Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt announced a recruiting class of 19 players on national signing day yesterday that reaffirmed his reputation as one of the top recruiters in the nation.

Yesterday was the first day high school football players could sign binding letters of intent with colleges.

The Panthers are coming off a 5-7 season and have not had a winning season or been to a bowl game since the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, yet Wannstedt managed to sign a class that most recruiting services have in their top 25 nationally. Some even rank it in the top 20.

This also is the third consecutive year that Wannstedt has had the consensus top recruiting class in the Big East Conference.

Because Pitt has so many returning scholarship players on the roster, Wannstedt did not recruit a full class of 25 players, the maximum allowed by the NCAA.

A trio of All-Americans from the high school U.S. Army Bowl headline Pitt's class: Aliquippa wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin, Gateway linebacker Shayne Hale and Thomas Jefferson offensive tackle Lucas Nix. Three other players earned All-American status from PrepStar recruiting service: Wilmington running back Chris Burns, Easton cornerback Jarred Holley and Central Catholic quarterback Tino Sunseri.

Pitt signed 14 players from Pennsylvania, 13 of whom were named first-team all-state. The other player from Pennsylvania was named to the second team.

The Panthers signed six of the top 11 players in the state and 12 of the top 40 according to Rivals.com. By comparison, Penn State signed only one player in the top 11 and only four in the top 40.

Wannstedt has worked hard to make recruiting Pennsylvania one of his top priorities after arriving at Pitt, including a big push to get the Panthers into the eastern part of the state.

"Our coaches have done a great job of zeroing in on the top players in the state before we spread out and go elsewhere," Wannstedt said. "We had 19 total kids and three of them were here in January, so we're now getting ready to get started planning for the season."

Two players the coaches hope will make an immediate impact are center Robb Houser from Butte College (a California junior college) and quarterback Greg Cross from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas. Both players will have two years of eligibility.

Houser will enter spring drills favored to be the starting center, because last year's starter, Chris Vangas, graduated and his backup, Alex Karabin, was a walk-on.

Cross is not a traditional drop-back passer but is a more athletic, multipurpose quarterback who likely will have several packages installed for him. With the addition of Cross and Sunseri and with a healthy Bill Stull -- he missed last season with a thumb injury -- Pitt will have five quarterbacks on scholarship for the next two seasons.

Wannstedt said each quarterback will have a chance to win the starting job, although unlike Cross, who already has enrolled and will participate in spring drills, Sunseri will not join the team until training camp in August.

"At quarterback, it didn't take long for us last year to be in a situation where we were playing a true freshman, so we needed to make sure we were more solid there from a depth standpoint," Wannstedt said. "And Greg Cross brings an athleticism that we don't currently have at the quarterback position and that will enable our offensive coaches to have a couple of different packages to try and get as much production out of the players as we can.

"And if you look at it, Bill Stull has to come back from a tendon injury and [last year's starter] Pat Bostick has lost 18 pounds since the end of the season and [backup] Kevan Smith has worked extremely hard, so we're going to get them all in the mix and see who emerges. And we have Tino Sunseri, who is a guy we really like. I don't know who are starter is right now -- our most experienced player is Pat, but it is a wide open competition."

Several other high-profile players from Western Pennsylvania who signed with the Panthers are Gateway standout running back Cameron Saddler, Central Catholic defensive back Andrew Taglianetti, Hopewell lineman Ryan Turnley, Norwin receiver Mike Shanahan and Clairton linebacker Manny Williams. Pitt also signed two players from Johnstown, tight end/defensive end Mike Cruz and defensive back Antwuan Reed, and signed one of the top kickers in the nation, Mentor's (Ohio) Kevin Harper.

Pitt did lose one recruit when quarterback Zach Stoudt from Dublin, Ohio, signed a letter of intent with Louisville. Stoudt, who is the son of former Steelers quarterback Cliff Stoudt, said he was concerned with the fact that the Panthers have so many quarterbacks on scholarship.