Inside The Panthers

WATCH: Pitt DB Cruce Brookins Drops the Hammer

Check out a recent Pitt Panthers spring practice clip of defensive back Cruce Brookins dropping the hammer in run support.

Kevin Sinclair

Aug 31, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Kent State Golden Flashes running back Ky Thomas (3) runs the ball as Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back Cruce Brookins (12) chases during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 55-24.Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Aug 31, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Kent State Golden Flashes running back Ky Thomas (3) runs the ball as Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back Cruce Brookins (12) chases during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 55-24.Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Spring camp is underway for the Pitt Panthers.

Last weekend, the ACC squad competed in full pads for the first time while scores of prospects across the 2026, 2027, and 2028 classes poured onto campus.

Those padded practices have continued through this week, increasing the level of physicality day-to-day. This upcoming Saturday, the Panthers will head to Acrisure Stadium where the team will compete in a full scrimmage.

“Saturday, scrimmage. We got out in shells on Thursday, get to Acrisure on Saturday, barring that the weather is good,” Narduzzi said on Tuesday. “We’ll get to see what we really have that day. You know, when you go live for a whole scrimmage, you find out what you have.

“Saturday, we’ll be live the whole time. We’ll get 100-plus plays. We’ll be live. Oh yeah.”

On Wednesday, the Pitt Panthers X account posted a clip of third-year defensive back Cruce Brookins delivering an excellent takedown in the latest spring session.

In the 2023 recruiting class, Brookins chose Pitt as a three-star recruit out of Homestead (Pa.) Steel Valley High School over opportunities from Syracuse, West Virginia, and others.

After barely getting his feet wet as a freshman that year, Brookins saw a lot more action last year as a true sophomore. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound in-state talent put together 35 total tackles, 26 of those takedowns being solo, while recording two pass breakups and two interceptions.

Click here for a look at Brookins' first interception via YouTube

It'll be interesting to see where Brookins fits into this year's defensive backfield roster. By the look of it, he's bringing plenty of energy and aggressiveness to the spring camp practice field.

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Kevin Sinclair
KEVIN SINCLAIR

Kevin Sinclair writes coverage of the Pitt Panthers along with the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tennessee Titans for On SI. Previously, he was a recruiting reporter and managing editor at Irish Illustrated, the privately-owned Notre Dame site within the 247Sports Network, for over seven-and-a-half years. Kevin studied multimedia journalism and has been a sports writer for nearly a decade.

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