Pitt got a new verbal yesterday in RB Chris Burns. There wasn’t a lot of interest in him at this point, mainly because no one had really seen the kid from Wilmington High (it’s near Sharon, PA).
Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli sent out a highlight tape of Burns to a few colleges and also to talent scout Joe Butler of Metro Index in Pittsburgh. Butler was so impressed that he sent the tape to a few more colleges, including Pitt.
Pitt apparently was impressed, too. The Panthers started recruiting Burns a few weeks ago and eventually offered a scholarship.
In this day and age of recruiting and information out there, I’d say a coach actually having to send out tape of a kid qualifies him for sleeper status. It’s also a little surprising. Still, if Butler saw something in the tapes he liked that is encouraging.
The early other interest in Burns was from MAC schools and Cinci and Illinois started sniffing. You can see it on his pages at Rivals.com and Scout.com — they knew nothing about him either beyond the public record.
Burns is a 5’10”, 195 pound back. His high school coach stresses his intangibles and innate qualities as a back. He ran for over 1300 yards as a junior in the AA level and was second team in the state. Now we know the basics as well. Welcome, Mr. Burns.
