Panthers lead for 2011 lineman

Fresh off their best season since Dave Wannstedt's arrival, it appears as though Pitt is poised to continue their solid recruiting efforts.

The Panthers have one of the better talent bases in the Big East, and plenty of in-state prospects love the idea of playing their college football at the school.

Pitt now leads for one of the state's top linemen from the Class of 2011. Kevin Reihner, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound guard from Scranton Prep, told Rivals.com recently that the Panthers will be tough to beat.

Both Pitt and NC State have offered the talented youngster, and while the Wolfpack will be given a fair shot, it's clear they're playing catch up.

"Pittsburgh is really impressive," Reihner admitted. "I'm going to give NC State a shot, and I'm going to go to one of their junior days and all that, but Pittsburgh is very high on the list. Even amongst schools that haven't offered."

When asked whether that means Pitt is his number one choice Reihner answered in the affirmative.

"I want to see what comes in. I could see myself making a decision in the spring, just because that makes plenty of things a lot easier. Just to have that over with and not worrying during the season. I hope to have enough options before I start playing football next year to make a confident decision. I don't want to make a decision and then come back on it.

"I want to get to the point where I'm confident enough to say, 'This is where I want to go to school,' and not, 'This is where I want to go to school right now.'"

Reihner helped Scranton Prep to a spot in the state playoffs before they fell in the first round. As he has said before, his top personal goal for this year was to increase his quickness. He gained quite a bit of weight during his sophomore campaign but was afraid he lost a step. Regaining that athleticism was a top priority.

"We lost some games we probably shouldn't have lost, but we won some games we probably shouldn't have," he said. "We have a lot of guys coming back for next year and we're already in the weight room as a team."

Reihner said he has spoken to coach Anderson from Penn State since the end of his junior season. He recently sent out his junior highlight tape, but still wants to send it out to a few more schools.