Todd Graham has been on the recruiting trail seemingly since the minute he was hired, and on Friday, he landed his first recruit for 2011 - JUCO offensive lineman Zenel Demhasaj.
↵Demhasaj is only a two-star recruit as rated by both Scout and Rivals, but beggars can't be choosers. Not only is Pitt in dire need of offensive linemen, the team needs recruits in general as its once-prized 2011 class put together by former coach Dave Wannstedt is now in shambles. Pitt has less than ten recruits committed to join the team next season and any prospects this late in the game is better than none.
↵Demhasaj had several offers including from Cincinnati and Memphis. Michigan State also apparently showed some interest, but Rutgers was the one school he thought might offer that never came through:
↵↵↵Demhasaj said he was hearing a good bit from Rutgers back in November, and he even visited the school during the weekend of their game against Syracuse.
↵"That was an unofficial visit," he recalled. "I spoke with one of their coaches and they showed me the whole place, but I haven’t really talked to them since then. I don’t know what happened, really. I guess they lost interest."
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With everything that's gone on with the coaching situation, if Pitt can salvage even a mediocre recruiting class, that has to be viewed as a major victory.