Derrek Pitts 2016

Derrek Pitts, a Penn State recruit, visits during the annual Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium on April 16, 2016. Joe Hermitt, PennLive

Two months and eight days after he committed to Penn State, three-star West Virginia athlete Derrek Pitts has decided to go in a different direction.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound class of 2017 prospect from Charleston, W.Va., announced that he is re-opening his recruitment in a message posted to social media on Monday afternoon.

Long expected in recruiting circles, Pitts is the first player to pick the Lions before decommitting in this cycle.

"I would like to thank [head] Coach [James] Franklin and his staff for giving me a [sic] opportunity to be committed to Penn State which is a great program," Pitts wrote, "but I would like to re-open my Recruitment [sic] and explore my other options."

While expected, news of Pitts' decision is a damper for the progrm at a time when the Lions are celebrating a come from behind 29-26 victory over Minnesota with a Homecoming date with Maryland on tap for Saturday.

Penn State's class of 2017 now stands at 14 members, and has room for about six to eight more players.

As for what happens next with Pitts, it's unclear; West Virginia was the other finalist when he picked Penn State back on July 27, and so the Mountaineers are likely the leader. Seventeen other programs have offered the consensus three-star, as well.