Football loses top recruits to Penn State, Miami

Wednesday was supposed to be the day Penn Hills senior quarterback Anthony Morelli signed… Wednesday was supposed to be the day Penn Hills senior quarterback Anthony Morelli signed on the dotted line to become a Pitt Panther. Wednesday was supposed to be the day Pitt head coach Walt Harris introduced a top 25 recruiting class.

“My take on signing day is, you never know what’s going to happen,” Harris said. “It’s not an exact science.”

Instead, midday Wednesday, Morelli signed with Pitt’s rival, Penn State. Morelli signed with the Nittany Lions because he believes Penn State head coach Joe Paterno will be with his team longer then Harris will be with Pitt. Morelli, ranked as one of the top five high school quarterbacks in the country, had verbally committed to Pitt over a month ago.

The Panthers announced yesterday that they had signed 22 players to play for Pitt next season. However, Morelli wasn’t the only high school senior that had committed to Pitt whose name wasn’t on this list.

North Hills High School running back Andrew Johnson had verbally committed to Pitt, but signed with Miami yesterday. Also, linebacker James Bryant of Reading High School — brother of Pitt’s Sam Bryant — had verbally committed to Pitt, but also signed with Miami yesterday.

“We were excited about those young men, but if they feel like, someplace else, they’ll get coached better or like the university better, then we wish them well and we hope they can accomplish their dreams, and we are going to move on,” Harris said. “I really believe the word ‘commitment’ should be redefined in the teenage vocabulary because it’s different from what we commit, and we don’t quite do the same thing.”

Players are allowed to verbally commit to schools at any time. However, until that name is signed on signing day, the high school player is fair game.

“The thing that disappoints me most about recruiting is the negativity,” Harris said. “A couple of the kids that committed to us have been totally abused by other schools. I think that part of college football needs to be upgraded. I’m not talking about phone calls, I’m talking about negative rumors.”

According to Harris, he is happy with his 22-player recruiting class, which includes players from eight states at 10 different positions.

“We’re excited about the young men that decided to be with us,” Harris said. “All you have to do is be on the phone at seven in the morning and hear the excitement in their voices.”

With Morelli signing with Penn State, Pitt signed Darrell Strong from Plantation High School in Southern Florida. Strong played both wide receiver and quarterback in his years at Plantation High, and was originally recruited by Pitt as a tight end, until Morelli left, leaving a vacancy at the quarterback position.

After a dismal season on the defensive side of the ball, Pitt signed eight defensive players — four defensive lineman and four defensive backs. Two defensive linemen, Phil Tilman and Corey Davis, are listed at more than 300 pounds.

“We were able to recruit some bigger guys that we had been having trouble recruiting in the past,” Harris said. “We also made some stronger inroads in south Florida.”

On offense, Pitt signed three offensive linemen and three wide receivers. With Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald each winning the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver, Pitt had no trouble convincing two prominent wide receivers — Marcel Pestano and Kelvin Chandler — from Southern Florida to sign with Pitt.

Rounding out the class of 22 were one running back, a fullback and a tight end.