Four-star receiver Tyler Boyd announced Wednesday morning in Clairton, Pa., that he’ll attend Pitt, honoring the commitment he made last month.
West Virginia and Tennessee each hosted Boyd the past two weekends, fueling speculation the elite prospect might not sign with his hometown program.
But Boyd told The Pitsburgh Tribune on Wednesday, “I want to stay with my brothers,” referencing Clairton teammates Terrish Webb and Titus Howard, who also signed with Pitt.
Boyd set a state public-school record with 117 career touchdowns, and several analysts predicted he might possess a higher upside than even Robert Foster, the five-star receiver from nearby Monaca, Pa., who signed with Alabama.
“It’s all set up for Pittsburgh,” Scout.com’s Brian Dohn told MetroNews last week, and Dohn reiterated that stance Tuesday. “I still think it’s going to be tough to get him away from Pittsburgh.
“If I had to rank the likelihood of his choices, I would put them in the order of Pittsburgh first, then Tennessee, and West Virginia third.”
WVU had been a strong contender for Boyd since last offering him a scholarship last February after the program’s junior day. He paid an unofficial visit to WVU in September but committed to Pitt on Jan. 5 at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Since then, however, Boyd took an official visit to West Virginia the weekend of Jan. 25 and visited Tennessee last weekend.
Boyd has terrorized the Class A level of Pennsylvania high school football the past two seasons, rushing for more than 2,400 yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior and following that up with 1,979 yards and 40 scores this past season. Though he averaged more than 13 yards per carry in those two seasons, the 6-foot-1 Boyd projects as a receiver at the college level.
Rivals and Scout each rank him the No. 12 receiver in the nation.
Though Pitt and West Virginia no longer share a conference affiliation, they’ll continue the Backyard Brawl in recruiting with overlapping territories. As of Tuesday night, Rivals had WVU’s class ranked No. 25 nationally with Pitt at No. 31, but Scout pegged Pitt at No. 15 and WVU at No. 35.