Introducing local 2018 OT Blake Zubovic, recent Pitt offer

It was the day before signing day and not a creature was stirring, with the exception of college football coaches. On Tuesday night, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi was working the phones and getting on the recruiting trail to get after several 2018 prospects despite the looming National Letter of Intent signings from 2017 prospects coming the day after.

Most notably, Narduzzi and the Pitt staff extended an offer to a local offensive tackle, 2018 Belle Vernon (Pa.) product Blake Zubovic. It was a banner day for Zubovic, whose college attention has been rapidly increasing following a standout junior season. It was the first scholarship offer of the process for Zubovic and was quickly made into a pair when Maryland followed suit in the same day.

“Well, it’s been pretty crazy. I’ve just been working and it’s been pretty exciting to finally break those first two offers,” Zubovic said. “It’s been a dream of mine to play football in college, so to see the opportunity finally come true is pretty awesome.”

The hometown program in Pittsburgh had begun contact with Zubovic just a few days prior, but it didn’t take the Panthers staff long to make a decision and a statement on how strong their interest in Zubovic is, extending an opportunity that he called “special.”

“I was contacted by Mr. Mark Diethorn and we’ve had some contact on and on for the last week or so. Then I had some contact with coach Rob Harley as well. I’ve made some phone calls with them and gotten to know them,” Zubovic said. “Then [on Tuesday night], I called Mr. Diethorn and he put coach Narduzzi on the line. Coach Narduzzi told me about the offer. It was pretty special. I did grow up watching Pitt.”

Zubovic’s contact with Narduzzi was quickly followed by another high-profile Pitt personality reaching out. Belle Vernon (Pa.) had been kind to Pitt in the past, sending five-star offensive lineman and recent graduate Dorian Johnson to the Panthers. The fellow B.V alum took the opportunity to reach out to Zubovic following his offer – another important moment for the junior prospect.

“I hadn’t spoken with him before, but last night he actually reached out to me on Twitter and said that if I had any questions about the whole recruiting process, he’d be able to answer them,” Zubovic said. “That was pretty important to me because us Belle Vernon linemen look up to him as a role model for the work ethic that he has.”

Seeing Johnson from a high school standout in his own hometown to an all-conference standout and likely early-round draft pick has provided a path to follow for Zubovic and his teammates in the trenches at Belle Vernon.

“I have watched him in his career at Pitt, especially because he’s from Belle Vernon. It was pretty awesome to watch him grow from starting a few games his freshman year to watching him become a first or second round draft pick possibly,” Zubovic said. “It’s meant a lot to us, because it shows us what hard work can get us.”

The Pittsburgh-area lineman’s other offer on his double-dip day came from a Big Ten program a little further away from home in the Maryland Terrapins. While he’s less familiar with the Terps than hometown Pitt, he’s nonetheless excited about the offer.

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“What I know from talking with Maryland’s offensive line coach, coach Borbely, is that I really like the way their program is headed. They seem to have to started to get good stuff going down there,” Zubovic said.

As tends to happen in recruiting at times, Zubovic’s situation went from a trickle of contact to a flood of interest and recruitment in a matter of days. His doors are being beaten down at this point and he’s trying to navigate an offseason visit schedule soon.

“Right now, I have offers to come to several different junior days and I’m not really sure which I’m going to go to,” Zubovic said. “Both Pitt and Penn State have offered me to come to their junior days as well as Maryland. With all of them being on the same day, it could be a hard decision to make. I can probably stop down at Pitt any time.”

Many would point to the early offer from a hometown school and see Zubovic as a likely early commitment candidate at Pitt – similarly to the path followed by 2017 signee Gabe Houy at Upper St. Clair at the same position – but Blake is looking to take his team and weigh his options.

“I’m going to keep working and keep all of my options and avenues open. I just want to see where it goes from here… I don’t really have a preference on college right now. I’m still really young. I’m only 16, so I have a long time to see where this all goes... I want to go into business and accounting when I’m older, so academics plays a big part into which school I choose,” he explained. “Other than that, I just want to see where some of these visits go and I’ll go from there.”

Although he’s young, with his size and nastiness at 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, Zubovic makes an appealing prospect. His aggression, athleticism, and frame are an intriguing combination for college coaches and he’s working hard to maintain and build upon his already impressive status.

“What appeals to colleges is that I think that even with my size, I move pretty well and I have pretty good footwork. I think that can be pretty appealing. My training that goes into that is lifting five to six days a week and working out with an explosion trainer once or twice a week to get my first step and quickness better,” Zubovic said. “I played at offensive tackle, defensive end, and defensive tackle this season, but I don’t really know where I’ll play. Most schools have told me offensive tackle so far, and I’m okay with that. I don’t really favor one side more than the other.”

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the local offensive tackle continue to stockpile offers here in the spring as word of his abilities and tape make it out to the masses. It will be hard to top the hype surrounding fellow Belle Vernon alum Dorian Johnson, but Zubovic has as good of an opportunity as any prospect in the area in recent memory.