Quotable
Head coach Chris Ash on his success:
“My experiences at every stop of the way helped me. That started with my high school coaches to my college coaches to every coach I have worked with at a lot of different places have helped build and mold my philosophies. But it still gets back to those two core values; passion for what I do and a tremendous work ethic that was instilled in me at an early age.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five States with class of 2017 offers from RU
5.) Pennsylvania, Connecticut (5) - tie
4.) Ohio, New York (6) - tie
3.) Maryland (11)
2.) Florida (19)
1.) New Jersey (31)
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
Rutgers’ next commit will come from New Jersey
February 20th Junior Day List
After a junior day weekend that focused heavily on New Jersey prospects, this weekend will bring some of the top prospects from around the Mid-Atlantic and some younger local prospects to Rutgers. This will mark second straight weekend of a Junior Day type event and here’s a list of prospects who have confirmed with Scarlet Nation that they expect to be on campus:
DB Tariq Castro Fields Riverdale Baptist (MD) Rutgers offer
OL Kyle Nunez East Islip (NY)
QB Artur Sitkowski Old Bridge (2018) Rutgers offer
WR Justin Shorter South Brunswick (2018)
DE Damion Barber Harrisburg (PA) Rutgers offer
OL Eric Washington Harrisburg (PA)
WR Shaquan Anderson Butts Harrisburg (PA) 2018 Rutgers offer
RB Alex Molina New Milford (2019)
LB Matt McElroy New Milford (2018)
WR Jahan Dotson Nazereth (PA) Rutgers offer (2018)
WR Cameron Jordan Half Hollow Hills West (NY)
RB Devon Darrington John Carroll (MD)
QB Jvyon Brown Irvington
WR Jasiah Provillon Irvington (2018)
DL Lance Turay Irvington (2018)
RB Al Tariq Fields Irvington
ATH Darren Fields Irvington native High School Undecided (2020)
DT Jabreil Salaam Columbia
RB Darien Clemons Piqua, OH
S Donte Taylor St. Vincent-St. Mary (OH)
WR Mark Webb Archbishop Wood (PA) Rutgers offer
WR Raheem Blackshear Archbishop Wood (PA)
LB Avery Roberts Concord (Wilmington, DE) Rutgers offer
RB/S Grahm Roberts Concord (Wilmington, DE) (2018)
WR Jared Hill Concord (Wilmington, DE)
ATH Zachariah Burton William Penn (DE)
DL Victor Dimukeje Boys Latin (MD)
RB Gyair Sharper Clearview
LB Fred McAlpin Clearview
LB Keisean Wilson North Point (MD)
WR Fofie Bazzie Quince Orchard (MD)
LB Audley Issacs Valley Forge Miltary Academy (PA)
LB Ayinde Eley Good Counsel (MD) Rutgers offer
DL Josh Paschal Good Counsel (MD) Rutgers offer
RB Mohamed Ibrahim Good Counsel (MD)
TE Eric Magnifico Hanover Park
LB Isaiah McDuffie Bennett (Buffalo NY) Syracuse commitment
Busy week for offers
Sunday started a new week and the beginning of a hectic one for Rutgers recruiting as the staff was very active in handing out new offers to members of the class of 2017.
More gunslingers
Rutgers is getting serious about the hunt for QB prospects in the class of 2017, issuing offers to two prospects from the Midwest in Penn State commit Sean Clifford of Ohio and Michigan’s Jairus Grissom. Of the two, Grissom is the more realistic target as he will likely visit later this year. Meanwhile, Clifford seems firmly committed to Penn State, for now. Grissom also revealed to Scarlet Nation what he believes to be his biggest strengths as a quarterback.
“I really do well reading coverages and reading the defenses. Another thing I do well is run the ball and my deep ball is probably the best ball I throw.”
O-H-I-O
With all the ties to the Midwest, specifically the state of Ohio, Rutgers issued multiple offers this week to O-linemen Matt Sichterman (Kings High) and Joel Honigford (Garaway). Both of those prospects are right around a dozen offers each. Defensive back offers also went out to teammates Amir Riep, one of the country’s best, and Keontae Jones of Colerain High in Cincinnati. Expect an increased presence by the RU staff in the state of Ohio moving forward.
