Offered lineman checked out Pitt on Thursday night | Carretta on Pitt: 'They’re in my top three for sure' | Carretta: 'It felt like the right fit for me'

Ryan Carretta's commitment came as a surprise in a way. The three-star offensive linemen took an official visit to Pitt on June 16th, but did not make his decision until the 26th. His commitment came during another one of the big official visit weekends, but once it got sorted out, the Panthers landed one of the top offensive linemen on the recruiting board.

Carretta checks in at 6'5" and 318-pounds out of St. Charles in Columbus. He chose Pitt over offers from Duke, Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Pitt and Michigan State were the two favorites, but after visiting both schools in June, he made the call for the Panthers.

"They are both completely different campuses and settings,” Carretta said of his final decision. “I just wanted to see how I felt at them one last time and see which one felt better for me. I liked Michigan State, like it was good, but I just felt more at home at home at Pitt and the coaches there, so that was like what my main thing was.”

The Panthers are happy he felt more at home in the Steel City. Carretta marks the fourth straight year Pitt has had an impressive recruiting win in Ohio for a good offensive line prospect, following in the footsteps of Branson Taylor, Terrence Moore, and Ryan Baer.

Pitt should have a lot of experience back on the offensive line heading into the 2023 season, and that should allow for Carretta to come in and redshirt. Heading into the 2024 season and beyond, Carretta will have an opportunity to make a dent into the depth chart and push his way onto the field for playing time.