Quotables
Rutgers head basketball coach Mike Rice on the Villanova win:
“We finally scored enough points. It’s been a problem all year. Enough is enough.”
on getting the team ready for Seton Hall:
“It’ll be difficult, but that’s one of my specialties, though, in bringing people back down to earth.”
Senior forward Jonathan Mitchell on the rest of the season:
“Me being a senior leader, it’s time to step up. We’ve got a few games left. We’re just patrolling each other and getting each other better every day. It starts with practice because our practices have been better. I think guys have been stepping up, speaking up more and holding each other accountable. It all started there."
Senior point guard James Beatty on Mitchell’s game-winning four-point play aginst ‘Nova:
“That’s the hardest part. When [Mitchell] knocked down the three, it’s a tie ballgame so you don’t have to make the free throw to send it into overtime. I knew he was going to make the free throw because there was no pressure. I was 100 percent confident that he was going to make it."
RU head wrestling coach Scott Goodale on preparing his sixth ranked team:
“It’s a smart group, they know on any given night at the level we’re wrestling, you can get picked off. These are really good teams coming in here, these are nationally ranked teams. They know on any given night you could get beat, it’s where we’re at. It’s the nature of the beast.”
Fat Cat Top 5
Top 5 number of offers for NJ juniors
5. Yuri Wright
4. Leonte Carroo
3. Quanzell Lambert
2. Elijah Shumate
1. Darius Hamilton
The Numbers Game
10 linebackers on current RU roster (not counting incoming freshman)
9 of RU’s top 15 tacklers on defense return in 2011
8 teams were ranked higher nationally than the last team RU hoops defeated (Villanova)
7 points in the last 6 seconds for RU vs. Villanova on Wednesday night
6 of the last 9 games, Jonathan Mitchell has scored more than 20 points
5 preferred walk-ons already committed to RU class of 2011
4 RU senior hoopsters have only three home games remaining
3 months since RU wrestling’s only loss of the season
2 Wednesday night back-to-back dunks were the first of Mike Poole’s college career
1 pinfall in RU’s Wednesday night win over No. 11 American
Bobby’s Crystal ball
Rutgers will defeat Seton Hall tomorrow at The RAC
RU wrestling will defeat Lehigh next week at The RAC
RU’s first football commit to the class of 2012 will come in late March
Recruiting tidbits
Gunnar Holcombe (University, FL)
The 6-foot-4 pro style quarterback picked up an offer from Wisconsin this week to go along with a previous one from USF and Rutgers could be next in line.
“They told me they can’t officially offer me until they meet me in person but expect to get it in when they come down,” Holcombe said of Rutgers.
Malik Bush (Hackensack)
Bush’s junior season lasted only one game after he suffered a shoulder injury in the season opener. The 6-foot-3, 205 pound quarterback is the brother of current Rutgers tight end Malcolm Bush, and has begun to hear from a multitude of schools despite having to sit out last season.
"LSU, Michigan State, Nebraska, NC State, Rutgers and Wisconsin have all sent me letters and been in contact," Bush said.
While LSU has been the most diligent school in terms of keeping in touch, Rutgers is Bush's favorite out of the bunch.
"I like RU the most because of my brother, I am familiar with it and it is close by," Bush said.
Bush will get a chance to showcase his talents at the upcoming NUC Rivals Five-Star Showcase on March 12.
New workouts
The Hale Center is now featuring some new Scarlet Knights as the class of 2011 can now make use of the facilities. Yesterday, Mike Bimonte made use of those facilities along with a new workout partner.
“The weight room is honestly incredible,” said Bimonte. “I just got done working out with Max Issaka. I’m definitely going to be up there every day. I loved it.”
Quentin Gause (Bishop Kearney)
Workouts continued a little farther north for Rochester, N.Y. product Quentin Gause.
