Florida QB Wade Freebeck announced on twitter that he’s coming to Pitt:
Freebeck visited Pitt 2 weeks ago and was a player the coaches appeared to be very interested in. All signs pointed to the interest being mutual and it came to fruition today. The 6’4″ dual threat with a 4.6 GPA is a 3 star player on Rivals and 247. However, he’s a 4 star player on ESPN. He had offers from USF, Marshall, Akron, and some school called “Florida.” It appears as if the Florida offer was taken away after Florida got a verbal from Will Grier, but it still says a lot about Freebeck’s potential that he’s a 4 star on ESPN and that Florida was highly interested.
Freebeck hasn’t been able to do much this offseason due to a surgery. I’ve seen different stories as to what the injury/surgery was for, so I’m not entirely sure. I saw shoulder surgery and “lower body” surgery. It’s a little surprising that Freebeck committed already because of this. He could have attracted more offers with a successful senior season but he loved Pitt enough to close his recruitment. You could argue this is a good example of a “close” by this staff.
With Freebeck, Pitt now has 2 QBs in this class, the other being Adam Bertke from Ohio. While losing out on Keller Chryst sucks (Keller gave his verbal to Stanford recently), it’s not the end of the world. Pitt targeted 3 or 4 QBs: the two we now hold a verbal from, Keller, and Andrew Ford. While Keller is hands down the best prospect of the 4, the other 3 are interchangeable at this point in their careers. If the goal was 2 QBs, ideally Chryst and 1 of these 3, we had to settle for Plan B. I’m not that upset because Keller is arguably the best QB prospect in the country. Nephew or not, we lost out to Stanford and I have a feeling his dad (49ers QB Coach Geep Chryst) let him know he’ll be staying in San Francisco for a few years, most likely as the Offensive Coordinator when Greg Roman gets an NFL head coach gig.
Here are his junior highlights.
Cons. 180 needs to gain some weight, florida pulled its offer. After that his offers were Sanford. Yeah no T in there and marshall and Akron. Surgery shoulder per justin as a jr. Isnt great news.
I work in Fort lauderdale so i will watch him when im in town this fall
Here is what Miami’s Joe Rose of WQAM Sports Radio had to say about Wade Freebeck.
This is a perfect example of what I meant when I wrote a while ago that the staff was doing due diligence in their recruiting this season. This kid isn’t just an athlete but he has a 4.6 GPA. That is almost as high as Emel’s was when he graduated HS.
Seriously, this kid could have stayed at his JR HS and probably blown up statistically – instead he transfers to one of the best football HSs in FL and one that plays in its most competitive league.
4* on ESPN; 3* on 247 and Rivals and unrated at this point on Scouts – if you are into star rankings this should set your mind at ease a bit. I think he should be a four star across the board after his SR year.
Here’s a more in-depth article:
“Here’s what Savage was, is and will always be: strong-armed – no, dynamite-armed, rocket-armed, TNT-armed, with the zip and velocity on his throws to make scouts drool. But he’s also inaccurate and slow afoot, with the latter a huge issue given the Panthers’ troubling situation along the offensive line.”
We are NOT going to see him have a 7:1 TD to INT ratio like we had last year. He’ll have a great yards per reception stat and will rack up 2500+ yards but don’t hold your breath for a great year from that position.
We may see a slight improvement on 2012’s 2.92 sacks per game but maybe not – Sunseri was more mobile than Savage is for sure. Let’s hope Savage is a quicker decision maker.
According to the article, he was at Western HS his sophmore and junior season. He transfered to St. Thomas this past winter (after football season).
So, it will be interesting to watch his senior season and if he sticks with his committment.
Also, have seen the kid at precitces and QB training camps and he has added some size and muscle. He is now 6’5 and about 205lbs.
“The former Western quarterback — who held offers from Florida, USF, Akron and Marshall — said there was no doubt that Pittsburgh was the right fit…Freebeck visited Pitt last week, which cemented his belief that he wanted to be Panther.”
Sounds like he wants to be at Pitt and is a hard worker unlike your boy RS. He fits the mold of what PC & Co. wants and he loves the school and city. But you have to be negative towards him/Pitt/PC & Co. but then again it is evidently your nature to be negative about Pitt…
It might make sense that Keller held off on committing to Stanford until Uncle Paul had 2 QBs in the fold. Then he verbaled as quietly as possible to Stanford.
Thanks for the USA Today preview. Seems very fair. I think we will be better than most think unless there are too many key injuries, the depth is very thin.
Savage and Bennett are the keys. How they go is how we go.
Great news for Pitt on the verbal from Freebeck, as Reed mentioned though, not such good news for Travon Chapman.
I’m still wondering what the fates of K.K. and Travon will be on this team going forward. I hate to see a kid’s future snuffed out due to transgressions that ultimately end up being expunged from their records, but I also appreciate the culture that Chryst is instilling in this team going forward. Things are still in limbo with Chapman’s court issues, of course, but I’d hate to see his career at Pitt ended before it even gets started, if in fact it ends up that the charges don’t stick. On the outside this kind of looks like a player’s parallel to the Haywood coaching debacle of recent memory, don’t you think? Weird.
