A lot has changed in the way Signing Day goes down. It used to be the paper work was faxed to the school and no one would officially know anything until the school released the list later that day. Instead, fans would rely on the recruiting sites to report (thanks to coaches and the kids themselves) when the paper work was received/sent.
Now, the programs themselves happily let us know. All the reports come in via Twitter, and it goes a lot faster. QUICK EDIT/NOTE: It looks like the first news on Twitter for the receiving of NLIs is coming from HC Pat Narduzzi‘s twitter account.
Pitt has a small class. It was always going to be that way, regardless of who the head coach was. Just the way the numbers break for this year. I would say, that worked out to be a good thing in what has turned out to be a transition year. No scrambling to fill lots of spots. No overwhelming number of defections and flips.
15 14, maybe 16 15 kids will be part of this class.
The fun officially kicks off at 7 am Eastern.
UPDATES:
Coach Narduzzi reminds us that Malik Henderson is already enrolled at Pitt, so he kind of is the first signed Panther.
Ben DiNucci has faxed in the paperwork to apparently be the first among the non-early enrollees.
Add Tre Tipton to the official list.
Followed quickly by Tony Pilato.
And everyone can take a deep breath, and exhale. Jordan Whitehead is signed.
We have Dane Jackson in the fold.
Sorry, had to take a kid to school.
Alex Paulina has his NLI faxed.
Quadree Henderson is in.
Oh, damn. Surprise negative flip. Shawn Curtis to Ole Miss. Never even visited.
Jay Stocker has signed.
As has JUCO Allen Edwards.
Anthony McKee has his sent in, so we are down to a small number of names remaining.
Names that remain from the verbal list: Saleem Brightwell, Darrin Hall and Gentry Ivery.
Only other name that might go Pitt is Adrienne Talan, a linebacker out of Florida. He’s still expected to go to Temple, but Pitt might grab him. He doesn’t announce until noonish.
But now only two names remain as Saleem Brightwell is in.
And now there is only one left. Darrin Hall quickly ends the wait.
Losing Curtis at the end stinks. Partially because it’s an unwanted surprise, but also because a lot of people seemed to think he was one of those misses by recruiting sites that makes everyone say star-rankings are useless. Then there is the whole issue of building some depth at defensive end.
On the other hand, the highest ranked recruits — Whitehead, Hall and McKee are all signed. So, yeah, perspective and all that.
Gentry Ivery is from Texas, so he has an hour delay on when he can send in the paperwork. Hopefully it won’t take long.
Oh, and Nate Peterman was officially recognized as transferring to Pitt.
Comment by gc 02.05.15 @ 1:56 pm
Exactly… Especially if there wasn’t anyone else deserving a scholarship.
A few guys who would do well to make an impact this fall… or at least find their way on the 2 deep..
Jevonte Pitts
Ryan Lewis: he’s a legacy, probably staying
Mike Caprara
Gabe Roberts: was on the 2 deep most of ’14
Devon Porchia
Chris Wuestner
John Guy: I don’t think he’s on scholarship?
The 5th year guys who should have graduated:
Ronald Jones: gone
Khaynin Mosley-Smith:returning
Nicholas Grigsby: likely starter
Artie Rowell: does he return from injury?
Lafayette Pitts: would be ballsy to cut a 3 year starter
Ejuan Price: does he return from injury?
David Murphy: Long Snapper
Devin Cook: returning
2nd sentence – open bar
Comment by wbb 02.05.15 @ 8:41 am
Free booze always draws a large crowd. And why it is ALWAYS used at political events. 🙂
It seems everyone is on the same page with re
You mentioned Guy and Roberts … PC recruited a bunch of OL while he was here .. it is in this area where I can see some attrition, with new recruits coming and in and surpassing some of exisitng guys on the depth chart, lie Guy and Roberts. Although, in fairness, I really don’t know the depth chart beyond the 2-deep.
