Commit [v.]: To pledge or bind. -- Dictionary definition.

North Hills High School running back Andrew Johnson verbally committed to Pitt in July. He threw a big bash for himself at a South Side bistro. Wore a pink suit and everything.

Since then, Johnson has apparently lost his dictionary. Earlier this week, he announced his intention to take official visits to UCLA, Ohio State and Florida. Johnson says he wants to compare the schools to make sure Pitt is the right choice before he signs a letter of intent in February.

Uh ... OK. But when Johnson verbally committed, didn't he say then that Pitt was the right choice? He has already visited Ohio State twice. How much comparing does he need to do?

Furthermore, when Johnson feted himself at Paparazzi in July, he said he intended to persuade Penn Hills quarterback Anthony Morelli to join him at Pitt.

"Anthony's my No. 1 priority," Johnson said. "I'll get him to Pitt. Just leave it to me."

He also pledged to help lure other top WPIAL players to Pitt, including Moon lineman A.Q. Shipley, who had already committed to Penn State.

"I don't care if he's committed," Johnson said. "Penn State's horrible. I'll talk him out of it."

Not only was Johnson committed to Pitt, he was practically the recruiting department's head cheerleader. What caused him to go back on his commitment?

I criticized Johnson on my talk show Tuesday. That caused him to call and defend himself in a manner so lame, he probably had to limp away from the phone.

Johnson said he is still committed to Pitt. But he does intend to take those visits. And he isn't 100 percent sure he will go to Pitt. Nonetheless, he is still committed.

Johnson also referred to himself in the third person. Wherever Johnson does finally go to college, I hope they can find a helmet big enough to fit that swelled head.

I'm not surprised Johnson expected me to buy his convoluted logic. Like most star athletes his age, he has had his posterior kissed by adults so often, there's probably a buildup of ChapStick on those pink pants. College recruiting has undoubtedly been the high point in that regard.

But the dictionary (see above) won the argument. Johnson, by definition, is not committed to Pitt.

Johnson isn't reconsidering his commitment. He's reneging on it. That shows a lack of character. His being a high school kid is no reason to let that slide by unnoticed. If someone goes back on his word as a youth, he's likely to do it as an adult. Especially when no one calls him on it.

If Johnson is old enough to get headlines when he does something good, he's also old enough to be criticized for being duplicitous.

Johnson was never sure about Pitt in the first place? Fine. Then he shouldn't have offered a verbal commitment.

If Johnson is a flawed individual, it's only fair to note that college recruiting is an extremely flawed process, and that Johnson's actions are within the letter of its twisted laws.

High school football players can offer nonbinding verbal commitments anytime. But they can't officially sign until February of their senior years. If a college coach doesn't get a commitment from a recruit he wants and said recruit commits elsewhere, the coach can keep trying to get the recruit to renege.

One big-time high school football prospect once told me recruiting did not slow down one iota when he verbally committed. If anything, it intensified.

What a pretty picture: Grown men calling kids with the sole intent being to convince them to go back on their words.

It's a shame Walt Harris can't tell Johnson to get lost. That Pitt's scholarship offer is off the table. Oh, Harris could, but he can't. That's not the way it's done in recruiting. The kids have the upper hand until they sign. Then the NCAA and its member institutions exploit them for all they're worth.

Johnson said the restructuring of the Big East has nothing to do with his decision to visit other schools. He said he let people close to him make his original decision for him. But he said it was not his mother and father. They support him no matter what he does. Well, who was it then? His girlfriend? The mailman? Jerome Bettis? Whoever sold him the pink suit?

Those in the know tell me not getting Johnson would be no great loss for Pitt. His biggest value is as a trophy recruit locally. Johnson may be 5 feet 11, 200 pounds with 4.22-second speed in the 40-yard dash, but insiders say he's soft, avoids hits and won't play hurt.

For those worried that Morelli will follow Johnson's lead and visit other schools, fear not: My executive producer called the Morelli home Tuesday, and a man identifying himself as Morelli's father said Johnson's decision had nothing to do with his son, who will definitely attend Pitt.

Mr. Morelli was yelling at the top of his lungs, so I've got to assume he was sincere.