Quotables
Steve Pikiell on the 2016-17 season:
“We accomplished a lot of things. We got some respect back to Rutgers basketball. I am very excited to be the head coach. I love the university. It’s a great place. We are building a new practice facility. We have a great athletic director, we have a lot of real positive things going on.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five NJ Quarterbacks in the class of 2018
5.) Brandon Robinson (Irvington)
4.) Johnny Langan (Bergen Catholic)
3.) Allan Walters (Peddie)
2.) Nick Patti (St. Joe’s)
1.) Devin Leary (Timber Creek)
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
Rutgers hoops will have two transfers out of the program
Recruiting Tidbits
’18 WR Dontay Demus (Friendship Academy - DC)
As of right now Maryland is the team to beat in this recruitment, but Rutgers is pushing hard to land the junior wide receiver. He told Scarlet Nation that Coach Matt Hewitt is contacting him just about every single day and he plans to make a return trip to Rutgers sometime in March to with his family.
’18 TE TJ Ivy (Marist - IL)
Lately you might’ve recognized the name from his tweets of Rutgers graphics. RU running backs coach Lester Erb is the lead man on this recruitment, as he continues to canvass his traditional recruiting grounds throughout the state of Illinois. Ivy said the staff is mostly staying in contact and trying to get him out east for a visit. He’s hoping to get out to Rutgers this summer when he goes on an east coast trip.
’18 LB Edward Warinner (Olentangy Liberty - OH)
Ohio product is hearing a lot from the Rutgers staff and they have been consistently telling him that he is one of their top linebackers on their board. The staff is also pushing for him to visit and he will most likely make the summer trip over to Rutgers. In the meantime, Warinner has visits set up for West Virginia, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan State. Warinner holds eight offers, although Rutgers is the only one from a power five conference.
’18 LB Jayden McDonald (North Gwinnett - GA)
Rutgers has recently started to get in contact with the junior linebacker and he has also been speaking quite a bit with head coach Chris Ash. They are just in the beginning of building their relationship but expect a Rutgers offer to go out in the near future.
'18 LB Juan Wallace ( Woodson - MD)
The Rutgers coaching staff extended an offer to the Maryland linebacker, who has now reached double-digit offers.
"I talked with my area recruiter, Coach Baker on the phone. He said that I was a great player and a good fit for the school," Wallace said, "He also likes the way I play in my film and he offered me. It was an exciting moment. I hope to visit very soon."
QB Taquan Roberson (DePaul)
One of the top quarterbacks in New Jersey in the class of 2019, Roberson was on the Rutgers campus yesterday. Roberson is listed at 6-foot-1, 186-pound dual-threat quarterback and is drawing interest from lots of programs.
While on the Rutgers campus, he earned a Rutgers offer.
“Coach [Jerry] Kill said I was a great player on film and that he believes I have a bright future. After that he said they would like to be the first class of 2019 quarterback that they offer,” Roberson said.
Hoops Tidbits
Following a valiant late-season run that saw Rutgers pick up consecutive wins over Illinois and Ohio State, it ran into a tough Northwestern squad that was just too much to handle last night. Two games in two nights was too much to overcome as the Scarlet Knights were beaten handily by a final of 83-61.
“We came out with good energy, but after a few minutes, our energy let down,” Nigel Johnson said following the game. “They were hitting shots and didn’t miss for a while it seemed like.”
That marked the end of head coach Steve Pikiell’s first season at Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights finished with a 15-18 record.
“It wasn’t the way I wanted to end it,” Pikiell said. “That wasn’t the defensive team we’ve been most of the year. But you have to give Northwestern credit. They played at an elite level. I thought they made our defense look bad at times, even when it was good.”
However, things are on the upswing as Rutgers is showing promising signs for the future.
“I think we did a lot of big things this year for Rutgers basketball,” Corey Sanders said. “That was the goal and we are going to keep striving for that goal, move on and keep progressing. I think a lot of people saw that. The goal is just to keep progressing. When I look back on it, I know that we worked hard and we played hard. That is really the biggest thing about it.”
Looking back, Pikiell recollected what things were like when he first arrived at Rutgers.
