Henry Parrish Jr. decommits from Pitt football program

Henry Parrish Jr., a running back out of Columbus High School in Miami who committed to Pitt in June, announced on Wednesday night that he had decommitted from the program. The recruit did not provide a reason for his decision, but it came after a productive senior season that saw him gain the attention of the national media and draw additional offers from major programs.

Speculation regarding a potential flip by Parrish began back in September, when Walter Villa of the Miami Herald quoted him as saying there was a chance he could decommit and go elsewhere. The day after the report was published, Parrish took to social media and seemed to dismiss the news of a possible decommitment and flip as “fake news.”

However, in the days following the Miami Herald report, Parrish lent credence to the whispers of a looming flip, as he went on an official visit to South Carolina and posted photos of himself in a Gamecocks uniform on Twitter. South Carolina was one of three Power Five schools to offer Parrish after his commitment to Pitt, with the other two being Florida and USC.

In his senior season at Columbus High School, Parrish ran for 2,319 yards on 263 rushing attempts and scored a total of 28 touchdowns on the ground. In addition, he accrued 189 receiving yards and three more scores through the air, bringing his yards-from-scrimmage total to 2,508 and his 2019 touchdown total to 31.

As a result of his standout season, Parrish won the Nat Moore Trophy from Miami’s CBS 4 earlier this week and was upgraded from three-star status on Rivals and 247Sports to four-star status on both of the recruiting websites. Parrish noted that Pitt is still a possible landing spot, but Florida is now widely viewed as the favorite to land the blue-chip running back.