Wilkes-Barre GAR DE Shakir Soto issues verbal declaration to Pittsburgh

Written by: David Mika on Saturday, April 21st, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

Shakir Soto, a 6’4, 235-pound defensive end for the Grenadiers, issued a verbal declaration to Pittsburgh.

Soto is one of the key returning pieces from GAR Memorial High School’s two-time defending District 2 Class AA champion football team.

Soto has also received interest from programs like Boston College, Bowling Green, Maryland, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia, and Penn State among others.

He is coming off a season in which he posted a team-best 114 tackles (79 solo), a team-best nine sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt in 11 games. He averaged 10.4 tackles per contest for the Grenadiers, who finished 11-2 overall.

His sophomore year he had 97 tackles, eight sacks and forced three fumbles.

At the Philadelphia Nike Sparq Combine he ran an 4.4 short shuttle. Soto is a good track star too.