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February 1, 2012

NLI Day 2012

Filed under: Football,Recruiting — Chas @ 5:40 am

It’s signing day. The annual event. A culmination of predominantly male adults obsessing about the decisions of athletic young men in the age category of 17-18 years. It never stops being creepy.

As usual, this will be something of an open thread as we clock-in who officially signs with Pitt, and any info on any surprises. This being a serious and solemn event, it will be treated with the utmost reverence on this site.

Usually the process for marking whether a kid has signed or not is done by noting whether Rivals.com and Scout.com are listing them as signed or not. But things are a-changin’.

Pitt’s athletic department will be keeping things up to date — so the claim goes. It’s the first time they are giving it a shot so I guess we’ll see how they do.

There will be a webcam on the fax machine. Analysis of the signees between 9am and noon by Bill Hillgrove, Pat Bostick and Don Rebel (spolier alert: they are all awesome), and tweets of the signees faxed Letter of Intent with some alacrity.

Around 3pm there will be a live webcast of Coach Paul Chryst waxing rhapsodic over all the fine gentlemen who will be Panthers.

The commits can start rolling in as early as 7am. Get your coffee and try to wait a little while before adding the special additives.

 

Signed and Sealed:

QB Chad Voytik gets things rolling at 7:01 am.

OL Adam Bisnowaty is in at 7:19 (damn, it’s going to take getting used to typing his last name).

LB Devon Porchia gets through, next at 7:50.

Demetrious Davis and

Chris Davis are both signed and faxed but not yet confirmed by Pitt. PantherLair has put them in the signed and fax category. Now we have official confirmation for the Davis boys, and Chris was technically ahead of his brother.

TE J.P. Holtz has his in to the Pitt athletic Department at 8:18.

DE Daryl Render is listed as signed by Rivals.com, (Confirmed by Pitt at 8:26)

DB Jahmal Pardner as well. It took awhile, but he is official as of 9:19.

[SPECIAL UPDATE: LB Deyasean Rippy has tweeted the following cryptic message: Let’s go Pitt #H2P]

…and Rippy is officially a Panther at 8:58.

Rushel Shell is official at 9am.

OL Gabe Roberts is in the central time zone, so for him, he just faxed in a little after 8.

S Bam Bradley from Trotwood OH is signed and sealed for Pitt.

LB Mike Caprara got around to getting his LOI into the Pitt offices at 9:48.

9:54 UPDATE: Here are some of the verbals for which Pitt is still awaiting LOIs:

Trenton Coles

Ryan Lewis

Tyrique Jarrett

These players are either unknown or reportedly signed elsewhere

Adam Pankey — Pitt or WVU. Pankey went with WVU. Not a total shock. Pankey was contacted by WVU almost as soon as Fraud Graham news broke.

Alkwan Williams — reportedly signed a LOI with Temple.

Jevonte Pitts — Prep school, but rumored to still be academically ineligible

Terrell Jackson — hasn’t announced, but his hat display reportedly has Cinci, Illinois and Mich. St. — no Pitt hat.

—–

Whoo-Hoo! Terrell Jackson did the hat fake: Terrell Jackson pulls a #Pittsburgh hat from underneath the table and puts it on. He’s a Panther.

WR Trenton Coles has gotten his LOI in at 10:33.

DT Terrell Jackson is official with Pitt as of 10:45.

CB Ryan Lewis finishes the class at 11:53.

This ends the signing day open thread. If there are any surprises or noise, it will be in a separate post.





Here’s Jackson’s scouting report.

link to recruiting.scout.com

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 10:46 am

Class is shaping up nicely. 2 more DL and 2 more OL would really add to it… But hey, we’ll take one of the top QB and RB tandems in the country.

Comment by Atlanta Panther 02.01.12 @ 10:46 am

Frankcan- We don’t want any Cincy rejects. A lot of them are guys who may not academically qualify, and thats at a lesser institution than Pitt. One of the reasons Cincy takes so many guys is because they expect every year to have a handful fail to qualify.

Personally, I still think that offering more scholarships than you have available and banking on guys to fail at life is dishonorable and disgusting and while I understand its part of the game I am glad Pitt doesn’t go around offering 30 kids every year.

