2016 RB Elijah Deveaux To Decide Friday

Call me superstitious if you want to, but I did a little write up on Jordan Whitehead before he committed on Friday and I'm wasting no time in trying to see if that is an omen for gaining recruits for Pitt football.  These are the types of things you do when you get punched in the stomach as often as Pitt fans do. You look for help everywhere and anywhere and that is what I'm doing.

2016 running back recruit Elijah Deveaux will be making his decision on Friday. That may seem a little early, but the Charlotte, NC prospect wants to help influence the class that comes in with him.  Rivals has him listed as 17th in the state of North Carolina and the 38th athlete in the country, as well as a three star recruit. Deveaux will choose between Duke, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Wake Forest and of course Pitt. His name may sound familiar to Panther fans as his father was a running back for Pitt in the late 80's and early 90's, so we do have that working in our favor. If you want to look for more positive spin on this, Panther running backs coach, John Settle, just visited him on Tuesday.

Pitt has not had the best of luck with regards to recruiting legacies in recent years and have missed out on several that have really angered the fan base.  This one is a little different, as Deveaux did not grow up in the area.  He is one of two Pitt legacies to be offered in the class of 2016 that could reverse those fortunes for the Panthers. I'm sure everyone remembers Sean Gilbert, who was a beast of a defensive lineman at the same time as the elder Deveaux. His son, Zach, has also received an offer from Pitt and Zach seems to be a pretty nice defensive end. Rivals has him checking in at number 23 in next year's defensive end category. In addition to his father also playing in Oakland for college, Gilbert is also from North Carolina, as is Deveaux, and is right behind him in the rankings in the state at number 18.

Pitt could land the first of two big legacies on Friday and possibly land a recruiting class cheerleader at the same time. History does not look kindly on us for these, but it didn't for Whitehead either.  A short column worked there and I'm hoping it does here as well.

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