'Pitt is it,' x6: Panthers football gets six commitments in one day
In the span of just a few hours, Pitt football very nearly doubled the size of its recruiting class.
On Saturday, head coach Pat Narduzzi tweeted “Pitt is it!” to signal the Panthers got a commitment. Then he did it again. And again.
Not three, not four, not five… In the end, he tweeted six times. Then, as public announcements came in from the players, he began retweeting.
Pitt got the commitment of one four-star player and a handful of three-stars on the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
This increased its class size to 15 athletes and moved up to No. 26 on the 247Sports team rankings.
Here are the players who announced their commitment to Pitt on Saturday, ordered by the time they tweeted their decision.
Jordan Addison, WR
Committed #H2P @BeattyCoach @Lando247365 pic.twitter.com/8wVkRUkkM1
— Jordan Addison (@Espn_Jordan) June 22, 2019
Ranked three-stars on the composite but four by 247Sports, Jordan Addison plays wide receiver and defensive back for Tuscarora High School (Frederick, Maryland).
The 247Sports Composite lists Addison as an athlete and ranks him as the No. 20 player in Maryland and No. 52 cornerback in the country (The site’s rankings have him at No. 6 in Maryland and No. 21 CB, for fans who want to see more optimism in him).
He’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 161 pounds. Addison had offers from 19 total schools, according to the Post Gazette.
AJ Roberts, ATH
ACC i want all the smoke pic.twitter.com/p73KG1ekta
— Aj Roberts (@AjRoberts09) June 22, 2019
AJ Roberts, ranked three-stars by 247Sports and its composite, is listed as the No. 11 player in New York and No. 84 outside linebacker in the country.
He helped Tottenville (Staten Island, New York) go 7-3 last season. MaxPreps appears to be missing some stats, as it shows nobody played more than eight games, but in those games, Roberts had 33 tackles, an interception and two touchdowns.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Roberts had 11 offers, according to 247Sports.
Timothy Brown, DT
Committed #H2P #2ManyLights0n @CoachPartridge pic.twitter.com/wYO7zEhLPk
— Timothy Brown (@jackboy_TJ) June 22, 2019
Defensive tackle Timothy Brown, ranked three-stars in the 247Sports Composite (though unranked by 247Sports’ own rankings), committed third of the day.
Size for Brown differs on outlets. He is listed on 247Sports at 6-foot-2.5, 246 pounds, but it’s possible he has grown since those measurements were taken. The Post Gazette, Cardiac Hill and MaxPreps list Brown at 6-foot-4 and around 260 pounds.
He is ranked the No. 73 player in Florida and No. 48 DT in the country.
Brown played at Dwyer High School (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) last season and will attend Palm Beach Lakes High School (West Palm Beach, Florida) as a senior.
Aydin Henningham, WR
C O M M I T T E D#2ManyLights0n #H2P #BallFor23 @CoachDuzzPittFB @BeattyCoach @CoachPartridge pic.twitter.com/tt9eJEj3V3
— Aydin “Alex” Henningham (@Underated_561) June 22, 2019
Ranked as a three-star wide receiver by 247Sports and four-star by Rivals, Aydin “Alex” Henningham played for Deerfield Beach (Florida) High School last season after transferring from Atlanta (Delray Beach, Florida).
At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Henningham is the No. 100 wide receiver in the country and No. 78 player in Florida, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.
He had 19 offers, including in-state Florida and University of Central Florida.
Jahvante Royal, S
COMMITED !! #H2P #2ManyLights0n @CoachDuzzPittFB @CoachPartridge @ARCHIECOLLINS22 pic.twitter.com/nnojCuM6ZA
— Vante (@jahvante_royal) June 23, 2019
Noticing a trend? Pitt got a commitment from another Florida athlete on Saturday, the Panthers’ sixth from the state in the 2020 class.
Jahvante Royal is the highest ranked of the bunch, a four-star player on the 247Sports Composite Rankings listed as the No. 23 safety in the country and No. 47 player out of Florida.
Royal, listed at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, was on powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) which went 13-2 last season.
Dayon Hayes
I want to thank my family, coaches, teammates, and everyone who played a part in the most important decision of my life! Thanks @duzz for welcoming me to the family @CoachPartridge @coachcsanders #H2P pic.twitter.com/eSVeUpaSDJ
— DayonHayes (@HayesDayon) June 23, 2019
Finally, Pitt ended its day by getting good news from an in-state recruit.
Dayon Hayes, a defensive tackle from Westinghouse (Pittsburgh), was the final Panthers commit of Saturday. Ranked as a three-star prospect, he is the No. 3 player in Pennsylvania and No. 51 DT in the country, according to the 247Sports composite.
Listed at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, Hayes had 17 offers, according to 247Sports, including Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State.