Pitt football recruiting update: Two recruits added to 2017 class

Pitt head football coach Pat Narduzzi added the eighth and ninth verbal commitments to his second full recruiting class this past week.

On June 22, three-star offensive lineman Carson Van Lynn announced his intention to join the Panthers in 2017, their third pledge from Narduzzi’s home state of Ohio. Pitt then got a commitment from three-star linebacker Albert Tucker June 28, its third linebacker in the 2017 class.

A native of Worthington, Ohio, Van Lynn is a 6-foot-6, 235-pound offensive lineman but is being recruited by Pitt to play defensive end — which he has played sparingly at Worthington Kilbourne High School. He selected Pitt over offers from Boston College, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Purdue, Rutgers, West Virginia and Wake Forest.

A 6-foot-1, 182-pound linebacker from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Tucker is a versatile defender out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School who can also play in the secondary if needed. He chose Pitt over offers from Colorado, Colorado State, Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State.

Van Lynn and Tucker join four-star defensive back Paris Ford, three-star linebackers Kyle Nunn and Cameron Bright, three-star quarterback Kenny Pickett, three-star wide receiver Darian Street, three-star running back Todd Sibley and two-star offensive lineman Owen Drexel in Pitt’s 2017 class.

Recruits in the 2017 class still have more than seven months to change their mind. They can officially sign their National Letters of Intent Feb. 1.