Comment by TartanPanther 02.01.12 @ 10:47 am

I think we’re done with the uncommitted. Let’s hope we can wrap things up with Standifer and a few post LOI Day pickups (remember Price last year…). Standifer tweeted he’s added a visit to Vandy so that just cut our odds. Hopefully he’ll see the light.

Good day picking up Rip, Jax and Bam. HTP!

Comment by FG 02.01.12 @ 10:48 am

Comment by wbb 02.01.12 @ 10:49 am

Bostick just took about ten minutes and talked, honestly as hell, about the pressures that highly rated recruits face from the fans and other students.

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 10:49 am

FRANKCAM that makes 2 DL (Render and Jackson)

Comment by wbb 02.01.12 @ 10:50 am

@ Reed. Yea some WVU guys are giving Rippy hell on twitter. Typical lack of class by the Hoopies.

Comment by Atlanta Panther 02.01.12 @ 10:51 am

Scout.com is showing that we have offers out to 3 other linemen – all OL I think.

Treyvon Hester
Ryan Anderson
Josh Stepoli

Haven’t heard much about Anderson or Stepoli, so I think they must be carryovers from the Fraud Graham regime. Also heard somewhere (Was it here?) that Hester was going to Toledo????

Comment by Atlanta Panther 02.01.12 @ 10:52 am

Don’t know who T Jackson is, but I like him already. He made my morning with that hat from under the table job!

Comment by Howard 02.01.12 @ 10:52 am

Add Trenton Coles to the Panthers!!

Comment by isnore 02.01.12 @ 10:53 am

with the d line comeing on board i am feeling
better we needed that good man jax

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 10:55 am

Waiting for Ryan Coles….3 hour time zone difference….come on Ryan have that cup of Joe and get to a fax machine.

Comment by isnore 02.01.12 @ 10:59 am

haha, this makes my day:

PantherLair Chris Peak
Deaysean Rippy says he would not have picked #Pitt if Todd Graham was still the coach. #RivalsNSD

Comment by Atlanta Panther 02.01.12 @ 10:59 am

I’m impressed. PITT and Coach Cryst have a nice mix of recruits. Bodes well for the future……..

But has anybody heard anything about kickers for PITT??

Comment by mtoolmn 02.01.12 @ 11:00 am

atlanta panther they dont know what thay are talking abought Anderson has leg cancer and wont be going any were.
and hester went to a mac school
and the offer on the outher kid was from TG

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 11:03 am

I think you mean Ryan Lewis isnore.

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 11:04 am

Hester was rumored to have academic issues…ended up at Toledo as the offer was likely not available.

Anderson has bone cancer and is on the shelf…best wishes for a healthy recovery for the kid. Tough stuff.

Stepoli was going DII last I heard…doubt the offer is still there.

Comment by FG 02.01.12 @ 11:04 am

Reed-

Yep, Lewis it is…..maybe I need the cup of Joe!

Comment by isnore 02.01.12 @ 11:08 am

Well…that’s in then. Lewis and Jarret. Good class all in all, I don’t think anyone expected to scoop up the trifecta of Bradley, Rippy and Djax.

What happened to that OT from New Hampshire?

…and they better recruit about 7 OL and 5 DL next year!!!!

Comment by Atlanta Panther 02.01.12 @ 11:09 am

Pitt over WVU at Morgantown. Penguins game for the ages last night. Thrilled with this recruiting class and excited to see what this coaching staff can recruit with a year at the helm and getting to know some coaches around here.

Also, my aunt is having a ravioli party for the Super Bowl, 6 different fillings!!!

I’m feeling pretty damn good right now!

Comment by Dan 02.01.12 @ 11:21 am

Tags is on the PITT live show and just had some rather stern words about Graham. He also stated that the players in the locker room have a very good opinion of Chryst.

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 11:21 am

Looks like PITT is going to end up with a 3.2 star ranking on Scout.com.

Not too bad considering all crap PITT and the new staff had to go through.

I’ve a feel 2013 may be excellent all around for recruiting.

