There are five WPIAL signings tomorrow that will be watched closely by Pitt fans:
McKeesport’s Delvon Simmons and Branden Jackson, Clairton’s Desimon Green, and Woodland Hills’ Lafayette Pitts and Ejuan Price.
It seems there is a sense Pitt is close with at least three of them.
Branden Jackson seems to be leaning Pitt’s way.
However, sources close to Jackson say he will sign with Pitt tomorrow.
Pitt got into the recruiting game just recently with Jackson and one of the main reasons Jackson likes the Panthers is because they told him he can play linebacker. Or at least a stand-up defensive end. Is he good enough to play linebacker? Time will tell.
No one seems to think that Simmons will stay local.
Desimon Green is going Pitt or Texas Tech. I like Pitt’s odds with that.
Then there is Ejuan Price. He rather recently committed to Ohio State, but that has seemed increasingly shaky as one OSU site after another seems to see him slipping away. Especially after it looks like they could get 5-star LB Curtis Grant.
However, on the night he committed, Price attended a basketball game at the University of Pittsburgh, where he met new Head Coach Todd Graham for the first time. Since then, rumors have floated that Price could end up a Panther in the end.
His best friend, cornerback Lafayette Pitts, received an offer from Pitt after switching his commitment to Rutgers following the firing of Dave Wannstedt. Price took a late visit to Pitt last week and it looks like Ohio State will have a hard time keeping him, especially if they land Grant.
As for Pitts, who supposedly committed to Rutgers? Mike Farrell from Rivals.com just tweeted this:
Hearing Lafayette Pitts will pick #Pitt and that EJuan Price could flip from #OhioState to #Pitt as well.
I keep saying it, but tomorrow is going to be wild.
H2P
HTP!!
There are even more than the 5 mentioned above.
Enjoy it, Graham is a great salesman because he is dead sincere, oozes enthusiasm, and has the ability to mobilize and direct people (alumni)to help the Pitt cause. If he can even coach a little, things are about to change for the better at Pitt.
A good single malt is recommended for the celebration tomorrow! Enjoy it…we haven’t had many with Pitt Football.
Now things look a hell of a lot better. Any of these kids are icing on the cake. Yes a very tasty icing.
Let’s see how long (if ever) it shows up somewhere in the Pittsburgh media.
Piece in The Trib, about the lack of Florida athletes being recruited by PSU & the Big 10 as a whole.
Probably one of the reasons the Big 10 has mega problems with SEC teams come bowl time.
Nice to see Pitt get 3 out of the Sunshine State and 3 out of the Lonestar Star. Good players and more importantly laying the seeds.
For Graham to do what he has done already is very impressive and if… if, he closes with a bang today it bodes well for the future. Not too long ago I posted that we better prepare ourselves for a disappointment on the recruiting front – can’t be more happy that I’m wrong on that account.
I’m still of the mind that a recruiting class can’t be really quantified properly for two years or so – but the dynamics of what Graham has done given the ‘behind the eight ball’ start he was forced to deal with makes me think that he’ll do very well when he’s a year as HC under his belt. But at the same time I think PITT fans have always been too WPA centric – Graham won’t ignore talent in his back yard I’m sure, and there will be some good ones in 2012 – but I think he’ll break the DW mold and recruit nationally for his particular needs. Something DW didn’t seem to do as his tact was to get the kids and try to fit them in somewhere later on. We’ll see.
What I am surprised about in reading all the posts on the boards & Blogs lately are the number of PITT fans who just can’t find it in them to give Graham any credit for this turnaround. I have to believe that is residual disappointment due to DW’s firing but hey, things happen and life goes on.
