Pitt is a 'perfect fit' for Gandy

Ryland Gandy was taking his time with the recruiting process.

The Buford (Ga.) cornerback took his first official visit to Pitt two weeks ago, went to West Virginia on an official visit this past weekend and had an official visit scheduled to Virginia. But after he returned from Morgantown, Gandy sat down for a conversation with his father.

By the end of the conversation, Gandy knew where he wanted to go.

“I think I knew I wanted to go to Pitt after I went on the Pitt visit, but I didn’t want to just assume it was right; wanted to go to West Virginia and see how I liked that,” Gandy told Panther-Lair.com. “Then, when I got home, my dad asked me questions, like different scenarios and whether I would pick Pitt or West Virginia in those scenarios. He got through three of them and my answer to every one was Pitt.

“I knew after that.”

So on Monday morning, Gandy called Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and committed to the Panthers.

“It was just the perfect fit for me,” Gandy said. “I was there with my dad and my sister and my dad saw very few flaws in the school, both academically and athletically. And I saw everything I wanted to see.

“It’s a beautiful city, the staff was very welcoming, the players were very welcoming and I feel like I could fit in well with that program.”

Gandy, 6’0” 170, also saw a good fit for himself in Pitt’s defense after meeting with cornerbacks coach Archie Collins.

“Going over it with Coach Collins, with hims showing me the schemes and everything they do and the type of players they’re looking for, I fit that really well,” Gandy said. “For one, it’s mainly press-man, and that’s what I do now. I’m a press-man type of guy. I think I can be put in positions to make big plays and do big things.”

Beyond athletics, Gandy was impressed with what he learned about Pitt’s approach to academics on the official visit.

“When I had the one-on-one breakfast with academics, that was really big. Everything they told me, from what I would do in class to what class would be like, it just felt like what I want to do in life is what they’ll prepare me for.

“It really all just clicked for me, the academics and the athletics.”

Gandy is the first recruit to commit to Pitt from the Panthers’ first official visit weekend of the month, and he hopes to be back on campus again in the future.

“I definitely want to get back there because my mom wasn’t there so we want her to see it. She’s real comfortable with me going to Pitt, though, from what we told her after the visit. The thing that got her the most was how little crime there is in the city. That was a main factor. She has talked to the coaches, too, and she really likes them and trusts them.”

Gandy picked Pitt over Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State, USC, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.