Five-star Walls takes official to Pitt

Pittsburgh (Pa.) Woodland Hills cornerback Darrin Walls made an official visit locally to Pittsburgh this past weekend. What did the 6-foot-0, 172-pounder do on the trip and what did he think of the Panthers?

"When I first got there I met up with the College GameDay crew including Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit. Everyone was cheering for me to come there and that was really cool," he said. "Then after that I went to lunch with the academic staff and toured the campus. I also saw where the basketball team plays and they did an academic presentation. Later we had a team dinner and team meeting and then rode the bus to the stadium and I watched the game from the sidelines.

"I had fun on the visit with a couple of other recruits including Tamarcus Porter, Dexter Davidson, Ricky Gary, Jared Martin and Eric Latimore. I've been to Pitt a lot, there wasn't really anything new, but I did get to see a couple things academically."

With competition from Notre Dame for Walls signature, how if at all did the game affect the No. 24 player in the country's decision?

"I thought that Pittsburgh got beat up physically and Notre Dame was much more physical upfront," he said. "The fact that Notre Dame did well helped them some, but the game doesn't really affect my decision at all. One game can't determine how the season is going to go. I did notice that both teams can pass and they both need cornerbacks to come in and play early."

The five-star prospect rated his visit a seven or eight.

"I feel the same way I did before I went on the visit and the game and official weren't a big factor for me."

Next week Walls is headed to Michigan for his second official visit.

"I like the atmosphere up there, but this year I'm going to be looking at the academic part of it," he said. "I also want to see what the nightlife is about at Michigan. At the game, I want to see the depth of their cornerbacks and how they play."