Pitt lands a four-star running back
Pitt landed a commitment from four-star Daniel Carter this evening, as he announced his college decision via Twitter. Carter is a 5-11 and 210-pound back from Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.). He chose Pitt over his other finalist Kansas State.
In total, Carter had 18 offers and is ranked as the No. 11 running back prospect in the nation and checks in at No. 226 overall in the Rivals 250 rankings.
Earlier this fall, Carter said, "I think my mom really liked it the most up there; she loved the coaches. I like the coaches, too. The coaches are really nice, definitely the running backs coach and Coach (Charlie) Partridge, who’s my recruiter.
“They run the ball a lot and I see that their backs get a lot of yards. Plus, they have two great seniors and they’ll be leaving next year, so I can come in and definitely compete for a starting job next season.”
Carter becomes the first four-star recruit in Pat Narduzzi’s 2019 class, and he is the 20th player to pledge to the Panthers overall. He is the second running back in the class, joining fellow Florida standout, Vincent Davis. Carter is also the seventh commitment from the state of Florida, which adds to a recent trend for Pitt as the Panthers have 14 players from the Sunshine State on the active roster.
Carter plays high school football for St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the top programs in the nation. In a state semifinal game last night, he rushed for 200 yards on 22 carries with a rushing touchdown. He also caught a touchdown pass in his team’s 38-13 win over Venice High School. He will play for a Florida Class 7-A state title next Friday opposite Lakeland High School.
Through 14 games this season, Carter has rushed for 1,080 yards and 19 touchdowns on 135 carries (8 yards per carry).
This marks the third straight class Pitt has brought in a four-star running back. In 2016, Pitt hauled in AJ Davis from Florida on national signing day. Last year, Pitt got former USC commitment in Mychale Salahuddin from Washington D.C. Now Pitt will add Carter to the mix and he may be expected to compete right away with those two players for the starting job, along with redshirt freshman Todd Sibley.
Pitt currently features one of the best running attacks in the country for the 2018 season, but the two primary ballcarriers - Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall - are both seniors, thus leaving an opportunity for a young player to come in and compete for carries.
Carter visited Pittsburgh for an official visit back on the weekend of June 15th. That weekend proved to be very fruitful for the Pitt coaching staff, as nine members from that that visit committed that weekend. Carter is the tenth visitor from that weekend to commit, and the first one to do so since June. Pitt stayed in contact with him throughout the process, but Kansas State made a strong push on him and he visited there this September, but it was Pitt that won out in the end thanks to a long-standing relationship.