PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers share a special connection with Central Catholic High School, just a 10-minute walk down from the Cathedral of Learning on Fifth Avenue, especially when it comes to football.
Colsen Gatten, a Class of 2026 recruit from the high school, placed Pitt in his top five schools, along with Duke, West Virginia, Indiana and Oklahoma, in an interview with Mike Vukovcan of Pittsburgh Sports Now.
Gatten already has an official visit set for Pitt, June 5-7, but will likely make official visits to the other schools in his top five as well.
Panthers linebackers coach Ryan Manalac saw Gatten back on May 12 for an at-home visit, as the program keeps growing the relationship with him.
Gatten also received an at-home visit from Lousiville defensive assistant Mark Ivey and he made spring visits to Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. He visited WVU and Duke, plus received an at-home visit from Indiana during the winter.
Pitt was the third school to offer Gatten back on June 25, 2023, after his performance at a Pitt camp that summer.
Gatten also holds offers from ACC schools in Boston College, Cal, Louisville, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, Big 12 schools to Arizona and Cincinnati, Big Ten schools in Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin, SEC schools in Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M, plus FBS schools in Notre Dame, Sacramento State and Temple.
He plays linebacker and tight end for Central Catholic, making 51 tackles (28 solo), six tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions, one pick-six and three fumble recoveries last season.
His play proved crucial for a Central Catholic team that won the WPIAL 6A Title, 45-14 over North Allegheny, and made the PIAA 6A Final, where they lost 35-6 to St. Joseph's Prep.
Gatten, who stands 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, excels at outside linebacker. He works great in coverage, shutting down passing lanes and preventing big time plays, and also loves attacking the line of scrimmage, shutting down plays before they even start.
He is a consensus three-star recruit in the Class of 2026, with 247Sports ranking him the No. 59 linebacker and No. 26 recruit in Pennsylvania, On3 ranking him No. 84 at his position and No. 36 in the state and Rivals ranking him the No. 54 linebacker and No. 20 recruit in Pennsylvania.
Pitt has also targeted a number of Central Catholic players in future classes. This includes fellow Class of 2026 Central Catholic three-star linebacker Ashton Blatt, plus Class of 2027 recruits in four-star offensive tackle Jimmy Kalis, defensive back Zachary Gleason Jr. and offensive lineman James Halter.
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