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Pitt's Jared Wayne makes a catch during practice at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019.
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Pitt WR Jared Wayne, a former high school QB, proving himself as true freshman

Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette

Pitt WR Jared Wayne, a former high school QB, proving himself as true freshman

Talk about a first impression.

Jared Wayne, now a true freshman wide receiver at Pitt, scored a 75-yard touchdown on his first snap with Clearwater Academy International (Fla.) last year. His coach, Jesse Chinchar, remembers the play vividly.

“We knew early he was pretty special,” Chinchar said, thinking back to the first play of his squad’s 60-0 win over Indian Rocks Christian on Aug. 25, 2018. “He ran a skinny post on an RPO, the safety rolled down, our quarterback put [a 20-yard throw] on him real quick, and he took it the rest of the way. ... That was pretty sweet.”

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Wayne made an immediate impact as a first-year receiver in Clearwater — and he’s doing the same at Pitt.

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It’s early in his career, but Wayne has emerged as a presence in Pitt’s passing game with Tre Tipton out for the season and Maurice Ffrench’s status in doubt. In Pitt’s win over North Carolina last week, Wayne caught four passes for 30 yards on five targets, the third-most by a Pitt receiver behind only Taysir Mack and Shocky Jacques-Louis.

Those aren’t crazy numbers. But Wayne’s involvement in the offense is noteworthy considering where he was just over a year ago.

Wayne was a quarterback for three seasons at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, before transferring to garner exposure as a pass-catching prospect. Prior to joining Chinchar’s program, Wayne’s most extensive work at receiver came not in live games, but at recruiting camps. That’s how he earned offers from South Florida, Bowling Green, Old Dominion and Pitt — and committed to the Panthers — in summer 2018, before ever playing a down at receiver for Clearwater.

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Still, Wayne described his year in Florida as “crucial” to his development as a player and person. At Trinity — a “professional” boarding and day school founded in 1865, two years before the Canadian Confederation — Wayne drove or bused from his home to campus every day. In Clearwater, he lived with a host family, the same family Pitt defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado stayed with when he attended Clearwater a year earlier.

“It was a big adjustment leaving [Canada],” Wayne said of the 24-hour drive from north of the border to the Tampa Bay area. “I tasted college before it actually happened.”

Wayne also tasted success. The 6-foot-3 prospect, in his first full year as a wideout, tallied 61 receptions, 1,157 receiving yards and 14 touchdown catches in his lone season at Clearwater, leading the Knights to an 11-0 mark, their first undefeated record in school history.

“There were zero growing pains,” Chinchar said of the receiver’s adjustment to his new position.

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Wayne, a three-star prospect, transitioned smoothly at Pitt, too. Perhaps better than the coaching staff expected.

Pitt wide receivers coach Chris Beatty said he thought Wayne would redshirt in 2019. Between Tipton, Ffrench, Mack, Jacques-Louis and senior Aaron Mathews, Beatty’s room was stacked with veterans. Plus, Wayne didn’t enroll early; he joined the program over the summer. So it’s not as if he had ample time to learn Mark Whipple’s playbook.

But Wayne’s play in August camp moved him ahead of a few more established receivers, something Beatty “didn’t foresee happening.” Beatty and the staff decided Wayne would be given the green light in 2019, removing a redshirt from the table.

“Really from the beginning of the year, we knew he had a chance to be pretty good,” Beatty said.

So did Wayne’s teammates.

“There are always those freshmen who separate themselves,” junior cornerback Jason Pinnock said. “They want the coaching. They’re not still on their recruiting high. They still don’t think they’re the guy. He came in humble, and that’s why he’s in the position that he’s in, to help us win.”

Wayne saw limited time against Ohio, Central Florida and Delaware and made his first collegiate catch — a 17-yard, third-down conversion — at Duke. Beatty said the staff planned to feature Wayne more in Pitt’s next game, at Syracuse, but the receiver pulled his hamstring in practice. That kept No. 82 sidelined against the Orange, Miami and Georgia Tech.

Wayne returned to the field in prime time last Thursday, playing in his fifth game — bypassing the four-game redshirt rule. It was worth it, though. All four of Wayne’s catches came on scoring drives, with his 10-yard catch on third-and-7 at UNC’s 26 setting up A.J. Davis’ third-quarter touchdown run.

“Growing up as a kid, every football player dreams of making plays on the big stage,” Wayne said. “It was great being out there.”

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The freshman wasn’t without error against North Carolina.

Wayne committed a false start in overtime and, more glaringly, a drop on Pitt’s opening drive. The receiver cleanly beat his man on a stop-and-go and could’ve scored with North Carolina’s safeties split. But Beatty said Wayne didn’t get his head turned around quick enough.

“That was easy. That was one you set up play after play,” the assistant said. “It’s one of things where you’re disappointed, but he’ll learn from it. He’ll make it the next time.”

Pitt’s staff is trusting that will be the case should Wayne be featured this weekend at No. 25 Virginia Tech. Ffrench, who suffered what Narduzzi called a broken jaw at Georgia Tech three weeks ago, might not play at Lane Stadium on Saturday.

If he’s out, Kenny Pickett will rely on Mack, Jacques-Louis and Wayne — the kid who two years ago was playing quarterback himself, in Canada no less. Pretty crazy, eh?

“It’s a dream come true,” Wayne said of the journey so far. “I’m enjoying every moment of it.”

John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9

First Published: November 19, 2019, 10:56 p.m.

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