Pitt Football Offers 2026 Big Ten Commit

As much as any Power Four staff, the Pitt Panthers are paying close attention to an emerging Central Florida powerhouse - The First Academy. It's not hyperbole to say the Orlando-based private school is attracting, developing, and churning out to the college level a high volume of exciting talent. In the 2025 cycle, the crop of ranked prospects the Royals had to offer was three-star edge JuJu Anderson who enrolled at Pitt in January.

On May 5, the Pitt coaching staff landed its most recent commitment when Demetrice McCray announced his college decision. He's one of several Power Four-bound prospects at the Orlando-based private school in the 2026 class alone.

To make clear the volume of D-I talent on the roster at The First Academy, the following represents only a portion of that group: 2026 four-star Clemson offensive line commit Chancellor Barclay, 2026 four-star safety Devin Jackson, 2027 four-star offensive lineman Reed Ramsier, 2026 high-three-star cornerback Danny Odem, 2027 high-three-star quarterback Landen Holley, 2026 three-star defensive lineman Alex Willis, and 2027 high-three-star cornerback David Coleman Jr.

The cited list doesn't include Pitt's receiver commit, McCray, and it doesn't include 2026 three-star edge rusher Kingston Shaw, an Illinois commit who announced an offer from the Panthers early this week.

Similar to several teammates, Shaw played elsewhere in Florida in recent years.

In a quality Florida 7A varsity program nearby at Apopka High School, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound front-seven defender recorded 98 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss, four-and-a-half sacks, an interception, and two fumble recoveries over just 18 games across his sophomore and junior seasons (per MaxPreps).

Last week, the Royals took on Lake Mary High School in a spring game, a significant varsity squad led by four-star Notre Dame quarterback commit Noah Grubbs. The Royals cruised to a 37-3 win, fueled in part by McCray who churned out over 100 receiving yards. Shaw was also a force that day, as shown in the highlight reel below.