I’m not sure if it is his offer sheet, where he is from, or the fact that he is the third verbal in five days, that gives the recruiting a sense of momentum. Either way, there seems to be a lot of excitement from Pitt fans that Chase Pine is the sixth verbal for Pat Narduzzi and the staff.
Pine was on Pitt’s campus two weeks ago for a prospect camp. That experience gave him the opportunity to work with linebackers coach Rob Harley, and Pine cited Harley as another big factor in his decision.
“It’s the way that he coaches; he showed me video of how he coaches and when I went there, it was just like that: he’s an energetic coach and that’s what I like,” Pine said. “I was talking to Coach Harley about their defense, and it’s a defense where you really can’t do anything against it. And the fact that they’re getting good players for defense is going to make it good.”
Pine picked Pitt over a considerable offer sheet that included scholarships from Buffalo, Cal, Charlotte, East Carolina, Georgia, JMU, Marshall, North Carolina, N.C. State, Old Dominion, Syracuse, Toledo, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia.
He said that his top three schools prior to committing were Pitt, Georgia and West Virginia, but he felt like he fit into the Panthers’ defense best.
“They want me to be an outside linebacker who plays against the run and rushes the passer and can drop into coverage,” Pine said. “And there should be a good chance for early playing time, which was important to me.”
A third of the ACC along with programs from the Pac-12, SEC and Big 12 after him.
That’s a quality list of suitors. Pine is considered a 3-star recruit by all the recruiting sites except ESPN.com which hasn’t evaluated him yet.
Per the Panther-Lair.com article, Pine was going to wait until the school year to decide but had it pointed out that most of his discussion of possible destinations centered around Pitt. Plus, he just decided that the process was starting to bug him.
”The recruiting process was starting get very stressful and I felt like it was time to make my decision,” said the 6-foot-3, 218-pound Pine.
Pine is from Williamsburg, Virginia and chose Pitt over both the Hokies and Cavs — even if they weren’t in his top line of school choices. He was a player the Pitt coaches wanted.
The competition for Pine was intense.
“Pitt did the best job recruiting him,” said Andy Linn, Pine’s coach at Lafayette High School. “Coach (Rob) Harley (linebacker coach) did a phenomenal job. He built a relationship with Chase from the get-go. He was honest with him. I think that was one of the biggest things.”
If there is any question as to Pine’s athleticism, he is also his team’s starting quarterback. As a linebacker, it is very easy to envision him as being a vital part of the defense against spread and option teams. His ability to drop into coverage or come up to stop a ball carrier offers enticing versatility that probably factored into the numerous offers.
One that is apparent already is VT. For no good reason, Pitt plays the Hokies tuff and even though Pitt fans don’t feel it yet, on the flip side, the Hokie fans are learning to Hate the Panthers because they are getting owned by Pitt for no apparent reason.
Just kick butt in our new conference and watch the rivalries develop. It will take time but that’s where our future lies. Play and BEAT the likes of Florida State for the ACC Championship for a couple years and when you review the history between these two schools, it makes for perfect current rivalry situation. We just have to start winning and become relevant again. Bye bye to wvu, hello ACC, that’s our brave new world!