H2P
72 Carson Baker OG RS FR 6-5/330 Fairborn, OH (Fairborn)
69 Adam Bisnowaty OT RS SO 6-6/305 Pittsburgh, PA (Fox Chapel)
78 Alex Bookser OT FR 6-6/295 Pittsburgh, PA (Mt. Lebanon)
50 Mike Grimm OT FR 6-6/325 Bethel Park, PA (Bethel Park)
62 John Guy OT RS SO 6-7/285 Somerville, MA (New Hampton School (N.H.))
70 Connor Hayes OG FR 6-4/270 Traverse City, MI (Traverse City West)
53 Dorian Johnson OG SO 6-5/300 Belle Vernon, PA (Belle Vernon)
75 Jaryd Jones-Smith OT RS FR 6-7/335 Voorhees, NJ (West Catholic (PA))
67 David Murphy LS RS JR 6-1/220 Orchard Park, NY (St. Francic)
63 Alex Officer C RS FR 6-4/335 Rochester, NY (Eastridge)
61 Pat Quirin LS RS SO 6-1/220 Pittsburgh, PA (Central Catholic)
60 Aaron Reese OT RS FR 6-5/310 Chambersburg, PA (Chambersburg)
71 Gabe Roberts OG RS SO 6-5/305 New London, WI (New London)
57 Artie Rowell C RS JR 6-2/315 Harrisburg, PA (Central Dauphin)
#48
link to insider.espn.go.com
Comment by MikePITT 02.05.15 @ 11:09 am
Looking deeper at those numbers and rankings.
Pitt has the 2nd smallest class(15) of anyone in the Top 50. Only Michigan with 14 recruits at #40, has a smaller class.
If you extrapolated Pitt’s class out to 25 recruits, it would have been Top 30 maybe Top 25.
** This would be political events for the campaign workers naturally….not the general public.
(just to clarify)
Pitt seems to be set for a couple years at that position.
Next class needs to focus on the DT’s & DE’s and more LB’s. Nardog’s specialty.
Via Twitter
Richmond Football ?@SpiderFootball Feb 4
Welcome #FBS transfer (Pitt) Devin Cook to #SpiderNation! A 240, 6-4 defensive lineman from Beaver Falls, Pa #NSD15
Comment by Emel 02.05.15 @ 2:27 pm
I’d through WRs into that group too. Of the big play making, impact variety.
There some depth in the form of numbers, and some raw tools to work with on the current roster… but are any of them any good? Any impact #1 receivers to fill Tyler’s shoes when he leaves?
Has there been any oficial announcement about Cook? Don’t remember one, but may have.
I’m sure there will be a spring roster coming in mid-March, when practice starts on the 15th. Also, look for the spirng game on the 4th, as I believe it is usually a 3 week process. (may be wrong)
Random question, when you are a redshirt freshman, do you need the credits of a sophomore to maintain eligibility?
Tennessee draws 100K as well, they have been out-recruited by more than several other SEC schools that draw less people for quite awhile now. (exclusive of this year’s class)
Winning football is #1 thing that attracts recruits according to Mike Farrell.
Well Pedo State was only 7-6 last year and a horrid 2-6 in the Big 10. Nobody wants to discuss that conf. record in the pedo media. Tenn did have a highly ranked class this year, they were also 7-6 this past season and only 3-5 in the SEC. Since 2008 Tenn has had 2 winning seasons (7-6), each of those winning seasons. Not winning didn’t effect their recruiting for this year.
Werner also mentioned Challingsorth .. and there is also Reed’s fave, Wuestner as well as Zeise Jr.
Lastly, both Werner and Dokish listed Quadree Henderson as a chance to see some time in the slot next year as a frosh … he is only 5’8 but can fly.
Comment by BostonsCommon 02.05.15 @ 2:37 pm
Good point BC, should have added WR’s. Although I do expect big things from Quadree Henderson, #1 player in Delaware. Small state, ikr. But #1 is #1.
Quadree Henderson, Alexis I Dupont HS (Wilmington, DE) WR- Very small at 5’8″ and 170 pounds, but he’s a water bug type with blazing speed (10.8 100m) and elite level quickness. Game breaker who runs extremely well with the ball in his hands. Also could factor in as a kick returner. It will be interesting to see how Jim Chaney utilizes him in his offense. Other offers include West Virginia, Clemson, Nebraska, Rutgers, Boston College, Cincinnati, and Temple
A guy like Henderson can be devastating. You get the one missed tackle and he gets a big big gain.
High School film looks a lot like Boyd.
Or just about anywhere else but the Lines.
That being the…Jordan Whitehead.
Most dynamic player in Penna.
You look back at Pitt’s recent history of impact receivers, and all of them made splashes as freshmen, and were impact guys as sophomores…
Boyd, Street, Baldwin, and of course Fitz and Bryant.
He just seems destined for greatness in the secondary… what an explosive athlete tho!
Another, benefit of running some sort of spread you don’t need a stud WR for the offense to work well. Although, I watched Gentry’s highlights and he could be the real deal.
Jordan catches several balls on this one as WR and a RB out of the backfield. More offense on this one.
The plays at 3:30 minute/sec mark, 6:10 mark, 7:00 & 8:10 marks are just …..jaw dropping.
I can see why Chaney is drooling to get him on offense too !!!
