Pitt lands top prospects

You only need 11 players on a football field in order to win a game.

With seven promising… You only need 11 players on a football field in order to win a game.

With seven promising players already lined up – and it’s only June – the 2009 Pitt football recruiting class is well on its way to victory.

Pitt has received verbal agreements – official letters of intent can’t be signed until February – from seven new recruits, headlined by Lucas Nix from nearby Thomas Jefferson High School in Jefferson Hills.

Nix, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman, agreed last Friday to join the Panthers, turning down offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, West Virginia and Tennessee.

Nationally ranked No. 6 at his position on the popular recruiting service rivals.com, Nix will join older brother Nate Nix, a redshirt freshman linebacker for the Panthers.

Another exciting recruit for Pitt is tight end Nic DiLillo. DiLillo, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end from Madison, Ohio, is ranked No. 12 by another popular recruiting service, scout.com. He had 46 receptions for 580 yards last season, as well as four touchdowns. He’s ranked 19th on rivals.com for his position.

The two-hour drive from his home to Pitt proved to be much more comfortable than the 12-hour drive to South Carolina, where DiLillo had already verbally committed to play for Clemson. However, Pitt’s heavy recruiting finally convinced him he belonged with the Panthers.

Several other future players also liked Pitt’s close proximity to home – Chris Hayden-Martin being one of them.

“Location to me was a big deal because I’m a family guy,” the Greensburg, Pa., Central Catholic High School senior said. “My family loves the game of football, and the minimum distance of my other schools was six, six-and-a-half hours away. Pitt’s right in my backyard.”

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound cornerback who ranks 18th on rivals.com had offers from Michigan State, Connecticut, Boston College and Alabama but chose Pitt as his top pick, committing June 16.

“The last two years [Pitt] has had the top-10 recruiting classes, and when you have something like that, the only place you can go is up,” Hayden-Martin said. “I’m very excited to be a part of such a great program.”

When he says great program, Hayden-Martin means more than just sports; he also chose Pitt for academics.

“It was the perfect fit for me because of the location, the team is great, and also the academics, that was really important to me,” he said.

“I looked into education and thought, I can help people learn, I can be an influence in somebody’s life.”

Four other seniors will be able to focus on their last year of high school without worrying about what university to attend.

Chris Burns, from New Wilmington, Pa., will join the Panthers as a 5-10, 181-pound running back, ranking as the 20th best running back on rivals.com. He rushed 1,364 yards and had 25 touchdowns last season.

Manny Williams, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound linebacker/safety from Clairton, Pa., turned down scholarship offers from Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Toledo to come to Pitt.

Antwuan Reed, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound cornerback from Johnstown Area High School, current Panther LaRod Stephens-Howling’s alma mater, will also join the Panthers in 2009. He ranks No. 47 as a cornerback on rivals.com and rushed for 1,461 yards, scoring 15 touchdowns on offense last season. Also as a junior, Reed was first-team all-area and the Associated Press named him first-team Class AAA all-state.

The most recent recruit is Ryan Turnley, an offensive lineman, who committed to Pitt over the weekend. This 6-foot-6, 300-pound Hopewell left tackle turned down scholarship offers from Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Maryland and Akron to accept Pitt’s offer.