“Quentin is so excited and can't wait to learn from Coach Jay Butler and staff,” said Quentin’s father, Richard Gause. “As you know, it is a time to walk the walk and get focused. We remember as a family when attending Junior day last April: during the Q&A session with the Players. The player stated he was not ready when entering RU Football camp. This gave Quentin motivation to get ready; ready mentally and Physically as an athlete to play defense, offense, or special teams.”
Leonte Carroo (Don Bosco)
Rutgers is already a favorite of the standout wide receiver and sources confirmed that he was close to committing during Rutgers Junior Day.
Brandon Napoleon (St. Peter’s Prep)
Napoleon received an offer from Rutgers this morning as an athlete and not a quarterback. It is his second offer to go along with a previous one from North Carolina.
“I felt relieved because I actually wanted to be offered by Rutgers,” said Napoleon. “That’s my home state school, so I wanted that offer.”
Deandre Jasper (Jackson, FL)
The Miami native received an offer from Rutgers this week, giving him a total of three to go a long with Florida State and UCF. RU wide receivers coach P.J. Fleck has been recruiting the 5-foot-11 wide receiver for the last year and, although he has never been on campus, Jasper already has some Rutgers ties.
“I don’t know that much but one of my family members, Tim Brown, graduated from there and played football,” said Jasper.
DJ Singelton (St. Peter’s Prep)
Word around St. Peter’s Prep is that Singleton may be looking to make an early commitment. So far, he claims offers from Rutgers, North Carolina and Miami.
Jabre Lolly (St. Mark’s, DE)
Rutgers has requested tape on Lolley from St.Mark's in Wilmington, Delaware. Lolley (6-foot, 185 pounds) was 1st team all-state at defensive back where he recorded 41 total tackles while also making four interceptions and forcing and recovering two fumbles.
On offense, Lolley compiled 1,335 all-purpose yards with 17 touchdowns this season. He rushed for 809 yards with 15 touchdowns and grabbed 11 passes for another 167 yards with a score. For his efforts he was voted the Army Iron Man of the Year in Delaware.
John's Take
The Bosco factor
For those of you who follow New Jersey high school football, you might actually have the opportunity to see Don Bosco lose a game in the not so distant future. It might not happen next year, but the balance of power in recruiting appears to be swinging back toward neutral between Don Bosco and Bergen Catholic. Even St. Joseph - which beat St. Peter's Prep on the varsity level - had more talent on the freshman level last year than in previous years. According to one of our contacts in North Jersey who has seen all three schools in action multiple times this year, the argument that Bosco was playing 5 freshmen on varsity still doesn't quite explain the fact that the team lost upwards of 6 freshmen games this past year when they only lost 1 in the previous 6 (stats may be wrong --- secondhand info). "Joe's beat the p*ss out of them this year," said the observer.
A parent of one top freshman told us that the national championship at Bosco might have done more harm than good, as the word among parents is that there is a better chance to play at Bergen Catholic. As I said before, it might not happen this year (big time Bosco senior class), but the days when you actually wondered who would win a Bergen/Bosco game may soon be back. We love to see a strong New Jersey team atop the national polls - and we will certainly be rooting for them when they take on teams from outside of New Jersey this year - but Bosco pummeling a team like St. Peter's Prep 37-0 and naming the score against any public school on the schedule takes something away from North Jersey football.
Give me a year like 2004, when a supposedly unbeatable Bergen Catholic squad (Cushing's senior year) started things off with a loss to public school Ridgewood, then lost to Don Bosco, only to win out through the remainder of the year, culminating with a championship win over Bosco. That same year, Bosco also lost to a St. Joseph team that was led by none other than the McCourty brothers. St. Joseph would run unbeaten until the 9th game of the season, where they'd lose a 56-42 thriller to Bergen. For anyone who followed North Jersey football, it was a fun year to be on the sidelines. So, for that reason alone, here's to hoping that rumors of a Bergen Catholic resurgence are more than just rumors.