DeMatha Duo
Rutgers has always made the loaded Maryland school a priority and class of 2017 prospects DE Chase Young and OL Marcus Minor both received offers. Young had an offer waiting from the previous staff if he visited, but he never made it to campus.
Also in Maryland
Rutgers re-offered St. John’s of DC defensive end Tyree Johnson. The old staff was the first to offer him after a strong summer camp performance and he didn’t disappoint this fall. Johnson is now up to 11 offers with Texas A&M coming in recently.
Sunshine State
DE Bobby Roundtree and explosive RB Darrian Felix were the two known offers in Florida this week as both players were featured on Scarlet Nation. With multiple members of this staff having experience recruiting the state, expect the offers to increase down there while multiple staff members will likely visit during the spring evaluation period.
Local LB offers
Seton Hall Prep’s Paul Theobald and Grand Street Campus' (NYC] Olakunle Fatukasi both picked up Rutgers offers yesterday after respective unofficial visits. Rutgers was the first of what should be multiple offers for Fatakasi.
“Coach Ash pulled me aside and told me I could be a very good linebacker at the school and he wants my parents to come down and check out the school for themselves,” Fatukasi said. “They called me a couple of times to see if I was coming up, so I thought I was going to get an offer. I was really excited.”
Theobald was offered previously by Boston College and remarked on what he saw yesterday during the Rutgers workouts.
“The coaches were on everybody about the little details; like finish running through the line plus two more yards. They pushed them the extra step and that really stick out in my mind.”
Look for more on Theobald later today on Scarlet Nation.
Just couldn’t wait any longer
Offensive linemen Sam Vretman of Connecticut, by way of Sweden, and St. John Vianney's (NJ) Jamaal Beaty were told by OL coach A.J. Blazek that he needed to get to know his O-linemen a little more before giving out an offer. It seems like Blazek got to know those two very well on Saturday at Junior Day as each prospect picked up an offer just days later.
“He told me he really just wanted to go after kids he liked,” Vretman said of Blazek. "There were so many kids at junior day that he waited until after to tell me about the offer.”
Vretman’s Cheshire Academy teammates, four-star Tarik Black and CJ Holmes, joined him at the Junior Day while already holding Rutgers offers.
“Now that we all have offers from Rutgers, we talked about building a new thing at Rutgers like we did at Cheshire Academy," Vretman said.
Vretman is a former ice hockey player and is relatively new to the United States. Look for an article on him later on Scarlet Nation.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts four-star running back A.J. Dillon was an early target for the previous Rutgers staff, but it held off on pulling the trigger on an offer. RU running backs coach Zak Kuhr couldn’t wait any longer, finally giving the four-star an offer, bringing his total up to 14.
“He said they sat down and watched my film as a staff and they think I would be a really good fit,” Dillon said of Kuhr. “They see me as a Big Ten running back who is tough but still has speed. They wanted to continue our relationship, stay in touch and get me down there at some point.”
Others to watch
Connecticut LB Ben Mason is really starting to see his recruitment take off and Rutgers jumped on board with an offer before things really exploded. Woodrow Wilson of Camden DB Edwin Lopez also left a campus visit with members of his training group, Next Level Greats, with an unexpected offer from Rutgers.
More weekday visitors
ATH Jahquel Webb – Erasmus Hall (N.Y.)
The Brooklyn product made his way over to Rutgers this week and was able to spend a full day on campus. Webb touched on how the visit went.
“It was a great opportunity to get down there. I liked the campus a lot and I felt very welcomed. It was good spending time with coach [Jafar] Williams. I got a good vibe from him and he seems like a great coach.”
Rutgers was the first school to offer Webb, who attends the same high school that was home to current RU sophomore linebacker Deonte Roberts.
OC Pat Bartlett – Council Rock North (Pa.)
The 6-foot-6, 295-pound center recently received his first offer from Illinois and visited Rutgers yesterday. On the visit, he was able to spend some time with Ash.
“Coach Ash was telling me that since he has experience at Ohio State, he is going to try and make the facilities into something like Ohio State so he can get local kids to stay home and go to Rutgers so he can make it a powerhouse in the next couple of years,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett did not receive an offer on the visit but was told he would receive a spring visit from Blazek who will run him through some drills after which an offer would be discussed.
