Pitt added to its 2021 roster on Friday morning as Hawaii wide receiver transfer Melquise Stovall chose the Panthers for his final collegiate season. He checks in at 5'9" and 190-pounds and has one year to play. Stovall has played the past two seasons at the University of Hawaii and totaled 49 catches in two years for the Rainbow Warriors, including 31 receptions for 232 yards this past season.
“Why not Pitt? It’s a great and historical school that has a lot of great history, lot of great key players that have came out of there," Stovall told Panther-Lair.com about his commitment. "They have a great thing going over there.”
Stovall played under wide receivers coach Brennan Marion at Hawaii this past season. Marion was hired for the same position at Pitt earlier this year and he extended an offer to Stovall back on March 11th.
“He’s a guy that cares about you off the field," Stovall said of Marion. "He really calls in and checks on us and see how we’re doing personally. I think that’s something that the game has been missing for a long time, and I think he’s a great coach and does a great job of coaching his players.”
Prior to his time at Hawaii, Stovall played the 2018 season for Riverside Community College. He caught 17 passes for 289 yards that year and chose Hawaii over his other offer Florida Atlantic.
Stovall was originally a member of the 2016 recruiting class, and checked in as a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com. Stovall held 18 offers coming out of Paraclete High School in Lancaster (Calif.) but ultimately decided to play for the University of California.
In one season with the Bears he had a solid freshman campaign with 42 catches for 415 yards and three touchdowns. An injury limited him to just one game in his sophomore season before he chose the junior college route.
His career has kept him exclusively on the West Coast and he has yet to visit Pittsburgh, but got to do a virtual tour prior to committing. He plans to get to Pittsburgh for the first day of summer classes.
"Never been to the East coast," he said. "So once I touch down it’ll be my first time there.”
Stovall will bring experience to the Pitt wide receivers room that has plenty of it already. Pitt returns four of its top five receivers from a season ago, led by sophomore Jordan Addison, who caught 60 passes as a freshman. Stovall has a strong bond with Marion in place and should be able to bring a leadership quality to the room immediately.
“I watched the receiving corps last year and I think they did an amazing job," Stovall said of the returning Pitt receivers. "I think they’re phenomenal ballers and I think I can come in and take a little bit of stress off of them and kind of allow them to get open more.”
