Pitt received a commitment from 2025 three-star quarterback Mason Heintschel in March, but it appears likely that the coaching staff will add another signal-caller to the class of 2025.
On Monday, Panthers offensive coordinator Kade Bell was in Florida and extended an offer to 2025 three-star athlete Cornelius Ingram II and told him that the Panthers are recruiting him as a quarterback.
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The 6-foot-6, 200-pound athlete from Hawthorne, Fla. also holds offers from Florida, Marshall, South Florida, UMass, Jacksonville State, FAU, East Carolina, Appalachian State, Charlotte and Arkansas State.
An interesting note to Ingram is that he’s also a talented basketball player and holds Division I offers to play college basketball.
Pittsburgh Sports Now had an opportunity to catch up with Ingram Monday following his meeting with Bell.
“On Sunday evening, coach Bell texted me and asked me when I would be able to throw in front of him,” said Ingram. “I told him during second period on Monday, so around 9:15 AM, he came to the school, we met each other, he watched me throw and recorded it. When I got done throwing, he then told me that he was going to send it to the head coach and around 10-15 minutes later, he got back to me and told me that Pitt was offering me.
“Normally during second period, I don’t have a class and that’s when I work out for basketball, and I work out for football after school. It threw my schedule off but to have an opportunity to throw in front of a Power Four school, I was excited to have an opportunity to do so. Doing that was almost like a job interview and it was nerve-racking. I was a bit nervous but once I got in that rhythm, I felt good and was just trying to have fun. Coach had me throw some deep balls, definitely a lot of stuff on the run, he wanted to see how I moved coming out of the pocket. A lot of quick play-action stuff, he wanted to see me flipping my hips.”
Ingram said that all the other schools that have offered him want him to play quarterback, but the offer from Florida is as an athlete.
“I’m definitely comfortable playing quarterback, that’s the position that I’ve been playing my entire life,” said Ingram. “I believe that I have the athletic ability to do anything that I want on the field. Whether that’s playing quarterback or as a receiver, I’m okay with it. Whatever will get me on the field faster and whatever I can do to most impact the team and help them win, that’s what I want to do.”
Ain’t a better 2025 Qb in the the state 2025 QB CJ Ingram@IngramCj_
6'5 200 LBS
Hawthorne High SchoolCheck out 2025 QB CJ Ingram by CJ Ingram on @hudl https://t.co/TG6j37mTIM #hudl @247recruiting @CIngram_85 @Dwight_XOS @larryblustein @therealkwat @RyanBartow
— North Florida Recruits (@NFl_Recruits) September 25, 2023
Ingram is familiar with the Pitt Panther program but is obviously still learning about Bell, considering it’s his first year running the Pitt offense. He said that he was glad to have the opportunity to meet and speak with him in person.
“I can tell that he’s a great guy,” Ingram said. “When I first met him, he wasn’t even asking me about football. He was asking me about stuff outside of sports, about Mother’s Day, my family, school. But he then told me about the kind of offense they run and how I’d be able to benefit because they’re a passing/spread offense. He believes that I’d like it a lot and seemed like a really, super down-to-earth person.”
Bell also talked with Ingram about coming to Pittsburgh for an official visit and it’s something that he’s going to consider. Interestingly, Ingram’s talent on the basketball court could be impacting his football recruitment and vice versa.
real 2 Way! @CIngram_85 @HoopExchange @CoachBowie_HHS @fl_Rebels @Jt_Turner12 pic.twitter.com/039OgDZ4Kq
— Cornelius Ingram II (@IngramCj_) March 11, 2024
“When he offered, he said that he definitely wants to get me up on an official in June,” said Ingram. “For basketball AAU, there’s no basketball in June, so hopefully I can get up there. Both Florida and Louisville are trying to get me up on an official, too.
“With basketball, you really don’t get recruited hard until your junior year. This coming weekend, it’s a live period for basketball so I’m hoping and praying that the basketball offers will come. But it’s been a tough recruiting process because some schools that haven’t offered in football think that I’m going to play basketball and other schools that haven’t offered in basketball, think I’m going to play football in college. It’s been tough and I’m just trying to weigh out the options now.”
17U: #TravelTeamJamboree
Whether he plays football or basketball at the next level, it doesn’t matter. 2025 Florida Rebels 6-5 CJ Ingram is a scary good athlete.
This is just a snippet of what he can do. pic.twitter.com/tVL6z6KbUQ
— ᴊᴀᴋᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴘᴇʀ (@thehoopvibe) March 24, 2024
Regardless of what Ingram decides to play and where he ends up attending, it sure seems like Pitt wants to add two quarterbacks. In case you were wondering, the last time Pitt brought in two quarterbacks in a recruiting class was the class of 2018 with Nick Patti (Montvale, N.J.) and Ricky Town (Ventura, Cal.).
