Pitts stock rising

It has been a down few years in West Virginia in terms of college football prospects but, led by sophomore sensation Derrek Pitts, the state looks like it is coming back in a big way. It seems like a new school is adding their name to the Charleston (W.V.) South Charleston linebacker's offer sheet twice a week.

"I'm in my coach's office pretty much every time I get a new offer," said the 6-foot-2, 187-pound Pitts. "Right afterwards we Google the school and their stadium. We always type in the name of the stadium in YouTube and check out the noise for the big plays that have against big teams to see how loud they get. I really like that.

"A lot of these offers caught my eye but off the top of my head I think I like Clemson," he said. "My coach really likes Clemson and every time I go into his office he always has something about it. Tennessee also caught me eye, along with West Virginia and some of the other schools."

Pitts is a pretty versatile prospect is developing relationships and getting out to see as many schools as possible.

"I went down to visit Virginia Tech and West Virginia so far," said Pitts. "I think am going down to Oklahoma on April 11. I talked to my mom about it and we're going to be taking a lot of visits the summer.

"I have a strong relationship with West Virginia's coaches and also Clemson's coaches," he said. "I talked to coach Torrian in from Virginia Tech a lot. I'm listed as an athlete but most of the schools look at me as a hybrid outside linebacker safety type. Wherever I need to play to help the team win is where I'll play."

Pitt's connection to Oklahoma is ore than just his interest in the school, his cousin is Charles Tapper.

"I was talking to Charles about it," Pitts said. "He said it doesn't matter where I go and that I should stay levelheaded. It should be just like it was when I didn't have offers. I learned a lot from my family and how to stay humble. I'm trying not all let all this get to me. It's exciting. I show it around my family but not around other people."

Last season Pitts made about 100 tackles and had more than 30 tackles for a loss.