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New commit Davis: "Special things are ahead and I want to be part of them"

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Wendell Davis was thinking about visiting some of the schools on his offer sheet. After all, 20 colleges have given him scholarship opportunities, so the Richmond (Va.) Benedictine School linebacker thought it would only be right to check them out.

But the more he thought about it, Davis knew what he wanted to do.

“I’ve been talking about Pitt since I visited in March,” Davis told Panther-Lair.com Friday afternoon. “I had other visits planned but I kept thinking about Pitt; they had been my favorites for so long, I figured I might as well commit and get my spot.

“I visited the school, fell in love with it, saw them practice and knew it was something I wanted to be part of.”

Davis chose Pitt over Power Five offers from Boston College, Duke, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia, but the entirety of what the Panthers have to offer - from academics to athletics- made them stand out.

“Pitt has a variety of majors I can choose from; that’s important,” Davis said. “And the way they want to use me in the defense, I feel like I can excel to my fullest. Plus, the coaching staff is very cool, and watching them last season with the win over Clemson, special things are ahead and I want to be part of it.”

Davis, 6’2” 220, is getting recruited by Pitt to play either middle linebacker or boundary linebacker (the “Money” position in Pitt’s defense) and he sees appeal in that defensive scheme, as well as the linebackers coach, Rob Harley.

“They’re really aggressive on defense and they like to blitz a lot; that’s what we do at my school so I think I would be able to really excel with my athletic ability.

“And Coach Harley, I’ve talking to him once a week since February, so we’ve developed a really good relationship over that time. He’s real straight up, he doesn’t cut corners, he tells you how it is and he loves football. I want to play for a coach who loves it as much as I do.”

Davis added that he likes a lot about the direction of head coach Pat Narduzzi.

“I see ACC championships in the future,” Davis said. “We’re going to be good. We’re going to be really good.”

Davis is Pitt’s sixth commitment in the class of 2018 and the second verbal the Panthers received on Friday. Hyattsville (Md.) cornerback Judson Tallandier also committed Friday; earlier in the week, Butler lineman Jake Kradel committed, joining Thomas Jefferson defensive end Noah Palmer, Montvale (NJ) St. Joseph quarterback Nick Patti and Cambridge (Mass.) Buckingham Browne & Nichols tight end/H-back Jay Symonds.

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