Pitt adds tight end Trey Andersen to 2021 recruiting class
Pat Narduzzi and his staff have been busy over the past year trying to recruit tight ends, and their efforts paid off Tuesday when Trey Andersen verbally committed to the class of 2021.
Pitt’s coach has high hopes for tight end Lucas Krull this season, but the transfer from Florida has only one year of eligibility remaining. Andersen, on the other hand, is a potential long-term answer for a position where Pitt hasn’t had much success since Shaler’s J.P. Holtz and Seton-La Salle’s Scott Orndoff exhausted their eligibility.
I want to thank @CoachTimSalem, @CoachBorbs and @CoachDuzzPittFB for this unbelievable opportunity to play @Pitt_FB! PITT IS IT! #H2P #PITT2L1TT HAIL TO PITT!!! pic.twitter.com/mkdXO2H6LO
— Trey Andersen (@TreyAndersen87) June 30, 2020
Andersen, who made the announcement on his Twitter account, did not take a direct route to Pitt.
First, he recorded 28 receptions for 487 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 2018 for Lehi High School in Eagle Mountain, Utah.
Then, he verbally committed to Brigham Young as a 6-foot-4, 213-pound two-star tight end, according to Rivals.com, in the class of 2019.
He didn’t sign with BYU, however. Instead, he went on a previously planned mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
He is currently serving the mission, but continues to work out, bulking up to 250 pounds on a 6-foot-6 frame. He had Pitt, California and Utah State seriously interested.
He chose Pitt, giving the Panthers 18 players in the class of 2021, with room for, perhaps, seven more before the December signing period.
Andersen is the only tight end in the group, but Pitt added two — Krull and junior college transfer Daniel Moraga — in the previous recruiting cycle.
The Panthers’ class is ranked 21st in the nation and fifth in the ACC, which has three schools — No. 6 Clemson, No. 7 North Carolina and No. 10 Miami — in Rivals’ top 10. Louisville is No. 17.
Pitt is tied for 21st with Alabama on the basis of volume. The Crimson Tide have only nine verbal commitments, but seven of them are four-stars.
Pitt’s only four-star among its 18 verbals is West Mifflin defensive end Nahki Johnson, ranked just ahead of highly regarded three-star Malik Newton, a running back from Norfolk, Va., and offensive lineman Terrance Enos of Detroit.
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Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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