Pitt in the mix for Minnesota decommit Tamarion Crumpley

Tamarion Crumpley, a defensive back out of Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati, decommitted from Minnesota in June and has since been exploring other options. One of the programs that has emerged as a contender in the second phase of his recruitment is Pitt.

The 6’1”, 180-pound cornerback is considered a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals. Each of the recruiting websites counts Crumpley among the top 45 prospects in Ohio, and 247Sports and ESPN rank him as one of the top 95 cornerbacks overall in the 2021 class.

Over the course of his recruitment, Crumpley has received a total of 18 offers, 10 of which come from Power Five programs, and five of which come from in-state programs. And while there has been a lot of excitement around Minnesota following its first 10-win season since 2003, Crumpley ultimately felt that he did not give enough thought to other programs before committing to the Gophers.

“When I committed, I felt like I wasn’t patient enough,” Crumpley told Josh Helmholdt of Rivals on Monday. “Close friends and family were telling me to be patient, but I just hurried up and committed.”

“With all the stuff going on in Minnesota right now with the riots, I had some thoughts about that,” Crumpley added. “Stuff goes on everywhere, but it happens to be in Minnesota right now. I felt like I was going to weigh my options more, and that’s one of the reasons why I stepped away from Minnesota.”

Minnesota remains one of Crumpley’s top schools, and he is still in contact with Golden Gophers cornerbacks coach Paul Haynes. However, the 2021 prospect also noted that he has high interest in some programs closer to his hometown of Cincinnati, including Kentucky, Pitt, Purdue and West Virginia.

Of the new group of contenders for Crumpley, Purdue is the latest to get involved, and Pitt has a leg up in that Crumpley previously visited campus on Sept. 7, 2019. The only other school with a reported visit from Crumpley is Louisville, but it was not noted among the programs that he is currently interested in.