NJ updates
DE Jayson Ademilola – St. Peter’s Prep
The class of 2018 standout worked up to offer No.10 yesterday with the latest two coming in from Penn State and Temple. Ademilola commented on breaking double digit offers.
“I didn't even realize that," he said of his offer total. "I really don't count. It's a blessing to receive an offer. But at the end of the day, you can only go to one school.”
Ademilola was also at Rutgers Junior Day and mentioned how that went.
“Rutgers was very fun. I got to learn and meet the new staff.”
QB Matt Vitale – Paul VI
Vitale accepted a preferred walk-on spot at Rutgers this week and now plans to do a bit of recruiting. The response to his commitment was very well received on social media by many top prospects around the state. That is evidence that he may be able to have more of an impact on recruiting than most preferred walk-ons.
“I know a lot of kids around the South Jersey and Philadelphia area so I am going to do my best to help get them to Rutgers,” Vitale said.
DB Naijee Jones – Timber Creek
It looks as though Jones is also going to play the part of a recruiter in this class and his interaction with the staff has been constant.
“I talk to the Rutgers coaches daily, so there was nothing really new to me about my [Junior Day] visit. I talk to them pretty much every day,” Jones said.
OC Owen Drexel – Montclair
Drexel visited for Junior Day a couple weeks after picking up an RU offer and is also very close with St. Joe’s offensive lineman Rob Martin, who also holds a Rutgers offer.
“They made me and Rob both seem like priority early targets,” Drexel said of Rutgers. “Rob and I talked about saying home.”
Drexel has also been hard at work in the weight room.
“I got 315 [pounds] up for my [bench] max. But I also got 225 [pounds] up 21 times, I think that was the most I have ever done. Us centers are held to higher standards so I still have a ways to go.”
WR Eddie Lewis – Mater Dei
The talented NJ receiver came away very impressed after Rutgers junior day and while many members of his class are looking to take their time with their recruitment, Lewis is looking to start trimming things down.
“I am going to start taking my unofficial visits and start narrowing things down to three schools and then I am going to choose from there,” Lewis said.
Head coach Chris Ash on his success:
“My experiences at every stop of the way helped me. That started with my high school coaches to my college coaches to every coach I have worked with at a lot of different places have helped build and mold my philosophies. But it still gets back to those two core values; passion for what I do and a tremendous work ethic that was instilled in me at an early age.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five States with class of 2017 offers from RU
5.) Pennsylvania, Connecticut (5) - tie
4.) Ohio, New York (6) - tie
3.) Maryland (11)
2.) Florida (19)
1.) New Jersey (31)
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
Rutgers’ next commit will come from New Jersey
February 20th Junior Day List
After a junior day weekend that focused heavily on New Jersey prospects, this weekend will bring some of the top prospects from around the Mid-Atlantic and some younger local prospects to Rutgers. This will mark second straight weekend of a Junior Day type event and here’s a list of prospects who have confirmed with Scarlet Nation that they expect to be on campus:
DB Tariq Castro Fields Riverdale Baptist (MD) Rutgers offer
OL Kyle Nunez East Islip (NY)
QB Artur Sitkowski Old Bridge (2018) Rutgers offer
WR Justin Shorter South Brunswick (2018)
DE Damion Barber Harrisburg (PA) Rutgers offer
OL Eric Washington Harrisburg (PA)
WR Shaquan Anderson Butts Harrisburg (PA) 2018 Rutgers offer
RB Alex Molina New Milford (2019)
LB Matt McElroy New Milford (2018)
WR Jahan Dotson Nazereth (PA) Rutgers offer (2018)
WR Cameron Jordan Half Hollow Hills West (NY)
RB Devon Darrington John Carroll (MD)
QB Jvyon Brown Irvington
WR Jasiah Provillon Irvington (2018)
DL Lance Turay Irvington (2018)
RB Al Tariq Fields Irvington
ATH Darren Fields Irvington native High School Undecided (2020)
DT Jabreil Salaam Columbia
RB Darien Clemons Piqua, OH
S Donte Taylor St. Vincent-St. Mary (OH)
WR Mark Webb Archbishop Wood (PA) Rutgers offer
WR Raheem Blackshear Archbishop Wood (PA)
LB Avery Roberts Concord (Wilmington, DE) Rutgers offer
RB/S Grahm Roberts Concord (Wilmington, DE) (2018)
WR Jared Hill Concord (Wilmington, DE)
ATH Zachariah Burton William Penn (DE)
DL Victor Dimukeje Boys Latin (MD)
RB Gyair Sharper Clearview
LB Fred McAlpin Clearview
LB Keisean Wilson North Point (MD)
WR Fofie Bazzie Quince Orchard (MD)
LB Audley Issacs Valley Forge Miltary Academy (PA)
LB Ayinde Eley Good Counsel (MD) Rutgers offer
DL Josh Paschal Good Counsel (MD) Rutgers offer
RB Mohamed Ibrahim Good Counsel (MD)
TE Eric Magnifico Hanover Park
LB Isaiah McDuffie Bennett (Buffalo NY) Syracuse commitment
Busy week for offers
Sunday started a new week and the beginning of a hectic one for Rutgers recruiting as the staff was very active in handing out new offers to members of the class of 2017.
