It’s finals week — in case you hadn’t noticed with the fact that Pitt basketball is off until Saturday evening. So not a lot happening. Just waiting for (hopefully) the recruiting bounce for football. That and the decision of Dominic Cheek this week.
Cheek is down to Kansas, Memphis, Villanova, PIttsburgh and Rutgers. He has taken official visits to all five schools.
“All the schools are still in there. Dom will make a decision this week,†[St. Anthony’s Associate Head Coach Ben] Gamble said by phone Saturday. “It will be this week.â€
Gamble said Cheek would consult with St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley, Gamble, his family and some former St. Anthony players.
“It’s pretty much Dominic himself,†Gamble said. “He’s gotten advice from myself and Coach Hurley and some other people who have gone through the recruiting process. Once in a while he’ll run into a former St. Anthony player who has been through the recruiting process.â€
So, one way or another, we will know (mostly).
Meanwhile DeAndre Kane is now taking visits to Seton Hall and Marquette.
Dan Mason from Penn Hills is a 4-star LB who would appear to be our top priority right now. We are the front runner but PSU, WVU and BC are all in the mix.
The reason our class seems sub-par is a combo of a down year in western PA talent and a limited number of scholarships avalable. I think there are only going to be about 18 players in this years class. Also Wanny really can’t promise a chance to get onto the field early anymore. Recruits see the amount of young talent Pitt has gathered in the past 3 classes and know a redshirt is iminant.
Isaac Holmes, a 4 star defensive tackle has Pitt in his top 3 and has a visit scheduled for early January. His top 3 are Pitt, Maryland and Florida, and he says Rutgers and Penn State are still on the map.
As for the recruiting class in football, we have been going down a little by little over the years, but that’s to be expected since they can no longer be promised early playing time.
We only have 4-5 schollies left, but the big ‘recruiting bounce’ will be the inertia that we have heading into the Spring for some early commits for the Class of 2010. My prediction is that we get that crucial 10th win and hit the ground hard going into the next class.
I think we will see a Class of 2010 come together like the Class of ’06, with a handful of commits early in the Spring, and a slew of them in June during the camps when we landed the likes of DD, Byham, Pinkston, etc. If you examine our class this year, that was the crucial difference; only 5 commits by July.
I am not sure what the class of 2010 looks like in PA, but as for this class, here’s how I see it rounding out:
Mason & Shane Gordon (Jason Douglas’s teammate) at LB
Another lineman, be it the aforementioned Holmes or Bernardo Nunez; I think we land one of these 2.
At least 1 of the trio of Jordan Hill, Malcolm Bush, or Corey Brown. Dorian Bell would be great, but just not doable. Best of luck to him, though.
A side question that I have to ask is if Bennett commits to sticking around for another year or two, are they going to try to us the Texas inroads he has for a couple of Romeus-like sleepers down the line? Or was the Texas connection just an off the cuff remark Coach Wannstedt made when they hired him, and the plan is to keep hitting Maryland and NJ harder and supplement the class in Florida?
Let’s do it.
*closes garage door and starts breathing in the fumes*
Onto football, I’m really hoping that the 9-3 year has a positive effect during the signing period that is rapidly approaching. As of right now, this would seem to be one of Wannstedt’s worst recruiting classes since coming to Pitt. Which is quite odd considering this is by far the most success the program has tasted during the Wannstedt era. Hopefully Dorian Bell or the other kid from Gateway give Pitt a second look.
Are there any other big 4 or 5 star guys out there who still have Pitt on their radar at this point? If so, what other schools are they considering?