Wannstedt grabs another Baldwin star

Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt has added a second player today from his high school alma mater in Pittsburgh (Pa.) Baldwin's Justin Hargrove.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder committed this weekend to the Panthers, joining teammate Jason Pinkston. Hargrove spoke to Rivals.com Sunday night about the commitment and asked that we hold off on the story until he announced Monday at a press conference.

"I'm really excited about it and I'm just happy to be going there. I would say the academics stuck out first because I want to get in the medical field and that's the place to be," he said. "I feel really comfortable there and the coaching staff stuck out too. I know coach Wannstedt is a winner and I feel comfortable with him and coach Junko. Finally, I like the close proximity from my house."

Hargrove actually told coaches about his decision on Saturday.

"I felt like the time was right and I know I wanted to go to Pittsburgh the whole time, so why go through the process when I wanted to make the decision now. I decided to call coach Wannstedt on Saturday and he was really excited about it," he said. "He told me the community is going to be into this especially with Pittsburgh being my hometown."

Pittsburgh has already confirmed that Hargrove will play defensive end in college.

"I'm going to be looking at the defensive ends there next season and learn what they'll be doing," he said. "I want to help myself out before I get there."

Hargrove, like all of Pittsburgh's recruits, has high hopes for the 2006 class.

"I think we'll have a strong recruiting class this year," he said. "I think we'll have a chance at a national championship. I personally will be working out this summer and I even might take some summer classes after my senior season to get a head start going into Pittsburgh."

The defensive end is planning to attend multiple home games this season.

Hargrove should easily qualify with an impressive 3.5 GPA.