Penn Hills' Donald commits to Pitt

Pitt landed its first WPIAL recruit from the class of 2010 yesterday when Penn Hills' Aaron Donald made a verbal commitment to the Panthers.

Donald is one of the best defensive linemen in Western Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Post-Gazette Fabulous 22 as a junior. Gateway coach Terry Smith said last year Donald was by far the most dominating defensive lineman his team played in the 2008 season.

Donald is 6 feet, 260 pounds and was recruited to play defensive tackle. His other scholarship offers so far were from Rutgers, Toledo and Akron. Donald's brother, Archie, is a linebacker at Toledo. Aaron said he chose Pitt because, "I felt like I liked the way Pitt's defense is run because it's not too different than what we do at Penn Hills. I just liked everything about Pitt."

Donald said he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds and he is one of three Penn Hills players who have been offered scholarships by Pitt. The others are receiver-defensive back Brandon Ifill and defensive back Cullen Christian. Ifill and Christian have more scholarship offers than Donald. When asked if Pitt has a chance at landing Ifill and Christian, Donald said, "I asked them and they said they were going to wait to make a decision."