Happy July 4.

Sorry about not posting yesterday. Yesterday was a funeral, and the travel involved had me on the road by 6 am and I didn’t get back until 8 pm. With the AC not working properly on the return trip, it was more than a little draining. Needless to say, thinking coherently — forget trying to type — wasn’t much of an option.

Not that I missed too much. There weren’t any news or new commits the last couple days. What we do have are the free recruiting reports from Scout.com.

It appears that Pitt is really focusing on the running backs right now. Three different running back reports over the previous couple days. Xavier Stinson out of Florida:

“I have a lot of scholarship offers, but three schools seem to stand out: Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Auburn,” stated bruising running back Xavier Stinson (5-foot-9 inches, 215 pounds) from Chaminade-Madonna High School in Hollywood, FL.
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“I want to visit Pitt, Auburn and Tennessee and see what their campuses are like. Playing time is going to be important to me as well. The Panthers are putting together a power running game. I like that a lot because it fits me style. I like to pound the ball. I’m a physical runner.”

“It looks like the Panthers offer me the most playing time. I want to go to college and become the feature back. It looks like that could happen in Pittsburgh.”

The Panthers have offered three of Stinson’s teammates: Emeka Nwankwo (6-foot-4 inches, 290 pounds), cornerback Akeem Auguste (5-foot-11 inches, 175 pounds) and safety Eain Smith (6-foot-1 inches, 180 pounds).

Then there is another Florida RB, Zacchaeus Brown.

I have scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Ohio University, Georgia Tech and Troy State,” stated bruising running back Zacchaeus Brown (5-foot-11 inches, 200 pounds) from Royal Palm High School in Royal Palm Beach, FL.

“Three schools standout to me: Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Panthers are still my favorite school. I like their offense and I think I would fit into their scheme. Coach (Dave) Wannstedt would be great to play for.”
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“Wisconsin and Minnesota sound interesting and they really want me to visit. I want to be thorough during the recruiting process so I owe them a visit. I should take a look at them and compare them to Pittsburgh. They have been recruiting me pretty hard.”

Zacchaeus is still in contact with the Panthers’ class of 2006 member Tamarcus Porter. He recently spoke with “TJ” and he had great things to say about Pittsburgh. “He’s up there now and loving it. I think TJ is going to make a big impact with them,” said Brown. “It would be great to play with him and play together on the same offense.”

Finally, another New York RB is in the mix.

The Panthers hosted 6-foot-3 inch, 210 pound Doug Hogue from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, NY over the weekend. The PantherDigest.com spoke with his head coach Tom Drago about his recent visit.

“We visited Pittsburgh on Saturday and Doug absolutely loved it,” state Drago. “Doug has scholarship offers from Pitt, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Syracuse. Wisconsin seems close to offering as well. I received calls from Florida State and Miami (FL) today. It’s rare to have the Florida schools calling up here.”

“Doug would like to stay along with east cost. His clear top three right now would be Pittsburgh, Penn State and Syracuse.”

Hogue rushed for 1,463 yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a junior. He earned All-Section and All-League honors. Doug is capable of running a 4.4 forty-yard dash.

“Doug was in absolute awe when he met Coach (Dave) Wannstedt. He had a grin from ear to ear. Coach Wannstedt was in the middle of talking with us and he received a call from a big time offensive lineman (Dan Matha). You could tell he was excited when he took the call. Coach Wannstedt looked at Doug and said “I just landed an offensive lineman to block for you.”

“Coach Walker spent time talking with Doug and showing us Pitt’s offensive scheme. Their offense is exactly like the one we run and Doug seems like a natural fit there. He’s a very powerful player. He’s a powerful north-south runner that happens to be very quick laterally. Doug is unique. You don’t find many with his size and speed. He has a side step that would remind you of Marshal Faulk.”

Stinson and Hogue are listed as 3-star recruits and Brown as a 1-star by Scout.com. Rivals.com doesn’t have a ranking for Stinson and Brown, while Hogue is considered a 2-star recruit, while also being the best RB in NY and 10th best prospect overall.

Of course, it seems that it might be better to judge their potential based on the teams recruiting them, and their history/success with RBs. In that case, all three look like nice prospects.

Stinson is probably the highest ranked and recruited. Hogue probably has some teams concerned with being too tall at 6’3″ and Brown would appear to be the sleeper/project.