The recruiting class signed Wednesday by the University of Pittsburgh is not the highest ranked of the Dave Wannstedt era -- that honor would go to the 2006 class -- but in terms of depth and top-to-bottom strength, it might be the best class he has signed.

"This is a well-balanced group," Wannstedt said Wednesday, which was national letter-of-intent signing day. "I think it is our deepest class. I know academically, character-wise, I really like this class a lot. It is very well-balanced, and I think if you look at it, there are a lot of good players in there and I think they all have a chance to contribute."

Pitt's class included 24 players, most of whom have been committed to the school for several months, so while Wednesday's formal announcement was somewhat anti-climatic, it still was a relief for the coaching staff to sign all of the players who had committed.

That's especially true when it comes to several of the most high-profile players, such as Paterson Catholic defensive end T.J. Clemmings, ranked by some scouting services as the top prospect in New Jersey.

Clemmings had offers from just about every team in the country, and as late as last week, coaches from schools such as Rutgers were trying to get him to drop his commitment to the Panthers.

Clemmings is one of four defensive linemen in the class, and the other three -- Penn Hills defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Woodland Hills defensive tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith and Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) standout Bryan Murphy -- are regarded as excellent prospects as well.

Murphy, in fact, is ranked by at least one scouting service as the second-best prospect in New Jersey, so the Panthers signed perhaps the two best prospects from that state.

Along with Donald and Mosley-Smith, the Panthers signed four other WPIAL players in Penn Hills cornerback Brandon Ifill, Clairton wide receiver Kevin Weatherspoon, Beaver Falls (via Milford Academy) athlete Todd Thomas and Sto-Rox receiver Drew Carswell.

Also, former Central Catholic standout Jeff Knox, who finished his high school career at Maryland powerhouse DeMatha Catholic, signed with the Panthers along with a teammate -- standout offensive lineman Shane Johnson.

One notable thing about this class is that no players are from Florida, but Wannstedt said that isn't because the school has de-emphasized the Sunshine State but rather because it has opened doors in areas closer to Pittsburgh -- namely New Jersey, the Northern Virginia/Maryland area and Ohio.

"We signed five guys from Ohio. We hadn't done that before. We got three out of that area around D.C. and Virginia, and we've gotten nine kids from New Jersey over the past two years," Wannstedt said. "But we're still committed to going to Florida. We just have to find the right kinds of players because we've had a lot of great players from there."

The Panthers signed two quarterbacks in the class: St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) standout Mark Myers and Liberty (Bethlehem, Pa.) star Anthony Gonzalez.

Both players are slated to appear in the Big 33 game, on opposite teams, but Gonzalez may end up playing a different position.

Overall, the Panthers' class was ranked No. 33 by Rivals.com and 16th by Scout.com. Rivals has Pitt ranked as the second-best class in the Big East behind West Virginia, while Scout has the Panthers ranked No. 1.

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