St. Louis TE Zach Ortwerth adds ACC offer

St. Louis (Mo.) St. Louis University High School tight end Zach Ortwerth has quickly become one of the fastest-rising tight end prospects in the Midlands – if not the entire country.

We got another example of his red-hot stock when Zach Ortwerth announced that he landed another offer. This time the offer comes from Pittsburgh in the ACC.

Before the new offer from the Panthers, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Ortwerth landed offers from West Virginia, Purdue, Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska over the past three weeks. That offer list is only expected to grow as more schools find out about him.

“He’s a freak athlete,” SLUH recruiting coordinator Adam Cruz said earlier in February. “He’s the best player on the basketball team and is going to be a four-year varsity starter. He didn’t play football growing up, but his mom and dad are college athletes.”

Even with all that potential, it’s taken a little while for Zach Ortwerth’s name to emerge.

“During his freshman year, the kid ahead of him just won the D3 defensive player of the year, so we didn’t have to rush him,” Cruz said. “We had big plans for him for his sophomore year. Then COVID hit and kids organized their own things. Three days before the city drops their ban, Zach breaks his collarbone at a 7-on-7 the kids organized.

“So, this year was the first year of varsity tape. But when you watch that tape, it’s a no-brainer.”

Zach Ortwerth has affection for Nebraska because it was the first school to offer him a major scholarship.

But he was also on an unofficial visit to Iowa in January, and the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine is favoring the Hawkeyes early on. He visited Kansas in November, but the Jayhawks have yet to offer.

Miami of Ohio also got a visit during the season.

Plus, Notre Dame is another school that is monitoring him after a fall visit.