* I mentioned this one yesterday, but he said Curtis was a tough loss. He said the 2-star thing was a miss that wasn’t rectified, but schools that did their homework figured it out late and pursued him heavily. Chryst wanted him bad, and obviously Narduzzi did as well. Ole Miss came calling late and snagged him. SEC program gaining strength, and closer to home was probably too much to pass up – although he coudl have pushed for immediate playing time at Pitt. Peak’s term for him was “criminally undervalued” by Rivals and others.
* Qadree Henderson – Pretty much exactly as Dokish’s evaluation (listed above). Blazing fast and quick as can be. Has a chance to be a big time playmaker. Deadly in open field. Opponents last year would often go for crazy 4th & long conversion attempts out of fear of punting to him. When they did punt, they would purposely punt high and short for fair catches. One team actually kicked it to him normally, and got burned for 6.
* Whitehead – Any program in the country would have gladly welcomed him, as evidenced by Bama and OSU showing him the love. No brainer best prospect in PA. Very versatile. Could line up in the secondary from day 1, & could certainly contribute on offense. Everyone seemed to have him linked to other schools except Jordan himself. Never waivered, although he listened to other sales pitches. All that did was confirm he was all in with Pitt all along.
Baldwin and Pryor were both listed at 6’6, 230+ coming out of high school.
1 get Whitehead the ball with room to run
2 see play 1
3 play 1 and 2 win lots of football games
The BIG-PLAY-MAKER a lot of people thought they were getting in Chris James.
Destined to be Conner’s HEIR APPARENT.
I personally think Ivery was a late steal also. Sometimes a kid slips through, and by the time anyone notices, the bigger programs in the immediate vicinity are already offered out.
Ivery’s coach said he is the best WR prospect he has coached in 20+ years. Played in the highest classification in Texas, and tore it up pretty much last year. Clocked at 4.42 recently, although a 4.70 from his freshman season seemed to be attached to him – fortunately for Pitt. His coach also said he sent a WR to TCU last season, who led them in receiving as a freshman, and Ivery is bigger, faster, stronger, more elusive and just plain better than the other kid. He said he is a tailback in the open field, and said Pitt got a steal.
Other than the transferring back to Texas part, I would love to see Ivery follow that path!
The article doesn’t mention the continual..’silliness’ going on in Hooterville.
The left side was juggled some due to inconsistent play from Bisnowaty, Johnson & Jones-Smith.
And the whole group was inconsistent at times (especially when opposing team blitzed) at pass protection. Sacks were down because of Voytik’s mobility.
So……dunno about that Dan72. Yes we have numbers now. Whether it’s a great offensive line……is yet to be determined.
They better be !
Cause I thought his were dreadful for a supposed Offensive guru.
Jones Smith steps in for TJ (or Bisno moves to the right side) and Officer slides to Gaurd when Artie comes back.
On top of that we have a ton of depth. While they may not be “great” yet, they’ve got more potential than any line we’ve had in years. Big reason for optimism.
However I don’t agree with the statement, that Paulie left us with a great offensive line.
The best part of that offensive line (which btw wasn’t too great against Akron and others and had lots of procedure calls way up till the end of the season), the right side is gone.
What is left… is the side, we didn’t run to very much…the left side. And then some prospects.
That is what is left. Those ‘prospects’ will have to be ‘coached up’ by John Peterson.
Don’t understand the continual harping over gone coaches. Who led Pitt to continual mediocrity.
I’m really interested more who lines up on defense. Narduzzi said this morning that the plan is to move people to the position they will be most effective. I took that to be more specific to the defense, although as stated before, Whitehead may see a bit more offense.
Since the focus is on speed, I’m also thinking that someone might be moved to MLB, or maybe even Grigsby to DE.
And he stood nothing to gain. Yes reporters lie.
They are no different than any other profession.
In reality it’s not news when they lie – it’s news the few times they actually tell the truth without slanting it to their bias! :>)
Michael Vedvik, a 53-year-old Seahawks fan in Washington state, died of heart attack just hours after the Seahawks lost to New England 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX.
Here’s part of the obituary that was published in the Spokesman-Review.
He was a small business owner in Kent, WA and loved his family, work, clients, traveling, the Seahawks and life. We blame the Seahawks lousy play call for Mike’s untimely demise. Mike was greatly loved and will be dearly missed.
Those are my most recent episodes
His daughter (Allison) is an actress on the HBO show “Girls”. A couple weeks ago the new season started…his daughter is the girl in this clip.
Imagine having to watch TV and seeing your daughter doing the following…
Careful…not for work..
I think I would rather be caught on the helicopter story than explain that…
The more you get to know these filth on TV, the more you despise them.
