Pitt lands a CB from Florida

Malik Henderson didn't need to visit Pitt; after getting an offer from the Panthers last week, the Hallandale Beach (Fla.) Hallandale cornerback knew that he wanted to go to Pitt.

"Pitt was one of my favorite schools and they were one of the first schools to start recruiting me in December or January," Henderson told Panther-Lair.com Wednesday afternoon. "I was just waiting on an offer, then I got the offer last week and I've been thinking about it ever since then. It felt right.

"So I've been talking to all the coaches - Coach (Troy) Douglas, Coach (Inoke) Breckterfield and Coach (Paul) Chryst - for the last few days and I told them that I wanted to commit and I was going to announce it on Wednesday."

Despite not visiting yet, Henderson likes a lot of what he has seen from Pitt so far.

"What caught my eye at first was when I saw that they share facilities with the Pittsburgh Steelers; they were my favorite team as a kid," he said. "Then I did further research and saw that the [defensive backs] coach was Coach Douglas, and he's a heck of a coach. He knows what he's doing and I know that if I get coached by him, I can be success. And I think I'll have a chance to go in and play early. Plus they were one of the first to show interest, and that was a big factor for me."

The next step for Henderson, 6'1" 180, is to get on campus so he can see the school he committed to.

"They want me to come up to visit and I plan to go up June 20," he said. "I'm excited to get up there for a visit. I know the town is full of great people who care about football and the players they get. And I'm looking forward to meeting the coaches and seeing how they are as coaches and seeing how they embrace me. And I want to see Heinz Field and the facilities and see how the school is."

Henderson picked Pitt over offers from Arkansas, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, UMass and Alcorn State. He was hearing interest from a number of other schools, but he said he likes what he has found in Pitt.

"I'm going to the FIU, Florida and Miami camps with my team. I'm not looking to find new offers, though, because I'm pretty content with my situation.

"It wasn't my plan to commit early because I just got offers two weeks ago. I didn't even think I would get offers; I just had to stay patient, and after I got the Pitt offer, I knew where I wanted to go."

Henderson is Pitt's fourth commitment in the class of 2015, joining Kittanning tight end Nick Bowers, Altoona linebacker Kevin Givens and Canon-McMillan offensive lineman Alex Paulina.

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