Pitt loses Trevion Stevenson to ACC rival North Carolina

Trevion Stevenson, a linebacker and defensive end out of Phoebus High School in Hampton, Virginia, verbally committed to Pitt in April and backed off that pledge on Thursday. On Saturday morning, he committed to Pitt’s ACC Coastal rival North Carolina.

This is not the first time Pitt has lost a commit to Mack Brown and North Carolina, as Brown also lured Khadry Jackson, a safety out of Florida who was committed to Pitt from June to December in 2018, to Chapel Hill shortly after he was hired. In addition, one-time Pitt target A.J. Beatty out of Central Catholic High School chose North Carolina after his relationship with Pitt seemed to sour.

Stevenson holds two-star ratings from Rivals and 247Sports, but his ratings may improve in the coming months, given his offer sheet and solid production at Phoebus. In 2019, Stevenson amassed 85 tackles, including 16 tackles for losses and 15 sacks, as well as four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

The recruit’s move to North Carolina comes as something of a surprise, as his decommitment from Pitt came amid offers from SEC powerhouses like Florida and Georgia. That lent some credence to the notion that he would end up playing for one of the Southern behemoths. However, while North Carolina is in the South, it is in no way a behemoth, as it has failed to post a winning record in nine of the last 20 years and two of the last four.

North Carolina is the third school the 6’5”, 217-pound linebacker has committed to this year, as he was committed to Old Dominion from January to February and Pitt from April to July. Under normal circumstances, it would be a certainty that Stevenson would face Pitt once a year with North Carolina, but with other options, such as geographic pods, being weighed, that may not be the case in 2020.