Pitt’s commits have been making their pilgrimages to campus for official visits alongside all of the uncommitted recruits out there, despite receiving a little less hubbub. Among those making the trip for the weekend of January 20th was Owen Drexel, one of Pitt’s earliest commits in the class. Drexel is an offensive center from New Jersey who’s been helping to build the class as a recruiter for months and was finally able to put the shoe on the other foot this weekend. The Garden State native got the full recruit treatment and enjoyed some great meals along the way.

“I really got more of a feel for the campus this time. I got to go out with the guys and see everything as players live. Normally, they’ll take you to the Cathedral, but I got to see everything this time,” Drexel said. “We got to eat and hang around the Steelers, so it was all a great time. We ate at Fathead’s which was amazing and we got some wings, we got some pizza at Sorrento’s.”

Pitt offensive lineman Brandon Ford hosted Drexel for the duration of his trip and Drexel says that the two built a quick rapport; that feeling was part of a larger camaraderie that Drexel says he noticed between players and all of their recruiters on campus.

“Brandon Ford was my host, I love that guy. I can already tell we’re going to have a great time together. I think all of the players and commits and guys on campus fit together perfectly,” Drexel explained. “Especially [JUCO defensive tackle] Kam [Carter], the guy who we just picked up, he’s a great dude too,” Drexel said. “I can already tell. We worked on him a little, but he’s a great guy and he was already thinking about coming here and just wanted to see everything. He’s a really great dude.”

With Drexel’s recruiting process nearly at its conclusion, he had the chance to sit down with head coach Pat Narduzzi and just go over some final things. Most importantly for Drexel, he was finally able to sign the football that Narduzzi has been keeping, one that holds a signature from every Pitt commit in the 2017 recruiting class.

“I had a long, long talk with coach Narduzzi. We always have great talks when I’m up there. I finally got to sign the football, which is nice. There was a decommit last time I was here, so they had to clean the ball off and I didn’t get to sign. Hopefully we don’t have any more of those,” Drexel laughed. “Our school normally does a ceremony every year, so I’ll get there real early with my suit and tie on and have a ceremony with a few guys from my team who are going Division I or Division II or playing other sports.”

Drexel’s talk with Narduzzi also contained some business talk as well. The head coach was keeping Drexel’s expectations updated as he prepares to enroll at Pitt in June and is working towards being ready to compete on a college football field.

“I’m just looking for an opportunity to compete and coach Narduzzi said I’ll have that. That’s all you can ask for. You never want a coach to promise a starting job. You won’t go there if that’s the case,” Drexel said. “All you can really want or ask for is a chance to compete. I’m just working and grinding until I get there and getting ready for conditioning for when I get to college. I’ve heard it’s crazy, so I’m getting that right.”

It should be a quiet few days for Drexel and his family as they get ready to sign his National Letter of Intent and conclude the recruiting process.