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With only two four-star players projected it its 2015 football recruiting class, Pitt hasn't landed a slew of big-time talent. However, several of the Panthers' incoming freshmen were still sought after by major programs.
And that's particularly true at linebacker.
Pitt has four incoming linebackers expected to sign with the school this week. Shawn Curtis, Anthony McKee, Kevin Givens, and Saleem Brightwell are all ranked below four-stars by Rivals. But rankings aside, their offer sheets are the things that impress me.
Brightwell and McKee had drawn the most interest. Brightwell's offer sheet reads a mile long. He had nearly 20 offers from schools including many heavy hitters such as Nebraska, Michigan State, Miami, and Wisconsin, as well as about ten other P5 programs. McKee's list is just as impressive, if not more so. He reportedly held offers from Oklahoma, Michigan State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, and many others.
Curtis is the lowest of the bunch, checking in only as a two-star player. But in actuality, his offers rival those of a three-star recruit, as he was reportedly sought after by Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Illinois. Givens was the lone exception here as his offer sheet included only Temple and Western Michigan (the Trib adds Boston College and UMass to that list). But even in his case, he had drawn a lot of interest from bigger programs, including Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, and West Virginia.
As I've preached for quite a while, I always place more stock in who wants a kid than where they're ranked. But while that's not an absolute lock, either (after all, lots of schools often pursue kids that never make it), seeing the number of high-profile programs that were interested in some of Pitt's incoming recruits is encouraging.
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