Central Catholic standout Gusty Sunseri joins Pitt as preferred walk-on

Pat Narduzzi landed a local standout as a preferred walk-on on Thursday morning, as Gusty Sunseri, a linebacker and safety at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, announced his commitment to Pitt.

The 6’0”, 200-pound recruit was a first-team All-State selection in 2019 at the 6A level in Pennsylvania, and he held scholarship offers from Patriot League and Ivy League schools. However, Sunseri instead chose to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, former Pitt All-American Sal Sunseri, and cousin, former Pitt signal-caller Tino Sunseri, and stay home.

Sunseri was not assigned a star rating by any major recruiting website, but he had a productive career at Central Catholic, as he appeared in 40 games and contributed to the team’s 2019 WPIAL title run before missing the latter half of the season with a knee injury.

Although Sunseri is considered to be undersized for a linebacker and larger than traditional FBS defensive backs, he has been praised for his physical play, hard hits and instincts at the high school level and could contribute on special teams at Pitt before perhaps transitioning to another role.

Sunseri is the second Pittsburgh-area recruit to commit to Pitt as a preferred walk-on this week, as Baldwin running back Angelo Priore announced he would continue his athletic career with the Panthers on Tuesday.