2020 early signing period

Pitt and Penn State faced each other for the last time for the foreseeable future in 2019. As they part company at the dawn of a new decade, they're shaping their futures through recruiting in different ways.

Coach Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers are continuing to use the exposure of their ACC affiliation to ramp up their activity in talent-rich Florida. Five of their 2020 class' 16 members hail from the Sunshine State. That's more than Pitt's getting from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey combined.

The Nittany Lions and coach James Franklin, meanwhile, are hoping a big class can mean big impacts. Their 27 verbal commits as of Tuesday afternoon are the most they've had in a class since online recruiting services began tracking such things in the early aughts. The last class close to as big was a 25-member group in 2015 that produced the transformative Saquon Barkley.

One thing the classes again have in common? Not much local talent. Westinghouse's Dayon Hayes (Pitt) and Aliquippa's Zuriah Fisher (Penn State) are the only two WPIAL or City League alums heading to either school.

That development might have been unthinkable even 10 years ago, when local recruiting battles for top talent burned hot. Now, as Western Pennsylvania's high school talent base continues to dwindle, it's part of a trend that illustrates how the dynamic of their again-dormant rivalry has changed. Both schools are broadening their horizons and forging separate identities, and it's becoming as obvious in their recruiting strategies as it is in their lack of a common date on the schedule.

-Adam Bittner

Player ratings, Pitt and Penn State photos by Rivals.com
Dayon Hayes photo by Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette.