Pitt loses a DT commit

Pitt lost another recruit from the class of 2015 this week Kettering (Oh.) Archbishop Alter defensive tackle Kraig Howe decommitted from the Panthers.

Howe became the second prospect to decommit this week, following quarterback Alex Hornibrook, who decommitted on Monday and committed to Wisconsin. Badgers coach Paul Chryst, who recruited Hornibrook and Howe to Pitt, has also shown interest in Howe, who will take an official visit to Madison next weekend.

With Howe off the board, Pitt sits at 10 commitments in the class of 2015. On November 1, Pitt had commitments from 15 recruits; in addition to Howe, Hornibrook and Hamilton, running back Sekai Lindsay and offensive lineman Rob Dowdy also backed away from their pledges.

New Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has said he will honor the commitments he inherited, but he did not pursue Lindsay or Dowdy, who decommitted before he was hired.

On the micro level, the Panthers have no defensive tackle prospects in the class. Pickerington (Oh.) Central defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton was committed to Pitt until late November, when he backed away from his commitment and committed to Kentucky two weeks later.

According to the Rivals.com database, all defensive tackle prospects who previously held offers from Pitt have committed to other schools. The same goes for the seven tackles who claimed offers from Michigan State (where Narduzzi was defensive coordinator prior to taking the Pitt job), so if the coaching staff adds one or more defensive tackles in this class, they will be "new" targets.

THe previous Pitt staff did attempt to rebuild the defensive tackle depth on the roster. In the last two classes (2013 and 2014), Chryst and company signed five defensive tackles: sophomore Tyrique Jarrett, redshirt freshmen Justin Moody and Jeremiah Taleni and freshmen Connor Dintino and Mike Herndon.

Those five first and second-year players accounted for most of the eight defensive tackles on Pitt's 2014 roster, and seven of those eight will be back in 2015 (LaQuentin Smith was the only senior at the position). Still, Narduzzi's staff will no doubt be looking to add numbers for depth and future contributions, so the hunt for more 2015 tackle prospects is on.

Click Here to view this Link.