Pitt lands outside linebacker Kamara of Akron, N.J. athlete DeShields, Florida DE Belgrave
Pitt landed a versatile safety/outside linebacker for its Class of 2020 on Sunday when Bangally Kamara of Akron East High School tweeted his intentions to enroll next year. He is one of five prospects to verbally commit to Pat Narduzzi this weekend, according to the coach’s Pat Signal tweets. Only three made their plans public.
Poverty put me in this position...? #COMMITTED ?? #2ManyLights0n pic.twitter.com/MSfaY6a0SQ
— BANGALLY?? (@bengally_kamara) June 16, 2019
Kamara (6-foot-2, 193 pounds) has 26 scholarship offers, but listed seven finalists on his Twitter account last month — Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, Cincinnati and Pitt. He said he expects to play outside linebacker when he enrolls next year.
PITT IS IT!!!! #H2P #2ManyLights0n pic.twitter.com/ys6F8nHVEV
— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) June 16, 2019
Asked what he liked about his official visit to Pitt this weekend, he said, “Everything. They exceeded everybody in everything, patience, academically, after football, the way they want to go football-wise. Everything just went together.
“And it’s a great city to do it in.”
Kamara said coach Pat Narduzzi was “really happy” when he gave him the news.
Rated a three-star by Rivals.com, he is the 43rd-ranked overall prospect in Ohio.
He said he plans no more visits during the recruiting process.
“I’m done,” he said.
‼️‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/Tz83VwAIme
— solomon deshields (@acelordd) June 16, 2019
Pitt also got a verbal commitment from one of the top players in New Jersey, Solomon DeShields of Millville High School.
DeShields (6-1, 210) is a three-star prospect, the 15th-ranked prospect overall in New Jersey and the 41st-ranked athlete in the U.S., according to Rivals.com. He can play almost anywhere on the field, but has been used as a wide receiver and linebacker at Millville.
He chose Pitt over 12 other schools that offered scholarships, including Auburn, Virginia Tech, Oregon, Missouri, Rutgers, West Virginia, Iowa State, Kentucky and Michigan State.
Then, on Sunday night, Pitt got a verbal commitment from defensive end Emmanuel Belgrave of Southridge High School in Miami. He is a three-star prospect who is unranked in Rivals.com’s data base.
Bellgrave (6-3, 225) is the second defensive end in Pitt’s class, joining previously committed Sam Williams of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Bellgrave has seven other schools interested enough to make scholarship offers, including South Florida, Nebraska, Rutgers and Wake Forest.
Committed ?™️ #Hail2Pitt pic.twitter.com/n3eLMgRjur
— Jomoney? (@ebelgrave12) June 17, 2019
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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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