Gavin Bartholomew was a late addition to Pitt’s 2021 recruiting class. He made his commitment to Pitt on November 29th, a few weeks before signing day. He knew well before he made that decision that Pittsburgh is where he wanted to play college football.
The 6’4” and 255-pound tight end out of Blue Mountain High School in Schuylkill Haven, PA is now enrolled at Pitt early and ready to make an impact this spring for a school he had wanted to attend the moment he visited campus last March.
“I took a visit to Pitt before I actually committed to Buffalo and got the offer, so I knew what Pitt was like,” Bartholomew told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. “It felt right, right away. I knew this was a place I really wanted to be.”
Pitt was where Bartholomew wanted to be, but he didn’t have an offer from the Panthers initially. He kept in touch, but ultimately committed to play for Buffalo in July and held that commitment up until Pitt came calling. A phone call from Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem changed everything and led to him finding his way to Pitt.
Salem asked if he would be interested in coming to Pitt if a spot was available, Bartholmew quickly said yes, and the rest is now history.
“The time came and I didn’t think anything of it, and I took it,” Bartholomew said of when he finally got the chance to commit to Pitt.
The Blue Mountain standout did a little bit of everything on the field in high school. He shifted from quarterback to tight end, played defense, and even served as the team’s punter. From having many different perspectives on the field, he believes that can help him at tight end at the college level.
“Just like being able to see from a quarterback’s perspective like where you got to be and just running routes and everything and reading defense,” he said of learning tight end with the benefit of having played other positions.
Bartholomew along with fellow 2021 signee Jake Renda, are both two newcomers to the tight end room. They are working with Salem, along with senior Lucas Krull, who has taken to a leadership role among the new guys.
“Lucas does a great job, he’s a great guy,” Bartholomew said of Krull. “He really helps us running routes and everything, getting the playbook down and running routes with the other guys. It’s a great group of guys, I love it.”
