Hill on Pitt: Its a good fit

After George Hill reopened his recruitment this fall, the Hubbard (Oh.) athlete started reconsidering all schools.

Pitt wasn't leading his list in October, but after his official visit this past weekend, the Panthers were on top, and he committed to Pat Narduzzi Tuesday afternoon during a press conference at his high school.

"After talking with my family and coaches, I decided to be a student-athlete at the University of Pittsburgh," Hill said to an assembled collection of local television cameras and recruiting reporters.

Hill chose Pitt over offers from Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, West Virginia, Nebraska, Indiana, Kentucky and Cincinnati. He committed to Ohio State in June 2014 as the Buckeyes' first commitment of the 2016 class, but he backed away from that pledge this fall.

In his process of taking a second look at the schools recruiting him, Hill reflected on his relationship with Narduzzi, who started recruiting him as defensive coordinator at Michigan State.

"I've always had a great relationship with him," Hill said. "He's been recruiting me since I was a sophomore. He's a sincere coach and he's going to tell you the good and the bad; he's going to be honest with you.

"He was the first one to offer me at Michigan State, so for him to go to Pitt and talk to me, I have a good relationship with him. He's sincere and he's a good coach, so that helped and it's just a good fit for me."

Narduzzi's reputation for developing defensive talent - along with a considerable need for depth and talent in Pitt's secondary - also drew Hill's interest as he considered what side of the ball he wanted to play on.

"I kind of figured that I like defense more; I'm more of a defense type of a guy. I like to tackle. I like to be more aggressive. I like to score touchdowns, though, and he told me that I could play both sides of the ball, so we're going to figure out where I can utilize my speed."

Hill, 5'11" 200, said that he is being recruited primarily to play cornerback, and he was the first of two cornerback prospects to commit to Pitt on Friday. Kissimmee (Fla.) Gateway's Henry Miller tweeted his commitment to the Panthers at 2 p.m. - intentionally coinciding with Hill's planned announcement.

"That's my boy. We're going to ball out together," Hill said.

Hill and Miller met in Pittsburgh last weekend when they were among the eight recruits taking official visits to Pitt. Two of the other six - Citra (Fla.) Marion offensive lineman Zack Williams and South Brunswick (NJ) safety Phil Campbell - committed to Pitt Sunday morning, and a third - Brooklyn (NY) Poly Prep offensive lineman Justin Morgan - committed on Monday night.

"That was a big part of it," Hill said of his experience on the visit. "I talked to a lot of the other recruits and some of them committed, too, and we just all had a good time. I related with the other recruits and we just loved it there."

Hill said that Michigan State was his No. 2 school behind Pitt, but the Panthers stood out above the Spartans.

"What separated the two was, they're both good universities but I felt like Pitt was a good fit for me. That's just me; you have to be your own ]man. [High school teammate and Michigan State freshman running back LJ Scott] is up there and I respect Coach (Mark) Dantonio - thanks to him for recruiting me and all the other colleges - but Pitt is the best fit for me. It's close to home, I like the people, I love the players and the other recruits and that's where I'll be spending my next four years."

The commitments of Hill and Miller bring Pitt's total number of recruits for the class of 2016 to 18, and those two increase the number of defensive back prospects to five. Along with Hill and Miller, Brashear's Therran Coleman is also a cornerback prospect, while Campbell and Central Catholic's Bricen Garner project as safeties.

George Hill with the #Pitt gloves pic.twitter.com/L8sOuXIRwt- Chris Peak (@PantherLair) December 18, 2015

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