PITTSBURGH (AP) â Pat Narduzzi thought he had things figured out when the Pittsburgh coach tabbed Vincent Davis as the team’s top running back during spring drills.
Turns out, maybe not so much. And that’s a good thing for a team in serious need of offensive balance.
Sophomore Israel Abanikanda has turned heads â including Narduzzi’s â over the last few weeks. So much so that Narduzzi’s early proclamation that the top spot was locked up heading into fall camp no longer holds.
âWhoâd I say was the starting tailback at the beginning of spring? Vince Davis, right? Eh, not so fast,â Narduzzi said. “I shouldnât say stuff like that. You sit there and declare something, and all of a sudden Izzy is coming on. Vince is still a good back. But Izzy Abanikanda is getting after it. Weâre happy with where he is. Thereâs a battle going on.â
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FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Pitt nets 21 prospects in Class of 2021 at the end of unique year for recruiting [The Tribune-Review, Greensburg]
Dec. 17 The process that brought 21 letters of intent onto Pat Narduzzi’s computer via DocuSign on Wednesday morning “I think the fax machine is officially dead,” he said gained intensity in the spring while Pitt’s coaches were quarantined by covid-19.
“We were obsessed with recruiting,” Narduzzi said, noting his coaches worked 12-hour days with nothing else to do. “We didn’t have our players.”
And, thanks to covid, the process hasn’t ended.
None of the 21 prospects took official visits to the Pitt campus. Five of them visited unofficially at their parents’ expense when NCAA rules did not permit them to meet with anyone.