Timothy Brown backs off Pitt pledge, reopens recruitment

Timothy Brown, a defensive end out of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, committed to Pitt on June 22, 2018, but on Friday evening, he backed off his verbal commitment to the Panthers and reopened his recruitment.

Brown’s status with Pitt had been up in the air for several months, as he was charged with robbery, felony battery and kidnapping during a felony after police alleged that he was involved in a violent incident in the parking lot of a Walmart last October. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi never publicly commented on Brown after news of the alleged incident broke.

The recruit's legal issues, which remain unresolved, were presumed to be the reason he did not sign with the program on national signing day last December, and it appears that at least one of the parties involved has now decided to move on from the situation.

The 6’4”, 260-pound defensive end holds three-star ratings from 247Sports and Rivals, and at the time of his commitment, he held 21 offers, including 14 from Power Five programs. Some of his most notable offers came from Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Ole Miss, Penn State and West Virginia. At this point, it is unclear if any of those offers still stand, and Brown has not commented on his future plans.