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Pat Narduzzi is well aware that he has lots of work to do for Pitt's 2016 class. But over the weekend, the Panthers actually added their first recruit for 2017 with Johnstown cornerback Exree Loe (5'11", 175 pounds) committing.
The class appears to be off to a good start with his addition. Loe is a solid three-star recruit already and while Pitt was reportedly his first major offer, he was drawing interest from Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and others, according to Rivals. Rivals also says he is the 11th top recruit in the state. Of the top 15, he is only the second to commit this early.
For his part, Loe is already talking about recruiting others to his class. In particular, he mentioned Paris Ford - expected to be one of the nation's top safeties in that class:
"We talked after practice, and Coach (Pat) Narduzzi was saying that he wants me to step up and be the one to get it started for 2017," Loe told Panther-Lair.com. "I was excited about being the first one, I think I can pull in more kids like Paris Ford and guys like that.
"I feel like if we all go there, we can build a national championship team."
His father also cited something that played a part in the decision - Pitt's new facilities:
From his father, ''Good facilities, they look awesome, and the team energy was great. It was a good feel there."
It may not be completely over, of course. For one thing, Loe still has two full years left to play. The Trib also says he plans to attend a Penn State game this year. It's also worth noting that Loe was recently at a Penn State camp - here's some of the footage from his visit. Pitt will need to keep the full court press on to keep him on board as he has the look of a kid that could be one of the best in the state by the time he can officially sign.
Narduzzi has a lot of work to accomplish for the 2016 class, but it's nice to see him land an impact verbal for 2017 as well.
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