wine tonight.
All -Many think that George Washington University is highly respected academically right? They were recently de-listed by USNews for manipulating data that effected their ranking. I am telling you they are not alone and every year, several schools get busted. Us lawyers bust them when a student gets out and can’t find a job and sues based on lack of employment opportunities when the stats indicated 98% employed 6 months post graduation. Dig deep and you find stats are manipulated to get students on campus. These statistics are not auditable, by anyone. This should put an end to how great any institution is when relying on ranking.
Pitt is great because of the people that went to Pitt and have become success stories. Get our heads out of the sand and take rankings for what they are….debate materials but other than that….nada! I love the passion we have for protecting whatever the ranking is, but let’s be realistic.
That is why sport is so important. There is a ranking at the end of a sports season based on what you did on the field for a season. You aren’t supposed to manipulate results. Those that do should receive sanctions from the ncaa for whatever that institution is worth.
Chas…get some football content or we are going to bust. Hope you are well! Let’s Go Pitt! Big wine tonight.
Script – I was incorrect on you being a Yinzer and not traveling or getting out of burg my apologies.
And chill out. Chas is enjoying this bitch fest while sipping on some fine bourbon.
+++++++++++++
Marietta – we will be building the falcons stadium so monthly visits there if you want to walk the job and talk about our pitt experiences.
Comment by Upittbaseball 02.23.14 @ 10:39 am
I hear Duffdaddy and don’t disagree necessarily.
bottom line, I do think this thread shows an insecurity about Pitt and it’s place in the world.
Pitt has been an institution on the move up for many years. when we all went there (I take it most of us have gray hair of some sort) Pitt was behind Ped State and was a mid-ranked school overall (although has always had some highly ranked programs).
Today Pitt is even, if not slightly ahead, of PSU from any measurable perspective. Pitt is top tier (not elite).
The quality of student on Pitt campus is top notch and getting into the ACC had a lot to do about our academic strength.
It’s like the new rich guy having dinner with the blue bloods. Nordy has really done us well and the new Chancellor looks good.
Sport will never be what defines Pitt (unlike the SEC and SE so sorry for you folks living in that world because it will be tough around the water cooler).
And come back to the ‘burgh in the summer if you have not been lately. Place is amazing these days.
H2P…
….and now tonight the Basketball team starts its late season push and positive momentum heading into the tournament!!
did savage throw good to day how was his foot work
was he on target i missed it info please.
Since when was Pitt so GREAT… outside of the OLD, OLD DAYS and the time span running between Dorsett and Marino years?
Without naming names, those who “PINE” for the Days of Yore are fantasizing about a PITT FOOTBALL POWERHOUSE that NEVER EXISTED.
Even in the Marino Years, with one of the BEST QUARTERBACKS and TEAMS you could hope for… they never got the job done. The DISAPPOINTMENT matches the DESPAIR of the 80s and 90s.
Chryst has begun piecing together a system that he envisions will position Pitt as a PERENNIAL Top 25 Program that makes a run at Top 10 every four years or so.
If it happens, it’ll be the first time.
Wbb, give it up! You made your points and I totally disagree. (Notice no personal insults.)
TX Panther, besides speaking the truth, you also write well; good points – clearly stated.
Pitt Dad, looks like you did recruiting for Pitt out on the Island. Good for you and the University. In my part of NJ, the kids considering Pitt are the ones intersted in the writing program or offered scholarships. The vast majority do not consider Pitt at all. The average kid around here even has Rutgers low on their list (our State U); which is a 50’s school. That’s about where Pitt fits right now, around 58 nationally.
I realize ratings are all over the place and really don’t mean much unless your school is rated in the top 10!
I went to Pitt when it was private. The money came for the Mellons and the other main Pittsburgh industrialist(all graduates). The University was rated in the 40’s. The medical school was rated in the top ten (remember Salk). Litchfield promised to have Pitt an Ivy league school in ten years. There were beautiful drawings of new campus additions in Panther Howl. Our football team was #3 in the nation. We played only other nationally known teams; UCLA, Wash, ND, Miami, PSU, Cal, Syracuse and etc. every year.
Then the school went belly up!
We play basketball now.
Got to check my 23 and me results
I think we were a better academic school back then.
No need to apologize.
I think “OLD, OLD DAYS” pretty much covers the Sutherland years 1924 – 1939.
Those teams posted some good records. Although at the time it was mainly SPOILED RICH KIDS who got the chance to go to college. The TOUGH BLUE-COLORED GUYS would come along later.
But as good as they were, the Sutherland Teams were BEATABLE or at least TIE-ABLE.
Sutherland NEVER had a PERFECT SEASON at PITT. 9-0-1 was his Best. There was the ONE ROSE BOWL Win, but also THREE ROSE BOWL Losses.
Not quite on par with with Woody Hayes and Ohio State. But I am open minded.
The big names are always going to get their share. Many others fighting for the rest.