This is one of my favorite parts of the signing day. The day after, when the stories are published of the kids signing their Letter of Intent to attend college on scholarship. It is one of the biggest days, and a day of pride.

For Jaryd Jones-Smith there is more than a little sadness to his day since his father recently passed.

Jones, 58, died on Dec. 22 after a battle with brain tumors.

“It’s been pretty hard on him, because he and his dad were very close. He wanted his dad to be a part of his signing day,” said Jones-Smith’s mother, Shirley Smith. Smith and Jones were not married.

Jones-Smith said his father would be “extremely happy” with Pittsburgh, a decision the senior made less than a month after his father’s passing.

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One of Jones-Smith’s last memories shared with both parents was the Burrs’ Senior Night in November, just a few weeks before his father was hospitalized.

While Jones-Smith was a key cog on West’s offensive and defensive lines, his father cheered loudly from the stands. After the game, the three posed for a picture together on the field – the last photograph of Jones-Smith and his parents.

“He was always there for me, especially with football,” Jones-Smith said.

Sorry, it’s a little dusty in here.

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Yes, we all know that the class rankings after you get out of the top 15 or so become very nebulous and subject to wild swings based on whatever formula a recruiting site uses. Scout.com — for example — places a higher emphasis on quantity than most sites. Something that hurt Pitt in their rankings last year, but gives Pitt a huge boost this year. That said we, like to know where Pitt is considered to be compared. Especially within the conference.

I have to say that it was and is taking some getting used to seeing Pitt listed as an ACC team. I understand it since Pitt will be playing there in the fall. It’s just having Pitt still playing and competing in the Big East in basketball. Not to mention that the official joining doesn’t take place until July (and a reminder to Pitt: don’t do any stupid videos about joining like Texas A&M did for the SEC).

So how did the four major recruiting sites view the Pitt class as a whole? And how did it compare to others in the ACC?

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Amidst all the hoopla of signing day, the Paul Chryst press conference praising the newest Panthers and promising that a DC will be named soon. There was information about the Spring practices and the annual Blue-Gold scrimmage.

The spring practices start on March 5. Seems a bit early when you are limited to only 15 practices, but okay.

They culminate with the Blue-Gold scrimmage that will be held this year at Bethel Park High School. Okay, we knew that the plan was to rotate to different high schools in Western PA. Just so happens to be the same HS as a big 2014 recruiting target for the O-line in Mike Grimm. Nice.

The game will be played on April 12 at 7pm. That’s a Friday. What the hell?

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