I wouldn’t want to be the one in charge of making those final decisions on these guys. Not an easy call if Chapman is found innocent. Hate to see him be made an example of, but actions have consequences too.
Last thought on Freebeck, we finally have a quality player at a critical position from the deep South. HAIL TO PITT on our 1st day in the ACC!
I think he has deceptive speed. You won’t expect him to break out and get a few yards. I actually disagree with Reed in that I don’t think he’s slower than Tino. I think Savage could keep up with him. I think Tino looked faster by how quickly he closed in on opposing defenses.
I would expect one of the 2 QB’s to decommitt. Just a numbers game….you can only play one QB at a time.
As Dr. Tom eluded to above, I suspect Travon Chapman is out the door and that is a big loss.
Lets hope Freebeck sticks with Pitt. If he has a good year at St. Thomas, other schools may come knocking.
Very odd that FSU comes to Pittsburgh for their QB and Pitt goes to Florida for their QB!!
Like the inside info from Reed… this just gets better as the day goes on. These kids know what they are committing to… in fact now it makes sense why the OH kid has the profile that he has… he is happy to be at Pitt and clearly fits the skill set they want… so he won’t bolt now that they have a more ‘named’ recruit.
conversely, this kid from FL was not scared off by another ‘big’ name coming in with him at the same time.
Man, I just see smart, calm, people working a systematic plan!!
LMAO Justin…
Chapman is more uncertain due to the charges he faces and the culture change taking place at Pitt. We can only hope TC has been contrite with the staff and he has a favorable out come in court but who knows. It would be nice though to have him in the fold.
Doc I want you to give me kudos for breaking down my post with paragraphs. LOL! HTP
No worries on either of these QB recruits decommitting due to future competition. If Chapman doesn’t get reinstated on the team, when these two come in, there will only be two scholarship QBs on Pitt’s roster! And Anderson has, for all practical purposes, been relegated a clipboard by Chryst & Co. and has been asked to contribute mainly as a player/QB coach going forward.
These two QB recruits have been given the honest straight talk that Chryst is becoming known for and have a very accurate picture of what they’re getting into. Either guy, based on who rises to the top through competition will probably see the field early in their career, especially (heaven forbid) if Voytik goes down with an injury.
And nobody was worse in leading 2nd half comebacks.
Nobody !
Kind of strange not to see the Day, Hourly ACC clock NOT winding down.
Welcome to my World, on tobacco road, the Tarheel state.
Can’t wait for the Panthers first ACC road game, at Duke.
Welcome to the ACC !!!
“Its exciting BUT sort of taking my mind
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j87Yb3bECsM
Congemi was an excellent college QB and his performance in the Fiesta Bowl while forgotten by most remains the best performance by a Pitt QB I have ever seen. His late injury cost us that game.
When asked about his Florida offer Freebeck said:
“Its exciting BUT instead I’m taking my mind and focusing on the season ahead, nothing has changed
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j87Yb3bECsM
With Voytik, Anderson and two FR QBs in 2014 I just don’t see that Chryst re-instates Chapman. Actually I don’t think he’ll re-instate him on principal but certainly not for depth.
Chapman, IMO, doesn’t have the same level of skill as Voytik and the two new recruits. We’ll see what happens prior to camp but I’m not holding my breath.
One note: Neither of these two QBs are facing an uphill battle to win a starting job. The competition the will face is maybe a bit above at best and either of the two can unseat a one year starter in Voytik unless he blows up.
Am in the Big Apple for a few days- I’ll say goodbye to the Big East for everyone…
OUCH!
Keller Chryst of Palo Alto (Calif.) also had an impressive day. Chryst is listed at 6’3 and 215 pounds, but I think he is an inch taller and perhaps 10 pounds heavier. He already looks like a college player. Chryst has excellent touch and plenty of arm, and Dilfer raved about his ability to put the right amount of touch on the football. He also said that Chryst has very good feet, and even guarded the opposing point guard when Dilfer recently watched him play in a basketball game. Chryst is committed to Stanford.
Perhaps he should contact Fraud so he could get some playing time.
To refresh some memories, the kid was thrown to the wolves by Graham as a true freshman. While this is often used as an excuse for a lot young quarterbacks who struggle, for some reason it’s never used for Trey Anderson.
Showing composure and an ability to throw a football, he actually looked pretty good early on. His struggles came later in the season… partly due to the tumult engulfing the team… mostly due to a debilitating case of tendonitis of the wrist. It’s amazing how the inability to throw a ball forty yards can make it tough going up against defenses like Utah.
But Anderson never complained… never made excuses… not once.
There are always players on the roster who don’t see the field… some never. The majority don’t stack up to what Anderson has meant to the team as the ultimate teammate and coach’s player.
With a big-time major college program, a lot of scholarships get wasted. Trey Anderson is not one of them.
Besides… defying the general sentiment… I still have a feeling that there is yet a game coming when Anderson will hear his number called.
When he does, there’s no doubt in my mind that Trey will do just fine.
4 star…
from Florida…
other offer from a big school…
gosh, getting harder and harder to find something to complain about… lol
H2P