More gunslingers
Rutgers is getting serious about the hunt for QB prospects in the class of 2017, issuing offers to two prospects from the Midwest in Penn State commit Sean Clifford of Ohio and Michigan’s Jairus Grissom. Of the two, Grissom is the more realistic target as he will likely visit later this year. Meanwhile, Clifford seems firmly committed to Penn State, for now. Grissom also revealed to Scarlet Nation what he believes to be his biggest strengths as a quarterback.
“I really do well reading coverages and reading the defenses. Another thing I do well is run the ball and my deep ball is probably the best ball I throw.”
O-H-I-O
With all the ties to the Midwest, specifically the state of Ohio, Rutgers issued multiple offers this week to O-linemen Matt Sichterman (Kings High) and Joel Honigford (Garaway). Both of those prospects are right around a dozen offers each. Defensive back offers also went out to teammates Amir Riep, one of the country’s best, and Keontae Jones of Colerain High in Cincinnati. Expect an increased presence by the RU staff in the state of Ohio moving forward.
DeMatha Duo
Rutgers has always made the loaded Maryland school a priority and class of 2017 prospects DE Chase Young and OL Marcus Minor both received offers. Young had an offer waiting from the previous staff if he visited, but he never made it to campus.
Also in Maryland
Rutgers re-offered St. John’s of DC defensive end Tyree Johnson. The old staff was the first to offer him after a strong summer camp performance and he didn’t disappoint this fall. Johnson is now up to 11 offers with Texas A&M coming in recently.
Sunshine State
DE Bobby Roundtree and explosive RB Darrian Felix were the two known offers in Florida this week as both players were featured on Scarlet Nation. With multiple members of this staff having experience recruiting the state, expect the offers to increase down there while multiple staff members will likely visit during the spring evaluation period.
Local LB offers
Seton Hall Prep’s Paul Theobald and Grand Street Campus' (NYC] Olakunle Fatukasi both picked up Rutgers offers yesterday after respective unofficial visits. Rutgers was the first of what should be multiple offers for Fatakasi.
“Coach Ash pulled me aside and told me I could be a very good linebacker at the school and he wants my parents to come down and check out the school for themselves,” Fatukasi said. “They called me a couple of times to see if I was coming up, so I thought I was going to get an offer. I was really excited.”
Theobald was offered previously by Boston College and remarked on what he saw yesterday during the Rutgers workouts.
“The coaches were on everybody about the little details; like finish running through the line plus two more yards. They pushed them the extra step and that really stick out in my mind.”
Look for more on Theobald later today on Scarlet Nation.
Just couldn’t wait any longer
Offensive linemen Sam Vretman of Connecticut, by way of Sweden, and St. John Vianney's (NJ) Jamaal Beaty were told by OL coach A.J. Blazek that he needed to get to know his O-linemen a little more before giving out an offer. It seems like Blazek got to know those two very well on Saturday at Junior Day as each prospect picked up an offer just days later.
“He told me he really just wanted to go after kids he liked,” Vretman said of Blazek. "There were so many kids at junior day that he waited until after to tell me about the offer.”
