Signed: Addison Copeland

Copeland finds the best opportunity at Pitt

When Addison Copeland decommitted from Rutgers in February, it opened a floodgate of recruiting interest.

An offer from Notre Dame got it going. Next came one from Penn State. South Carolina and Boston College also followed. And then, in early March, Pitt joined the pursuit of the three-star receiver from Buffalo.

The Panthers got a big boost in that race when they hosted Copeland for an official visit in June; that was his second official visit, and when he made the trip, he was planning to take additional visits to South Carolina and Boston College.

But after he got home from his Pitt visit, Copeland knew Pitt was the place for him.

“I think I knew when I first got there, because the very first thing we got into was academics and how they would make us better as people, not just in football,” Copeland told Panther-Lair.com after he committed. “And then I was there when Jordaan Bailey committed and I was real cool with him on the trip, so we were talking and stuff. But I got home and thought about it for an hour or two and I knew that was my decision.”

In Copeland, Pitt is getting a receiver with good size and the ability to make defenders miss in space. During the Panthers’ prospect camp, which he attended at the conclusion of his official visit in June, Copeland showed equal ability to break a big play with a quick screen and burn past a defender to get downfield as a vertical threat.