Pitt lands 2021 LB Nahki Johnson
Saturday June 22, 2019 may go down as one of the more memorable days in recent Pitt football recruiting history. Pitt played host to ten official visitors for the class of 2020, and ended up landing six commitments.
The day wasn't quite over from there, however. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi along with defensive line coach Charlie Partridge started to tweet out the team's 2021 recruiting slogan #Pitt2L1TT and it suggested that just maybe Pitt landed it's first recruit for the class of 2021, and that is exactly what happened as Nahki Johnson committed to Pitt just days later.
Johnson is a 6'3" and 210-pound linebacker that will attend West Mifflin High School this year. He played his first two high school seasons at Steel Valley High School. Johnson is a three-star prospect, and is graded as the 18th ranked outside linebacker prospect in his class.
Johnson is also graded as the ninth-best recruit in what is expected to be a pretty loaded class of 2021 for the state of Pennsylvania. He marks for a strong start to that year's recruiting efforts and should help in the pursuit of some of the other top in-state prospects in the class.
Johnson has been centered around a recent news story following his December transfer from Steel Valley to West Mifflin. The WPIAL recently ruled him ineligible as they have questioned if he transferred for athletic reasons, as some believe he followed former Steel Valley coach Rod Steele to West Mifflin. It will be up to the PIAA governing body to decide his playing status for his junior year, thus leaving his upcoming 2019 season in doubt for the time being.
Nonetheless, Johnson is one of the top players on Pitt's recruiting board for 2021 and landing him is a big win for Pat Narduzzi. Johnson holds offers from Michigan, Mississippi State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, among others. He just wrapped up his sophomore year of high school, so more offers are expected to be on the way.
Johnson is very familiar with the Pitt football program. He visited Pitt multiple times over the years, including a recent trip to Pitt's spring game in April. He also returned to Pitt earlier this month along with top 2020 prospect Dayon Hayes.
It is a long time until signing day 2021, but Pitt got a surprise boost by landing a commitment from Johnson today on the heels of having a very successful weekend of recruiting the class of 2020.