Former Pitt recruit Chandler Kincade commits to Akron Zips

Former Pitt recruit Chandler Kincade decommitted from the Panthers back in April and today, he chose the Akron Zips as his new home.

I'm not crushing the decision, but am surprised it came so early. It's not early in the grand scheme of things, of course. But for a player that could really gain some traction as we get closer to National Signing Day next year, I'm surprised he pulled the trigger now.

While his reported offers (Rutgers, Akron, Temple, and Bowling Green) were a bit limited, he had drawn some interest from bigger schools and made unofficial visits to a number of places including Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan State, and Penn State.

There's no guarantee that he'd pull an offer from one of those, but the chance would exist if he had a big year. Akron, to me, is a bit of a safe choice where he could have gone later if he wanted. I guess I'm surprised he didn't wait it out a bit more. And as Kincade said before, he wants to be 'the man' wherever he goes. No knock to Akron here, but Kincade has a much better chance of doing that there than at some of the other schools mentioned.

I don't know the kid, so take this with a grain of salt. But his initial comment about wanting to the guy is a pretty clear indication to me that wherever he goes, he wants to play. My guess is that if he headed to a bigger school, there was some very real concern about if he'd get on the field. I'm not saying he's averse to competition, but I do think he wants to go somewhere where he thinks he's got a high chance to win the job.

The Zips should be a very good fit for him if playing time is his priority and one of his reasons for the decision is that his family can easily travel to see him ($). But for a kid with so much apparent interest in and from larger BCS schools, it was a bit surprising to see him opt for Akron.

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