Westover’s Torian Chester commits to University of Pittsburgh

ALBANY – Westover offensive lineman Torian Chester will play college football at the University of Pittsburgh next season after a weekend visit to the university and the city of Pittsburgh last weekend.

“Hail to Pitt,” is how Chester ended his conversation about his commitment.

Chester, at 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, plays left guard on the line for the Patriots but had received no interest from major college scouts until after the spring game when the Patriots beat Monroe.

After the Monroe game, Chester said coaches from Pittsburgh started showing interest and called his mother to see if there was interest in an official visit. Last weekend, they took a flight to Pittsburgh, and his football journey will continue as a Panther, competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference against schools such as Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia and others.

“Everything was great,” Chester said of his visit. “I was taken around the campus and the city. We got to meet some of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The coaches were great, and the players were cool. The guy who showed me around was really good, and there wasn’t anything I didn’t enjoy. It really felt like a place I could call home.”

His coach agreed.

“Torian works very hard,” Westover head coach Corey Joyner said. “Last year, he had no stars and no Power 5 offers. Now, he is a three-star offensive lineman and committed to the University of Pittsburgh. Our visit to Pittsburgh last week was out of this world!”

Chester started playing football at age 7 here in Albany, but he said Tuesday that he didn’t apply himself to the game until last year.

“After my ninth and tenth-grade years, I realized that God has given our coaches the ability to coach and that I need to take what they are teaching me,” Chester said. “I realized that if I was going to do anything, I needed to work and listen to the people adding to my life.”

Chester has one more season at Westover and has big goals for his senior season.

“We want state,” Chester said. “No doubt about it. We have all hard workers out here, and we are putting in the work to get there.”

The offensive lineman said he still has work to do to improve.

“I’ve got to work on keeping my head up and my chest out,” Chester said.

Chester and the Patriots are scheduled to open the football season on Aug. 16 in Baxley against Early County.

Chester is the son of Engria Chester and Andrew Burnet of Albany.

Contributed