Pitt Football: 3 Woodland Hills graduates on the rise
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Former Pitt football coach Walt Harris tried to build a talent pipeline from Woodland Hills High School to Pitt in the late 1990s, and for a few years the Panthers did draw some of the top prospects from that football powerhouse.
Tutu Ferguson and Lousaka Polite joined the Panthers in the 1999 recruiting class, then Shawntae Spencer in 2000 and Tyre Young in '01. They were crucial to the Panthers success in the early part of the decade, though Young's career was cut short by off-field issues.
But that pipeline seemed to dry up in '02 when former Woodland Hills standout receiver Steve Breaston (now with the Kansas City Chiefs) chose Michigan over the Panthers. Breaston was followed to Ann Arbor by future Steelers safety Ryan Mundy. Pitt also missed out on Devon Lyons (Ohio State), Darren Walls (Notre Dame) and Rob Gronkowski (Arizona).
Pitt was able to land Greg Webster in '06 but a medical condition ended his career before it got started. People began to wonder if the Panthers would again be able to tap the rich pool of talent in their backyard.
Todd Graham seemingly has answered that question with a resounding 'yes' in only his first seven months on the job, and the Panthers pipeline from Woodland Hills appears to be gushing again.
Pitt's defense will feature three freshmen from Woodland Hills: nose tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith (6 feet, 295 pounds), "Panther" linebacker Ejuan Price (6-0, 235) and cornerback Lafayette Pitts (5-11, 180). All three are expected to make contributions this year.
Graham and his staff are not from Western Pennsylvania, and some fans thought they would struggle to recruit local talent. But in their first year they have tapped into one of the most important WPIAL schools in terms of producing talent.
That's especially true considering Graham and company had to win over Mosley-Smith, who had been recruited by the previous Pitt staff and went to prep school and, admittedly, was skeptical of the new regime. Then they lured Pitts from conference rival Rutgers on the eve of signing day and got Price after he already had signed with Ohio State but was allowed to reconsider because of turmoil in that program.
First Published August 16, 2011 12:00 am
