Ohio athlete enjoys his time with Powell

Darien Clemons had never been to Pitt before this weekend, so he didn't know what to expect. But he told Panther-Lair.com after his visit that his impression of the school is positive.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Piqua (Ohio) prospect doesn't have an offer from Pitt, but he did attend a junior day that was mostly limited to the Panthers' top prospects.

"I've never been to Pittsburgh so it was a nice place to see," Clemons said. "The facilities and everything were nice. The coaches were nice so I'd say it was pretty good overall."

It was about a four hour drive, Clemons said, and that was "a good distance" that "wasn't too bad." His mother, father and sister accompanied him on his Sunday visit to Pitt.

"The best part was probably getting to see the facilities they share with the Steelers and going to the Cathedral," he said. "That was another pretty cool thing. And of course the basketball game was pretty cool."

There's no consensus on Clemons' position at the college level.

All of the MAC schools recruiting the Buckeye State junior believe he could play running back or linebacker, but most of those schools seem to prefer him in the offensive backfield logging carries. Conversely, Rutgers' coaches don't have any preference at all.

Pitt hasn't been crystal clear about the position they prefer Clemons at, and perhaps they haven't decided with certainty. But it's notable that he went with running backs coach Andre Powell when the time for position meetings came at the junior day.

"Coach Powell was a pretty cool guy. He's got a lot of history with a bunch of athletes and he's a pretty straightforward guy," he said.

So where is the Pitt staff when it comes to their evaluation of Clemons?

"They just said to be patient for now because they do things a little bit slow," he said.

Clemons had 123 carries for 890 yards and 13 touchdowns as Piqua's only running back with more than 50 carries in 2015. He had 27 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks on defense.

Clemons said he "loved" Rutgers, in spite of the fact that the school is "kind of a long way away." So while distance does seem to be a consideration on some level, it's not the kind of factor that would keep him from considering a school - even schools farther from home than Pitt.

Clemons has not yet been ranked by Rivals.com, but he does have early offers from Rutgers, Ball State and Ohio. He has unofficially visited Rutgers, Cincinnati, Ball State and Ohio early this year, and he will visit Toledo and Iowa State later in the spring.