Pitt signs 19 on Letter of Intent Day

It’s taken him three years and three recruiting classes to get to this point, but Pitt… It’s taken him three years and three recruiting classes to get to this point, but Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt finally has the Pitt program at the point where he had to turn away a few top recruits.

“This is the first year that we’ve been in that position,” Wannstedt said yesterday at a press conference in Pitt’s locker room in Heinz Field. “There were some quality players that we were recruiting for a year and that were anxious to become Pitt Panthers, but because of the numbers situation and our depth chart, we just couldn’t take them.”

Chances are he was referring to Averin Collier and Marcus Sales, two of New York State’s top recruits, who ultimately signed with Syracuse. Like his brother, current Pitt running back Kevin Collier, Averin Collier is a running back – one of Pitt’s most crowded positions. Sales is a wide receiver – also a traffic jam of talent.

That’s why the aforementioned two were not among the signatures Wannstedt received yesterday as part of Pitt’s 19-player recruiting class inked yesterday on National Letter of Intent Day, the first day high school football players elect to sign binding letters of intent to schools of their choice.

Even though it’s short on quantity because of scholarship limitations and depth-chart backup, Wannstedt’s third full recruiting class at Pitt is still loaded with talent.

Pitt signed three U.S. Army Bowl All-Americans – linebacker Shayne Hale, offensive lineman Lucas Nix and wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin, who are all ranked by several recruiting services as top-50 or -100 players.

Another of Wannstedt’s vital recruits is Hale’s former high school teammate at nearby Gateway High School, wide receiver/running back Cameron Saddler. When Saddler committed in the week after Pitt defeated West Virginia Dec. 1, he seemingly became part of the Pitt recruiting staff.

“When he committed to come to the University of Pittsburgh, he was quoted saying he was going to become coach [Greg] Gattuso’s assistant recruiting coordinator,” Wannstedt said. “He was calling the Jonathan Baldwin’s, the guys he was going to be competing with. He wants to be on the best team he can be on, and that’s the type of attitude you want in your players.”

Saddler is just one of the 14 players Wannstedt signed from Pennsylvania – 13 of whom earned Associated Press All-State honors their senior years. That includes defensive back from Easton, Pa., who Wannstedt believes will be a vital commitment from eastern Pennsylvania.

“Getting Jarred Holley was big for us,” Wannstedt said. “Getting who we believed was the top player from out in that area of the state was important. In the state of Pennsylvania, we’re making a concentrated effort, and we’ve gotten some results.”