Oh, Goodbye: Derrek Pitts De-Commits from Penn State

There will be peaks and valleys on the ‘crootin trail, and right now Penn State is heading through a valley as three-star defensive back Derrek Pitts has de-committed from Penn State. The safety originally committed to the Nittany Lions in surprising fashion on July 27, picking Penn State over perceived favorite West Virginia. He’s now expecting to flip to the Mountaineers.

This is a blow for sure. Pitts was the sixth highest rated recruit in the Nittany Lions’ class, so it’s never a positive to lose a talented player. Where Penn State goes from here remains to be seen. We touched on Michigan safety Scott Nelson in this week’s Committany Nation, but until he makes another visit to Happy Valley, it’s tough to envision him in Penn State’s class.

Beyond Nelson, there really aren’t a lot of other known names out there. Just looking through the rankings, here are a couple names that could make sense from a geographical perspective.

• Damani Neal (Sterling, VA): At one point thought to be a Penn State lean, the Nittany Lions cooled their pursuit of the Virginia safety once Bob Shoop left for Tennessee.
• Ben Stewart (Indianapolis, IN): The Boston College commit has visited Penn State previously.
• Allen Stritzinger (Warren, MI): Currently committed to Syracuse. Doesn’t appear to have any ties to Penn State, but he plays at one of the better football programs in the state in De La Salle Collegiate.