Apparently one of the reasons Lucas Nix waited all the way until June to state that he would commit to Pitt, was to make sure he got offers and good recruiting grades.

Especially after Nix received 50-plus scholarship offers and turned down the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Penn State. Nix wanted to wait until others assessed his potential before choosing a college.

“That was kind of the whole thing why I hadn’t committed earlier,” Nix said. “I wanted everyone to make sure I was a really highly rated recruit and one of the better players in the country before I committed.”

This is not necessarily a bad thing for Pitt, and I’m not criticizing it. If anything, his waiting until after getting the high rankings and offers makes his commitment to Pitt look that much better.

Wayne Jones, a DL commit from the Johnstown area this past year played in the Big 33 and will play in the East-West Game as well, this weekend. Why?

“I just wanted to get another game in because at Pitt, I’m supposed to take a gray-shirt, so I won’t get practice in or won’t be playing the first semester,” he said. “So I just wanted to be in the pads one last time. I think it’ll help me a lot.”

Jones’ scholarship will be counted against the numbers for available scholarships in this recruiting class.

Meanwhile, 4-star linebacker Christian Wilson, and one of the top players in Pennsylvania, appears to have knocked Pitt from his list. He says he is trying to trim his list to around 10.

“I probably have around 10 schools that are still on there,” said the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Wilson, who will turn 17 on July 12. “Some are out because they are (far away), like Arkansas and Arizona. The school the farthest that I like is nine, 10 hours away, and that’s Clemson. I also like Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Louisville, Rutgers, Boston College. A couple other schools are still in there like Virginia, but they are kind of deep (at linebacker). Still, I kept them in and a couple other schools are the same way.

If Pitt is still there, they are somewhere on the fringe of remaining interest.

In the same article, another top linebacker in the state, Mike Yancich, thinks he’ll decide next week from his narrowed list of 5 teams: BC, UConn, Michigan St., Penn St. and Pitt.

Pitt is also starting to show interest in a NJ RB, Ed Imeokparia, at a different position.

“Right now I am waiting on a few different schools that have shown me interest, but have not offered yet,” Imeokparia explained. “Coach (Larry) Slade at Tennessee likes me at defensive back and said he needs to run my film past Coach (Phil) Fulmer and Coach (John Chavis). I just spoke with Coach (Brian) Angelichio from Pittsburgh and he told me Coach (Dave) Wannstedt would like to come out so he can meet me in person. He says they also like me at defensive back and that I would have a good chance at an offer if I come out and make a good impression on Coach Wannstedt. Florida State, Georgia and Rutgers are also in the mix, so we will see what happens there. I may go to camp at Rutgers this weekend, but I’m not sure yet.”

Pitt would probably have him at safety. His best, actual, offers right now are from BC, Wake Forest and Michigan St.