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 11:25 am

Ryan Lewis come on down.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 11:26 am

Reed is the anthony dorsett 6 foot 5 300 pound thing for real and is he comeing here if so

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 11:30 am

Thanks to Chas for an excellent running tally of who decided PITT is it.

Now, let’s start talking about Spring practices and our QB situation.

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 11:31 am

Anthony Standifer would be the icing on the cake!!!

Comment by isnore 02.01.12 @ 11:33 am

Oooops…we still have not seen nor heard from our mystery recruit, the one and only JOHN GUY!

Mr. Guy you showed up at The Pete last week and then you faded into thin air.
Walk-on? Scholie? WHO ARE YOU?

Comment by isnore 02.01.12 @ 11:40 am

is lewis still in play or did he sign some were else

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 11:41 am

FWIW, Johhny Majors recruited A Dorsett JR out of courtesy for his dad. Jr was not highly recuited coming out of Texas. All Dorsett Jr did was to not only start at Pitt, but was a starter for the Tennessee Titans in the SB. He played in the NFL for about 5 years .. not bad for a lighly recruited player.

Maybe lightning strikes twice … today is a day for optimism .. right?

Comment by wbb 02.01.12 @ 11:49 am

3 hr time difference to WA State

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 11:49 am

How is ex-Coach Graham doing? Anyone know?

Comment by A 02.01.12 @ 11:52 am

We still waiting on Tyrique Jarret? I know Lewis should be signing soon since he’s in WA. Peak said 9 A.M. PST, so noon here

Comment by Greg 02.01.12 @ 11:55 am

Lewis is in.

Comment by Denny 02.01.12 @ 11:56 am

Greg jarret must go prep grades

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 12:10 pm

Umm, Dan, I’ll send you my mailing address and filling preferences in a separate post (although I’m not picky!).

Comment by Carmen 02.01.12 @ 12:12 pm

Denny just checked pitt sites lewis not in were you get info

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 12:16 pm

His letter came in at 11:50 — it’s on the University site.

Comment by Denny 02.01.12 @ 12:26 pm

Frank – Lewis signed

link to pittsburghpanthers.com

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 12:38 pm

Any chance the Mutually Beneficial girl faxed in her LOI? I heard rumors she had a lot of offers…

Comment by ECH 02.01.12 @ 12:46 pm

Thanks Reed and and Denny that is it than
unless they sign Dorsett will they REED.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 12:59 pm

Tyrique Jarrett?

Comment by Tony C 02.01.12 @ 1:42 pm

so Standifer is still the onr pending commit .. correct?

Overall, pretty good last 24 hrs … lost Pankey and A Williams but gained Jackson, Bradley and Rippy. Very good tradeoff .. but above all, kept all of the big ones.

Comment by wbb 02.01.12 @ 1:47 pm

Jarret to prep school (Milford I think), won’t sign anywhere, academics.

Comment by OntarioLett'sGoPitt 02.01.12 @ 1:50 pm

Thank goodness this nonsense is over for at least another ten or eleven months. Now the important part of the job for Chryst, coaching! Looking forward to see what occurs during spring practice. Will Myers start progressing or will Tino be the QB again?

Comment by John In South Carolina 02.01.12 @ 2:30 pm

Sandifer is the last potential commit. He’ll visit Pitt and Vandy and then make a decision. He’s a IL DB that was recruited by ND. Had to take online Spanish to qualify at ND. He told the Domers tough cookies.

Comment by TX Panther 02.01.12 @ 2:39 pm

he should have told them ‘hasta la vista’

Comment by wbb 02.01.12 @ 2:53 pm

First, hats off to all the regular posters — FrankCan, web, pk, etc. — to this blog, for your time and effort in making this an incredible resource. I look often, but rarely post, so I, for one, thank you very much.

A note on this class: what has struck me, now that we have the final results, is that less than one-third (five of sixteen) are from Pennsylvania. I think this bodes extremely well for future classes as the coaches settle in and get to know the territory and the personnel.

I’ll be Heinz Field tonight — let’s give the new staff a rousing welcome! Hail to Pitt!

Comment by Pitt73Pete 02.01.12 @ 3:10 pm

Even though we’ve come up with a small class, ESPN has our class ranked #2 in The BE. Plus, we can still get a couple more good pick ups in the next week or two.

