Konata Mumpfield always believed he belonged at the power five level. As a recruit, however, Mumpfield was graded as a two-star prospect coming out of Dacula High School. Akron was the lone FBS offer for him, and he accepted.

Mumpfield proved right away he was right on that assessment on himself. He was named a freshman All-American in 2021 after catching 63 passes for 751 yards and 8 touchdowns. In games against Ohio State and Auburn, he combined for 10 catches for 86 yards. He caught a touchdown against Ohio State.

“For me as a kid coming out of high school, I always felt that I was a pretty big-time player,” Mumpfield told the Pittsburgh media in his first interview as a member of the Pitt football team.

Mumpfield said he worked out and played 7-on-7 with a number of highly rated power-five prospects, and believed he was on par with those guys and used that as motivation in his freshman year with the Zips.

“I played with the best and I kind of played with that chip on my shoulder going into Akron that I belong here,” Mumpfield said. “So when I played Ohio State, Auburn, I just kind of kept that chip on my shoulder that I really belong and did what I had to do.”

Mumpfield went out and did it, and when the 2021 season ended he decided he wanted a second shot at the recruiting process, and this time the attention was there for the 6’1” wide receiver.

Pitt reached out quickly, as they did recruit him a bit back in high school, but plenty of other schools were interested in the freshman All-American. He garnered offers from the likes of Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky, UCF, USC, Utah, Minnesota, Rutgers, Indiana, and LSU. Mumpfield said even received some interest from his home-state school, Georgia as well.

It was a condensed recruiting process, however. Between the time entering the portal and the looming recruiting dead period, he tried to visit as many schools as he possibly could.

“It was very difficult, but I mean at the same time I understood it was a business decision,” he said of his recruitment. “I wasn’t really too into the actual official visits, so I was trying to hurry up and make a good and well thought out decision. I just tried to get everything in order and take as many as I could before the dead period.”

Pitt was one of those stops on his visit tour, and it was a program he observed from afar this season. The Panthers championship run and open passing attack put them on his radar.

“When I was actually watching film at Akron on Pitt when we played Western Michigan, it kind of just caught my eye the way they were moving around people and how they knew how to put people in good spots and create different matchups,” he said of his attraction to Pitt.

It was more than that, though. Some of the coaches behind Pitt’s successful offense in 2021: Mark Whipple and Brennan Marion, have since moved on, as has quarterback Kenny Pickett, but behind head coach Pat Narduzzi leading the recruiting efforts, Mumpfield was very intrigued with the Panthers.

“When I was leaving Akron, I had some people that worked in the building that told me how good the people were (at Pitt), the tradition, and obviously winning the ACC Championship is really appealing,” he said of his new college program. "The numbers Jordan (Addison) was putting up, how the offense was producing, Coach Narduzzi, he was a very energetic person, I really liked his energy.”

Narduzzi is excited for what Mumpfield can add to the offense under new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. Pitt returns Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison, along with experienced players like Jared Wayne, Jaylon Barden, and Jaden Bradley. The hope is Mumpfield can come right in and add to that group of receivers.

“Just an excellent receiver and I think he can come in here and just add to that receiver room and get us off to a great start there this spring,” Narduzzi said of Pitt’s newest wide receiver.

As for Mumpfield, he’s excited to get to work with that group of guys.

“You can definitely feel the love,” he said of the wide receiver room. “There’s no hate between any of them. They all have got their own goals, which I love. We’re all trying to get to where we want to get and I feel like that’s what’s best for us in the future to grow and get better.”