Pitt makes top six of four-star cornerback Alex Afari

Alex Afari, a cornerback out of Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, revealed his top six on Friday evening, and Pitt was included as a finalist alongside Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky and Virginia.

The Cincinnati-area prospect has received a total of 20 offers during his recruitment, and the 14 programs cut include Boston College, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Purdue, Washington State and West Virginia as well as MAC programs Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo. And with Akron, Bowling Green, Miami and Toledo out of the running, Cincinnati is the only in-state school still in the mix.

Of the six finalists still in the running for Afari, Pitt is one of three that has hosted the recruit for a visit, with the other two being Cincinnati and Kentucky. And Afari has been impressed with what Pitt has to offer and with Panthers defensive coordinator Randy Bates.

“I’m real cool with Coach Bates,” Afari told Jason Stamm of Bearcat Journal on Feb. 5. “It’s a great school, a beautiful campus. They definitely send people to the NFL. The defense is real good. That’s what I like about them: how they use their corners.”

Afari, a 6’2”, 195-pound recruit listed as a cornerback and athlete, holds a four-star rating from Rivals, which ranks him as the No. 33 cornerback in the 2022 class and the No. 12 recruit in Ohio. 247Sports gives Afari a three-star rating and ranks him as the No. 38 athlete in the 2021 class and the No. 15 Ohio recruit.

At Lakota West, Afari has played as a cornerback and safety for a Firebirds team that went 8-1 and 5-0 in the Greater Miami Conference, earning a first-place finish in 2020. The team bulldozed its way through three opponents in the state playoffs, outscoring those teams 98-21 before dropping a close regional title game to St. Xavier 10-7.

As for Afari, the defensive back earned first-team All-Ohio honors for his role on a defense that posted four shutouts in 2020. He also had two interceptions, including a pick-six in Lakota West’s 21-7 win over Fairfield on Sept. 18.

At this point, it is unclear when Afari will announce his commitment, as he has yet to set a decision date. However, it does appear Pitt is in good standing for the time being.