Hail to Pitt!

Comment by Digdug 02.01.12 @ 3:27 pm

I wondered about Williams and where Temple came into play and then saw this someone posted on Zeise’s blog

Per the real Trib (the Johnstown Tribune Democrat), Chryst pulled Williams’ scholarship offer Sunday.

Comment by giveitarest 02.01.12 @ 3:37 pm

He was supposedly a grade casualty as well. Did Fraud plan on graduating any of these recruits or was he planning on having the MB girl take the exams for them?

Comment by TX Panther 02.01.12 @ 3:59 pm

hey Dan, can we come over to your Aunt’s house too? you are on a roll.

Comment by nw pa pitt fan 02.01.12 @ 4:19 pm

Uh…… Huh. I hope Coach Chryst & Pitt did background check on these kids. No more arrests needed of Pitt players like under Coach DW.

Comment by mtoolmn 02.01.12 @ 4:23 pm

“hasta la vista” lol that was good.

Comment by frankarms 02.01.12 @ 4:36 pm

Anyone have a link (that works)to Chryst’s presser? I get nothing from the Pitt site (by nothing – no video or sound). Thanks.
Has the making of a good class.

Comment by markp 02.01.12 @ 4:41 pm

I wish Voytik could have enrolled in school early to get a head start on things. This kid is a real leader and I think Pitt fans are going to experience something special with him. He seemed instrumental in helping to hold this recruiting class together. Looking forward to great things from him and Shell and the rest of the team. After the garbage that happened with Fraud Graham in December, things are now looking excellent for Pitt football and the Paul Chryst era. I’m pumped! I want to go to the Blue and Gold game NOW!!!

Comment by Pitt Is It 02.01.12 @ 4:57 pm

We need to find some Florida recruits as well as players in other parts of ACC country in 2013.

Comment by TX Panther 02.01.12 @ 5:05 pm

Thank you Pitt 73 pete

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 5:13 pm

We should all be very thankful this class for the most part, was kept intact. Especially the higher rated kids who obviously kept in touch with each other and stuck together as a group, which should bode well for team unity and team accomplishment down the road.

Big things are in the works for PITT football I believe and this class will play a major part in that. Chad Voytik appears to be a real leader and it was no coincidence that he was the first one to get his LOI in. I look forward to seeing him and Rush Shell, the Davis boys & JP Holtz light up the scoreboard at Heinz.

Hail To Pitt !
Veritas et Virtus !

Comment by Emel 02.01.12 @ 5:19 pm

OK help me out i have been told more than onceyou can have as many commits as you want but on LOI day you can only sign 25 you have to cut the outhers lose.
cincy signed 30 and WVU signed 26 how are they geting away with this.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 5:42 pm

Sure pete

Comment by Pk 02.01.12 @ 5:42 pm

Those are Community Colleges Frankie, that’s why.
haha

Comment by Emel 02.01.12 @ 5:48 pm

EMel the rules say 25 signed not 30 i am not talking commits it says they signed 30 and 26 per rivals

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 6:15 pm

pk bud check with dokish see how they get away with signing that number 30 ok

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 6:18 pm

Frank – they will ask some kids to greyshirt or already know that they have 5th year seniors who won’t be on the roster next season.

I don’t think that 25 limit applies to LOI Day but to the overall year once the official roster is set in August.

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 6:19 pm

mtoolmn – That would be nice wouldn’t it.

However, it would be even better if he can replicate what Graham did in that area with his players this year – one arrest in the spring and zero other public incidents or publicized arrests.

A big difference between 2011 and the 2010 year wouldn’t you say?

Comment by Reed 02.01.12 @ 6:23 pm

REED thank you

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.01.12 @ 7:02 pm

Dokish is saying that d rippy will likely move to safety. At 6’2″ 210 lbs with a 4.7 forty, he could be a devastating hitter at safety. Dokish also believes that bradley will become a linebacker. Hes the same size as rippy, but not quite as fast. Dokish also gives a really good breakdown in the numbers game for 2013. I recommend checking it out.

Comment by Pk 02.01.12 @ 7:10 pm

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