Carter: Our city's beauty as a Pitt recruiting asset

One thing Heather Lyke said when she addressed Pittsburgh media in May, that was also mentioned by Pat Narduzzi and Jeff Capel during the pandemic, was how much Pitt missed regular visits as a recruiting asset.

While every program suffered this program during the recruiting dead period and not being able to have high school prospect visit their campuses, Pitt's lost advantage was at a higher degree than most. It's not just a campus for Pitt Athletics, but the entire city of Pittsburgh that becomes part of the selling point.

I mean, just look at the official recruiting video Pitt made last year and tell me that doesn't get you fired up:

Now with the NCAA recruiting dead period at an end, Pitt can get back to its presentation to prospects who can visit Pittsburgh. That started Tuesday with the 'hometown throwdown' event where Pitt Athletics invited several prospects to campus from closer regions.

Plenty of prospects were excited to get the full treatment:

Now, recruits can get Pitt's full court press. While it hasn't resulted in getting superstar talent to make any major program dominate their league, it has helped Narduzzi recruit better to get Pitt its most players selected in an NFL Draft (6) since 2004.

Any advantage Pitt can get as it rebuilds basketball and pushes forward in football, it needs. Maybe it would've been the edge to help Capel land Efton Reid in May.

YOUR TAKE: Can Pittsburgh's beauty help Pitt's recruiting for more wins?