This post was edited on 2/11 4:44 PM by Bobby Deren
Rutgers head basketball coach Mike Rice on the Villanova win:
“We finally scored enough points. It’s been a problem all year. Enough is enough.”
on getting the team ready for Seton Hall:
“It’ll be difficult, but that’s one of my specialties, though, in bringing people back down to earth.”
Senior forward Jonathan Mitchell on the rest of the season:
“Me being a senior leader, it’s time to step up. We’ve got a few games left. We’re just patrolling each other and getting each other better every day. It starts with practice because our practices have been better. I think guys have been stepping up, speaking up more and holding each other accountable. It all started there."
Senior point guard James Beatty on Mitchell’s game-winning four-point play aginst ‘Nova:
“That’s the hardest part. When [Mitchell] knocked down the three, it’s a tie ballgame so you don’t have to make the free throw to send it into overtime. I knew he was going to make the free throw because there was no pressure. I was 100 percent confident that he was going to make it."
RU head wrestling coach Scott Goodale on preparing his sixth ranked team:
“It’s a smart group, they know on any given night at the level we’re wrestling, you can get picked off. These are really good teams coming in here, these are nationally ranked teams. They know on any given night you could get beat, it’s where we’re at. It’s the nature of the beast.”
Fat Cat Top 5
Top 5 number of offers for NJ juniors
5. Yuri Wright
4. Leonte Carroo
3. Quanzell Lambert
2. Elijah Shumate
1. Darius Hamilton
The Numbers Game
10 linebackers on current RU roster (not counting incoming freshman)
9 of RU’s top 15 tacklers on defense return in 2011
8 teams were ranked higher nationally than the last team RU hoops defeated (Villanova)
7 points in the last 6 seconds for RU vs. Villanova on Wednesday night
6 of the last 9 games, Jonathan Mitchell has scored more than 20 points
5 preferred walk-ons already committed to RU class of 2011
4 RU senior hoopsters have only three home games remaining
3 months since RU wrestling’s only loss of the season
2 Wednesday night back-to-back dunks were the first of Mike Poole’s college career
1 pinfall in RU’s Wednesday night win over No. 11 American
Bobby’s Crystal ball
Rutgers will defeat Seton Hall tomorrow at The RAC
RU wrestling will defeat Lehigh next week at The RAC
RU’s first football commit to the class of 2012 will come in late March
Recruiting tidbits
Gunnar Holcombe (University, FL)
The 6-foot-4 pro style quarterback picked up an offer from Wisconsin this week to go along with a previous one from USF and Rutgers could be next in line.
“They told me they can’t officially offer me until they meet me in person but expect to get it in when they come down,” Holcombe said of Rutgers.
Malik Bush (Hackensack)
Bush’s junior season lasted only one game after he suffered a shoulder injury in the season opener. The 6-foot-3, 205 pound quarterback is the brother of current Rutgers tight end Malcolm Bush, and has begun to hear from a multitude of schools despite having to sit out last season.
"LSU, Michigan State, Nebraska, NC State, Rutgers and Wisconsin have all sent me letters and been in contact," Bush said.
While LSU has been the most diligent school in terms of keeping in touch, Rutgers is Bush's favorite out of the bunch.
"I like RU the most because of my brother, I am familiar with it and it is close by," Bush said.
Bush will get a chance to showcase his talents at the upcoming NUC Rivals Five-Star Showcase on March 12.
New workouts
The Hale Center is now featuring some new Scarlet Knights as the class of 2011 can now make use of the facilities. Yesterday, Mike Bimonte made use of those facilities along with a new workout partner.
“The weight room is honestly incredible,” said Bimonte. “I just got done working out with Max Issaka. I’m definitely going to be up there every day. I loved it.”
Quentin Gause (Bishop Kearney)
Workouts continued a little farther north for Rochester, N.Y. product Quentin Gause.
