PITT RECRUITING TRAIN ROLLS ON

[vman]

4 STAR O-LINEMAN PICKS PANTHERS

Pitt picked up its highest-ranked recruit in the class of 2010 Sunday night when North Olmstead (Oh.) guard Matt Rotheram verbally committed to the Panthers.

"I'm a Panther," Rotheram told PantherLair.com via text message Sunday evening.

Rotheram, 6'6" 310, is a four-star prospect and currently ranks No. 9 among guard prospects nationally. He chose Pitt over 20-plus schools that had extended written offers, including Michigan State, LSU, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Boston College, North Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Colorado State, and Cincinnati.

Rotheram visited Pitt last Tuesday and spoke to PantherLair.com after the visit.

"I'm really impressed with Pitt and I like them a lot. They've got a good combination of academics and being a great football school. They could be a championship contender and I think they're predicted to win the Big East this year. Plus it's really close to home and I could have a chance to play & I didn't want to go to State College end up on the crime report or waxing my weasel in the library" :shock:

Rotheram is commitment No. 12 for Pitt in the class of 2010.

[The Ancient Enemy]

Per Scout last month:

Matt Rotheram is waiting on offers from Ohio State and Michigan before he decides.

You can hear crickets when you try to listen for interest from OSU and Michigan. No interest from the Nits, either.

I guess he's just not good enough for the top programs in the Big Ten.

"...and being a great football school. Coach Wanny told me they won 17 ADT trophies in 4 seasons. I'm not sure how that's possible, but when Wanny describes it, it all makes perfect sense."

[vman]

This stud had a written offer (taking away your weak "oh those Pitt commits only had verbal offers" excuse) from LSU....and BTW he chose Pitt for its' outstanding Engineering Program; didn't wish to go to UPS & major in Agricultural, Ice Cream & Biological Engineering :roll:

[abpk2903]

Or maybe he didn't want to go to PSU and walk-on.

[vman]

Chooo, Chooo....isn't this a dead period for recruiting??

Not @ Pitt....Pitt's recruiting momentum didn't drop off when June ended, as the Panthers added another verbal commitment on Monday.

"I did it," Woodland Hills defensive tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith told PantherLair.com. "I had to get it off my chest. I wanted to visit Syracuse so I did that but it wasn't anything like Pitt.

Khaynin Mosley-Smith is commitment No. 13 for Pitt. "I woke up this morning and said I'm ready to go."

Mosley-Smith, a fast rising diamond in the rough @ 6'1" 287, chose Pitt over offers from Syracuse, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, and Toledo, as well as heavy interest from West Virginia, Purdue, and Michigan State, Minnesota among others. In the end, it was the familiarity and comfort level at Pitt won out.

"It was the family vibe I had with them. You could see it at the camps: I was always talking to them and they were always around and I've been talking to them since I was in tenth grade."

While Mosley-Smith is close with all of the Pitt coaches, his official recruiter is offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, and that was who he called with the news Monday afternoon.

"I called Coach Cignetti today and we were talking and I said I was ready to go," Mosley-Smith said. "So he said, 'Okay: call the big dog. So I called Coach Wannstedt and he was in Chicago but he said he was excited and he'll talk to me when he gets back."

Pitt offered Mosley-Smith after a strong workout at the Panthers' prospect camp in mid-June, but despite a strong leaning to Pitt, he kept his commitment in check until he could be sure.

"When they offered I had to hold myself back because Pitt was always my number one school but I wanted to wait," he said. "Then on the last day of the passing camp, Coach Wannstedt took me in the coaches meeting room and showed me the depth chart and where I would fit on the d-line. He put me and Aaron Donald right in there, and that put me over the top.

"I waited a little bit because I wanted to see what else would come around, but the main reason I wanted to get it off my chest today is so I can focus on my grades this year and not have to think about where I'm going."

Mosley-Smith fits Pitt's recent trend of preferring defensive tackles who are smaller but are quicker and more athletic. He reportedly ran a 4.9 40, and said that his current weight of 287 will "probably drop 10 or 15 pounds" by the time his senior season starts this fall.

Mosley-Smith is Pitt's 13th commitment overall, the 11th commitment since June 14th, and the second commitment in as many days. North Olmsted (Oh.) offensive lineman Matt Rotheram committed to Pitt on Sunday. Sto-Rox wide receiver Andrew Carswell was Pitt's other July commitment, giving his verbal pledge on Thursday.

[The Ancient Enemy]

Let me explain this.

Verbal Offer = Offer given verbally

Written Offer = Offer sent in the mail

Very different! Hundreds of kids have verbal offers. All it is is someone saying "We like you."

Where's Moldy with his "THESE KIDS HAVE NEVER PLAYED A DOWN AS SENIORS" argument?

[vman]

Let me explain this.

Verbal Offer = Offer given verbally

Written Offer = Offer sent in the mail

And when Tom B sends one kid 1,148 hand written letters do they qualify as 1,148 written offers :?: :?: