Prior to Pitt’s practice on Wednesday, Pat Narduzzi announced that Penn State graduate transfer Johnny Petrishen has joined the Pitt football program.
“We’ve got one addition to our roster today," Narduzzi announced to the media. "It’s been in the works for a couple days here, but we got another graduate transfer in - John Petrishen has stepped in, an old Central Catholic player, which you guys probably know. So we’re happy to have him here, he has two years left of eligibility. I think it’ll be a great addition to our football team."
Petrishen, a Pittsburgh native, played for Central Catholic in high school. He chose Penn State over offers from Pitt, West Virginia, Syracuse, Maryland, among others. Out of high school, he was ranked as the 21st ranked player in the state of Pennsylvania according to Rivals.com. He was recruited to the Penn State program as a safety.
Petrishen took a redshirt during the 2015 season and did not crack the lineup in 2016. He started to see some play as a redshirt sophomore in 2017, before appearing in all of the Nittany Lions’ games in 2018, mostly as a special teams player.
He is listed at 6'0" and 211-pounds according to the Penn State official athletics website. He also has eight career tackles to his credit.
On Tuesday evening, Petrishen posted on his Twitter that he was in fact transferring but also revealed his playing and injury status.
“Most people do not know this, but I recently had total reconstructive surgery, which was my third surgery/procedure in four years” he wrote on Twitter.
In light of those injuries, the former Central Catholic standout actually has two more years of eligibility to his name. He also graduated from Penn State making him immediately eligible for this upcoming season.
It appears he will be joining the Pitt program as a walk-on at first. When asked if he would be placed on scholarship, Narduzzi downplayed it.
“Right now he’s starting off as a football player, how about that,” Narduzzi said.
Petrishen will look to contribute right away as a special teams player, and should provide depth and experience in the safety room.
