INKED: QB Ricky Town signs with Pitt

Ricky Town became the 15th player to sign with Pitt’s football program in the 2018 recruiting class on National Signing Day, joining his classmates signing today. Town is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound quarterback who comes to Pitt by way of Ventura (Cali.) Community College. He's a player who originally signed with USC out of high school and later transferred to Arkansas before eventually finding his way back home to Ventura Community College. Here’s a brief look back at his journey as a recruit and his history with Pitt:

First appearance on Rivals: Ventura (Cali.) quarterback Ricky Town appeared on Rivals as early as 2012, but really stepped into his own and emerged on the scene in a major way in July 2013, the summer following his sophomore season. By that point, Town already held major offers from Alabama, Florida State, Texas, Miami (Fla.), UCLA, and Arizona State. He continued collecting offering through summer camps, including from USC, Georgia, and Stanford, but decided to commit to Alabama in August of 2013. This would not be the end of Town's recruitment, of course. By January of 2014, the California native had flipped to USC from Alabama following an unofficial visit. Town was an Army All-American who committed to USC in the class after five-star and eventual Pitt grad transfer Max Browne and in the same class as David Sills, now a ridiculously productive wide receiver at West Virginia.

Town's wild ride: After signing with USC in February of 2015, Town left the program shortly thereafter. Before the start of fall football camp, Town had departed from the Trojans' roster and arrived at the Arkansas Razorbacks program in August of 2015, redshirting in his first year. Town stayed at Arkansas through December of 2016, at which point he announced a decision to return home and play the 2017 season at his hometown Ventura (Cali.) Community College. He'll return to the Division I ranks with two years of eligibility remaining to play two seasons and will be immediately eligible to play and compete at Pitt.

Town commits to Pitt: After spending the year at Ventura Community College, Town remained almost completely under-the-radar in his re-recruitment. The former Rivals250 four-star and high school All-American took an official visit to Pitt on December 15th without any prior announcement and committed to the Panthers program shortly thereafter.

Town's Impact: "At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Town has the physical make-up and frame of a prototypical pocket passer, but has a little more athleticism than is typically expected out of that player framework. While Town isn't quite the athlete that Pitt rising sophomore Kenny Pickett is, he's more impressive using his feet than 2017 USC grad transfer and Pitt Panther Max Browne... As a passer, Town shows above-average arm strength and impressive footwork and mechanical soundness. Town is comfortable climbing the pocket, stepping into his throws, and maintaining calm under duress, rarely allowing his mechanics to break down in the face of pressure." Read more about Town's impact on the Pitt program here.

From the coach: “That’s his advantage: he’s been in multiple systems,” Ventura offensive coordinator Ryan Clanton said. “He knows what USC and Arkansas taught him and what I taught him, and he can do a lot of things. He’s really good at play-action and he’s a bigger, physical guy who can run the ball. We use some of the quick RPO spreads that Oregon uses, but we also throw complex downfield RPOs, not just bubbles. I think he is good in that system; he’s really good under center, but once he got comfortable in the RPO stuff, he did well.”