Vretman’s Cheshire Academy teammates, four-star Tarik Black and CJ Holmes, joined him at the Junior Day while already holding Rutgers offers.
“Now that we all have offers from Rutgers, we talked about building a new thing at Rutgers like we did at Cheshire Academy," Vretman said.
Vretman is a former ice hockey player and is relatively new to the United States. Look for an article on him later on Scarlet Nation.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts four-star running back A.J. Dillon was an early target for the previous Rutgers staff, but it held off on pulling the trigger on an offer. RU running backs coach Zak Kuhr couldn’t wait any longer, finally giving the four-star an offer, bringing his total up to 14.
“He said they sat down and watched my film as a staff and they think I would be a really good fit,” Dillon said of Kuhr. “They see me as a Big Ten running back who is tough but still has speed. They wanted to continue our relationship, stay in touch and get me down there at some point.”
Others to watch
Connecticut LB Ben Mason is really starting to see his recruitment take off and Rutgers jumped on board with an offer before things really exploded. Woodrow Wilson of Camden DB Edwin Lopez also left a campus visit with members of his training group, Next Level Greats, with an unexpected offer from Rutgers.
More weekday visitors
ATH Jahquel Webb – Erasmus Hall (N.Y.)
The Brooklyn product made his way over to Rutgers this week and was able to spend a full day on campus. Webb touched on how the visit went.
“It was a great opportunity to get down there. I liked the campus a lot and I felt very welcomed. It was good spending time with coach [Jafar] Williams. I got a good vibe from him and he seems like a great coach.”
Rutgers was the first school to offer Webb, who attends the same high school that was home to current RU sophomore linebacker Deonte Roberts.
OC Pat Bartlett – Council Rock North (Pa.)
The 6-foot-6, 295-pound center recently received his first offer from Illinois and visited Rutgers yesterday. On the visit, he was able to spend some time with Ash.
“Coach Ash was telling me that since he has experience at Ohio State, he is going to try and make the facilities into something like Ohio State so he can get local kids to stay home and go to Rutgers so he can make it a powerhouse in the next couple of years,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett did not receive an offer on the visit but was told he would receive a spring visit from Blazek who will run him through some drills after which an offer would be discussed.
NJ updates
DE Jayson Ademilola – St. Peter’s Prep
The class of 2018 standout worked up to offer No.10 yesterday with the latest two coming in from Penn State and Temple. Ademilola commented on breaking double digit offers.
“I didn't even realize that," he said of his offer total. "I really don't count. It's a blessing to receive an offer. But at the end of the day, you can only go to one school.”
Ademilola was also at Rutgers Junior Day and mentioned how that went.
“Rutgers was very fun. I got to learn and meet the new staff.”
QB Matt Vitale – Paul VI
Vitale accepted a preferred walk-on spot at Rutgers this week and now plans to do a bit of recruiting. The response to his commitment was very well received on social media by many top prospects around the state. That is evidence that he may be able to have more of an impact on recruiting than most preferred walk-ons.
“I know a lot of kids around the South Jersey and Philadelphia area so I am going to do my best to help get them to Rutgers,” Vitale said.
DB Naijee Jones – Timber Creek
It looks as though Jones is also going to play the part of a recruiter in this class and his interaction with the staff has been constant.
“I talk to the Rutgers coaches daily, so there was nothing really new to me about my [Junior Day] visit. I talk to them pretty much every day,” Jones said.
OC Owen Drexel – Montclair
Drexel visited for Junior Day a couple weeks after picking up an RU offer and is also very close with St. Joe’s offensive lineman Rob Martin, who also holds a Rutgers offer.
“They made me and Rob both seem like priority early targets,” Drexel said of Rutgers. “Rob and I talked about saying home.”
Drexel has also been hard at work in the weight room.
“I got 315 [pounds] up for my [bench] max. But I also got 225 [pounds] up 21 times, I think that was the most I have ever done. Us centers are held to higher standards so I still have a ways to go.”
WR Eddie Lewis – Mater Dei
The talented NJ receiver came away very impressed after Rutgers junior day and while many members of his class are looking to take their time with their recruitment, Lewis is looking to start trimming things down.
“I am going to start taking my unofficial visits and start narrowing things down to three schools and then I am going to choose from there,” Lewis said.