“Quentin is so excited and can't wait to learn from Coach Jay Butler and staff,” said Quentin’s father, Richard Gause. “As you know, it is a time to walk the walk and get focused. We remember as a family when attending Junior day last April: during the Q&A session with the Players. The player stated he was not ready when entering RU Football camp. This gave Quentin motivation to get ready; ready mentally and Physically as an athlete to play defense, offense, or special teams.”
Leonte Carroo (Don Bosco)
Rutgers is already a favorite of the standout wide receiver and sources confirmed that he was close to committing during Rutgers Junior Day.
Brandon Napoleon (St. Peter’s Prep)
Napoleon received an offer from Rutgers this morning as an athlete and not a quarterback. It is his second offer to go along with a previous one from North Carolina.
“I felt relieved because I actually wanted to be offered by Rutgers,” said Napoleon. “That’s my home state school, so I wanted that offer.”
Deandre Jasper (Jackson, FL)
The Miami native received an offer from Rutgers this week, giving him a total of three to go a long with Florida State and UCF. RU wide receivers coach P.J. Fleck has been recruiting the 5-foot-11 wide receiver for the last year and, although he has never been on campus, Jasper already has some Rutgers ties.
“I don’t know that much but one of my family members, Tim Brown, graduated from there and played football,” said Jasper.
DJ Singelton (St. Peter’s Prep)
Word around St. Peter’s Prep is that Singleton may be looking to make an early commitment. So far, he claims offers from Rutgers, North Carolina and Miami.
Jabre Lolly (St. Mark’s, DE)
Rutgers has requested tape on Lolley from St.Mark's in Wilmington, Delaware. Lolley (6-foot, 185 pounds) was 1st team all-state at defensive back where he recorded 41 total tackles while also making four interceptions and forcing and recovering two fumbles.
On offense, Lolley compiled 1,335 all-purpose yards with 17 touchdowns this season. He rushed for 809 yards with 15 touchdowns and grabbed 11 passes for another 167 yards with a score. For his efforts he was voted the Army Iron Man of the Year in Delaware.
John's Take
The Bosco factor
For those of you who follow New Jersey high school football, you might actually have the opportunity to see Don Bosco lose a game in the not so distant future. It might not happen next year, but the balance of power in recruiting appears to be swinging back toward neutral between Don Bosco and Bergen Catholic. Even St. Joseph - which beat St. Peter's Prep on the varsity level - had more talent on the freshman level last year than in previous years. According to one of our contacts in North Jersey who has seen all three schools in action multiple times this year, the argument that Bosco was playing 5 freshmen on varsity still doesn't quite explain the fact that the team lost upwards of 6 freshmen games this past year when they only lost 1 in the previous 6 (stats may be wrong --- secondhand info). "Joe's beat the p*ss out of them this year," said the observer.
A parent of one top freshman told us that the national championship at Bosco might have done more harm than good, as the word among parents is that there is a better chance to play at Bergen Catholic. As I said before, it might not happen this year (big time Bosco senior class), but the days when you actually wondered who would win a Bergen/Bosco game may soon be back. We love to see a strong New Jersey team atop the national polls - and we will certainly be rooting for them when they take on teams from outside of New Jersey this year - but Bosco pummeling a team like St. Peter's Prep 37-0 and naming the score against any public school on the schedule takes something away from North Jersey football.
Give me a year like 2004, when a supposedly unbeatable Bergen Catholic squad (Cushing's senior year) started things off with a loss to public school Ridgewood, then lost to Don Bosco, only to win out through the remainder of the year, culminating with a championship win over Bosco. That same year, Bosco also lost to a St. Joseph team that was led by none other than the McCourty brothers. St. Joseph would run unbeaten until the 9th game of the season, where they'd lose a 56-42 thriller to Bergen. For anyone who followed North Jersey football, it was a fun year to be on the sidelines. So, for that reason alone, here's to hoping that rumors of a Bergen Catholic resurgence are more than just rumors.
This post was edited on 2/11 4:44 PM by Bobby Deren
