2014 National Signing Day: QB Wade Freebeck Decommits From Pitt
By Matt Shetler
With the 2014 National Signing Day in high gear, Paul Chryst’s Pitt Panthers already have most of their recruiting class signed and locked in.
That is, all except one.
On Tuesday, quarterback Wade Freebeck officially flipped his commitment from Pitt to Vanderbilt.
That’s something common these days as recruits often change their mind at the last minute, but it leaves Chryst and the Panthers in a serious bind.
Entering the 2014 season, Pitt is very thin at the quarterback position with presumed starter Chad Voytik only backed up by upperclassman Trey Anderson and incoming freshman Adam Bertke, but the cupboard is pretty bare overall under center.
If Voytik grabs the job, runs with it and doesn’t look back, then this is really not that big of a deal. However, if he doesn’t, then it becomes a huge problem as it is doubtful that Chryst can scramble at the last minute and land a quality quarterback.
Former Pitt signal caller John Congemi was pretty high on Freebeck.
Freebeck, who threw for 3,476 yards and 33 touchdowns the past two seasons at Western and St. Thomas Aquinas high schools in Florida, is rated a four-star prospect by ESPN.com, a three-star by Rivals.com and a two-star by Scout.com.
He told the Tribune-Review that his decommitment had to do simply with getting the best education possible, something you can definitely respect.
“Football is football,” said Freebeck, who said he carries a 4.7 grade-point average at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “For me, if I can utilize it to get the best education, that’s what I want to do.”
Had Freebeck left earlier, Chryst could have had time to find a suitable replacement. Now it makes a quarterback for 2015 an even bigger priority if the program doesn’t add a quarterback later Wednesday.