Roy makes the call for Pitt
A visit to the campus of the Pitt Panthers two weeks ago gave Cincinnati (Ohio) Reading three-star defensive end Shane Roy a good idea where he wanted to continue his playing career, but he waited until Friday morning to make it official.
"It was definitely an exciting morning," Roy said. "I called Coach [Joe] Rudolph and I ended up talking to him, Coach [Paul] Chryst, the defensive line coordinator and another defensive coach. They were all pretty excited, and just as excited as I was."
Advertisement
The decision to commit to Pitt was actually made Thursday night, but Roy wanted to make sure his own head coach was there with him when he made the official call.
"I called my coach last night and told him that me and my family made a decision," Roy said. "He was perfectly fine with it and loves Pitt, just wanted to make sure I did what I wanted.
"Then I messaged Coach Rudolph on-line and told him I was going to call him around 8:30 with my coach. He asked if everything was all right, and I told him everything was awesome. I gave him a little hint, but I didn't want to say it."
The decision to commit to Pitt comes two weeks after the three-star defensive end and his father made an unofficial visit to their campus.
"After I took my visit to Pitt, me and my dad had a five-hour ride back and we talked about it the whole time," Roy said. "We both pretty much agreed that Pitt was No. 1. We really enjoyed it.
"Going into it, I didn't really know what to expect. When you think of Pitt you think of industry, but it was the exact opposite. It was like it's own little suburb of the city and I really liked that."
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Roy had 17 sacks among his 98 total tackles last fall. Pitt will look to use Roy's pass-rushing abilities at several positions after working him out at their camp earlier this month.
"I got to work with [defensive ends] Coach [John] Palermo when I went there," Roy said. "They want me at defensive end, but then in a Nickel package I will move to outside linebacker or stand-up defensive end."
Roy is the ninth prospect to commit to Pitt this week, and the second from the state of Ohio joining quarterback Adam Bertke.