As posted late yesterday, Myles Caregein out of Keystone Oaks High, gave his verbal to Pitt.
Myles Caragein has played virtually every skill position on a football field, but his prowess on a wrestling mat had college coaches dreaming of the Keystone Oaks star playing defensive tackle.
The sport has taught Caragein an understanding of leverage, and he used his considerable talent to draw 30 scholarship offers from schools in the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences.
The 6-foot-3, 270-pound Caragein ended his recruitment Thursday by making a verbal commitment to Pitt, choosing the Panthers over North Carolina, N.C. State, Northwestern and Purdue. Clemson, Iowa, Maryland and Stanford were among his offers.
“I’ve been thinking about it the last couple weeks, and it just came to me that I wanted to go to Pitt,” said Caragein, who has a 3.7 grade-point average and was recruited by Greg Gattuso. “The hometown atmosphere, good academics and, more importantly, the coaching staff – I fell in love with them.”
Caragein plays DE at Keystone, but will move to DT at Pitt.
“It became very clear to me that coach Wannstedt was the coach I trusted the most,” said Caragein, who stands 6 feet 1 and weighs 265 pounds. “Once I established that, I figured it was time to end the recruiting process and start focusing on Keystone Oaks getting a WPIAL championship.”
Caragein, who is rated the 15th-best prospect in Pennsylvania by Rivals.com and the 11th best by Scout.com, had offers from a number of schools, but the ones he considered most were from Iowa, Purdue, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Stanford and Northwestern. He carries a 3.8 GPA and said academics were a big part of his decision.
Both consider Caragein a 3-star prospect. Additionally Chris Dokish for PSR has Caragein as the 12th best prospect in the state.
The day before, OT John Fieger committed, and PSR has him as 33d best in the state. Fieger likes the idea of being part of something with the class that is coming in for 2007.
Fieger is projected to play left tackle, where he has been a two-year starter for Upper Perkiomen, a District 1-AAA school in Pennsburg. Fieger spent time at Pitt’s skills camp with two Panthers recruits, Keystone Oaks offensive guard Chris Jacobson and Manheim Township quarterback Pat Bostick.
“Knowing you’re going to have the best quarterback in the state going to the same school, I’d like to block for him and help him win championships,” Fieger said. “Pitt is going to be on the rise. I’d like to be a part of the program and help build it.”
Amazingly, and somewhat rare to read, he seems patient about when he gets out there.
“There really was nothing not to love about the city, the campus and the coaching staff,” said Fieger, who is the first player from Upper Perkiomen to receive a Division I scholarship since 1968. “I really fit in well there. I know they are trying to rebuild the offensive line and hopefully I can be a big part of that.”
Fieger benches 280 pounds 18 times and squats 475. He had offers from Akron and Temple and also was attracting interest from Virginia and Connecticut.
Fieger’s commitment means the Panthers are halfway to finding four offensive linemen for the class of ’07.
“I think early playing time wasn’t a big factor — I’d probably rather redshirt because I think that’s what is best for a player at my position,” Fieger said.
Just nice to see the lines starting to fill.
