Former Pitt quarterback Chad Voytik will transfer to Eastern Kentucky, he confirmed Wednesday.
Voytik, who announced in January that he would not return to Pitt next year, chose the Colonels after also visiting Memphis and Indiana. Eastern Kentucky plays in the Ohio Valley Conference in Football Championship Subdivision.
Because Voytik is set to graduate from Pitt this month, he will be eligible to play immediately.
Voytik came to Pitt in 2012 and spent all of 2014 as the starting quarterback. That season, he completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,233 yards with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was poised to be the starter in 2015, too, but lost the job three games into the year to incoming Tennessee transfer Nate Peterman, who went on to start the final 11 games of the season.
With Peterman returning this year, Voytik opted to transfer for a chance to play elsewhere in his final season of eligibility.
Conner on “Ellen” today
Running back James Conner is set to appear on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” at 4 p.m. today on WTAE to discuss his battle with Hodgkin lymphoma and goal of returning to the field next season.
Conner has two of his 12 prescribed chemotherapy treatments remaining and will learn next month whether or not he is cancer-free.
He was as active as doctors allowed during Pitt’s spring workouts, and coach Pat Narduzzi praised Conner as an inspiration on Wednesday’s ACC conference call.
“James is a different guy, he’s a different animal,” Narduzzi said. “He’s got something different ticking in that chest of his.”
Line battles continue
While Narduzzi was pleased with how much his team accomplished during its 15 spring practices, he admitted it will take at least a few weeks of training camp this summer to figure out the team’s five starters along the offensive line.
The Panthers return four starters up front and will get back tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith, who missed last season with a knee injury. Alex Bookser, who was a backup last year, also is challenging for a starting job at guard or center.
“There will be some position battles on the offensive line with Jaryd coming back,” Narduzzi said. “We lost one guy, but Bookser’s in there, and we’ll have Jaryd [Jones-Smith] coming back trying to fight for a spot. So there will be competition at that position.”
NFL loves Boyd
Narduzzi didn’t care to speculate as to where former Pitt receiver Tyler Boyd will be selected in next week’s NFL draft but said he had received some inquiries from NFL teams about Boyd, who left after his junior season as Pitt’s all-time leader in catches and receiving yards.
“Tyler Boyd’s a guy that’s going to be a longtime NFL player, period,” Narduzzi said. “I’ve had great feedback from a lot of NFL teams, and I haven’t talked to anybody that doesn’t like what Tyler Boyd’s going to do here in this draft.”
Most mock drafts project Boyd as a late-second or third round pick.
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG.
First Published: April 21, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
