Florida WR Elijah West Shares Reaction to Pitt Offer

Out of Cantonment (Fla.) Tate High School on the far west end of the Florida Panhandle is Elijah West, a new receiver prospect on the Pitt Panthers 2026 offer board.

He has an excellent physical makeup for the position, a prototype build with long arms within a large catch radius standing well over the 6-foot mark.

West is blessed with an excellent baseline skill set, naturally smooth but twitchy with springy releases and significant ability to elevate and adjust to the football in the air.

The first clip in his junior season highlight reel on Hudl isn’t a long-distanced touchdown catch as most pass-catchers show in their film. Instead, West’s reel begins with a stalk block on a passing play behind the line of scrimmage to the slot receiver, West lined up outside and driving the cornerback through the sideline and into the turf.

Click here to watch the above-mentioned highlights.

West has exciting athleticism, no doubt. And he shows the toughness, the strength and the grit to be an asset in the running game and on screen plays, too.

Those are the elements that often separate underclassmen receivers who see the field at the college level and those who watch from the sideline.

It’s been a busy and noteworthy week for West in his budding recruitment. Previously, Arkansas, Central Florida, Minnesota, Southern Mississippi, Southern Mississippi, Troy and Tulane made up his offer list.

This week, after announcing a Tulane official visit date (June 19-21), West picked up offers from Michigan State followed by Pitt on Thursday.

To learn more about the new prospect and his offer from Pitt, Inside the Panthers connected with West on Friday night.

Tell me a bit about your background down in Florida.

"OK, I grew up playing football here. I've been here in Pensacola all my life. I love playing the game, playing sports, playing basketball, football, playing with my cousins. I just love making big plays. I love making everybody around me proud."

Pitt offered you on Thursday night and you put that out on social media. Tell me about how that offer came about, who you heard from, and how that happened.

“Coach (JJ) Laster, he followed me about five months ago. I guess they scouted me. They liked what they see. Kade (Bell), he had followed me, too, one week ago. They all scouted me and passed (my film) around, and they liked what they see and gave me an offer.”

What was your reaction to that and what do you think of Pitt altogether?

“I mean, it's always a blessing to get an offer. I didn't know Kenny Pickett went there. Yeah, that's one of my favorite quarterbacks I like to watch.”

“That’s A Catch Boy”@Andrew_Ivins @247Sports @On3Recruits @NP_Florida @adamgorney @RivalsFriedman @FLVarsityRivals @PrepRedzoneFL @CoachReid_ @JerisMcIntyre @CoachFrankPonce @GageProctor12 @CoachJjLaster @HSSportsFL @Minnesota247 @HailStateFB @TroyTrojansFB @GreenWaveFB pic.twitter.com/MuB71ljrkh
— ELIJAH WEST † (@elijahwest__) January 30, 2025

What are some schools that might not be on your offer list as of now but have been showing an interest in you?

"Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Auburn, Miami, teams like that."

Do you have any plans this off-season to get out to visit any schools or go to any camps or anything like that?

“Yes, sir. I'm visiting Tulane and I'm going to be visiting Pitt very soon.

“It’s going to be an official (visit).”

What's your current height and weight and what have you been kind of working on this off-season?

“I’ve been working on my routes and my burst off the football, and my height right now is about 6-3. And my weight is, like, 185 right now.”

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