“If you were at my first workout when I met with my staff afterwards, I was very nervous about every game. So we overachieved.”
Pro Day Tidbits
Pro Day will begin this morning at 9:30 a.m. inside the Rutgers practice bubble and Scarlet Nation will be on hand to bring you all of the action. Here is a list of the participants who will be performing in front of NFL scouts.
WR Carlton Agudosi
DB Anthony Cioffi
OL JJ Denman
LB Greg Jones
LB Kevin Marquez
WR Vance Matthews
OL Chris Muller
OL Derrick Nelson
DB Marcus Parker
WR Andre Patton
RB Paul James
LB Kaiwan Lewis
LB Steve Beauharnais
Steve Pikiell on the 2016-17 season:
“We accomplished a lot of things. We got some respect back to Rutgers basketball. I am very excited to be the head coach. I love the university. It’s a great place. We are building a new practice facility. We have a great athletic director, we have a lot of real positive things going on.”
Fat Cat Top Five
Top Five NJ Quarterbacks in the class of 2018
5.) Brandon Robinson (Irvington)
4.) Johnny Langan (Bergen Catholic)
3.) Allan Walters (Peddie)
2.) Nick Patti (St. Joe’s)
1.) Devin Leary (Timber Creek)
Bobby’s Crystal Ball
Rutgers hoops will have two transfers out of the program
Recruiting Tidbits
’18 WR Dontay Demus (Friendship Academy - DC)
As of right now Maryland is the team to beat in this recruitment, but Rutgers is pushing hard to land the junior wide receiver. He told Scarlet Nation that Coach Matt Hewitt is contacting him just about every single day and he plans to make a return trip to Rutgers sometime in March to with his family.
’18 TE TJ Ivy (Marist - IL)
Lately you might’ve recognized the name from his tweets of Rutgers graphics. RU running backs coach Lester Erb is the lead man on this recruitment, as he continues to canvass his traditional recruiting grounds throughout the state of Illinois. Ivy said the staff is mostly staying in contact and trying to get him out east for a visit. He’s hoping to get out to Rutgers this summer when he goes on an east coast trip.
’18 LB Edward Warinner (Olentangy Liberty - OH)
Ohio product is hearing a lot from the Rutgers staff and they have been consistently telling him that he is one of their top linebackers on their board. The staff is also pushing for him to visit and he will most likely make the summer trip over to Rutgers. In the meantime, Warinner has visits set up for West Virginia, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan State. Warinner holds eight offers, although Rutgers is the only one from a power five conference.
’18 LB Jayden McDonald (North Gwinnett - GA)
Rutgers has recently started to get in contact with the junior linebacker and he has also been speaking quite a bit with head coach Chris Ash. They are just in the beginning of building their relationship but expect a Rutgers offer to go out in the near future.
'18 LB Juan Wallace ( Woodson - MD)
The Rutgers coaching staff extended an offer to the Maryland linebacker, who has now reached double-digit offers.
"I talked with my area recruiter, Coach Baker on the phone. He said that I was a great player and a good fit for the school," Wallace said, "He also likes the way I play in my film and he offered me. It was an exciting moment. I hope to visit very soon."
QB Taquan Roberson (DePaul)
One of the top quarterbacks in New Jersey in the class of 2019, Roberson was on the Rutgers campus yesterday. Roberson is listed at 6-foot-1, 186-pound dual-threat quarterback and is drawing interest from lots of programs.
While on the Rutgers campus, he earned a Rutgers offer.
“Coach [Jerry] Kill said I was a great player on film and that he believes I have a bright future. After that he said they would like to be the first class of 2019 quarterback that they offer,” Roberson said.
Hoops Tidbits
Following a valiant late-season run that saw Rutgers pick up consecutive wins over Illinois and Ohio State, it ran into a tough Northwestern squad that was just too much to handle last night. Two games in two nights was too much to overcome as the Scarlet Knights were beaten handily by a final of 83-61.
“We came out with good energy, but after a few minutes, our energy let down,” Nigel Johnson said following the game. “They were hitting shots and didn’t miss for a while it seemed like.”
That marked the end of head coach Steve Pikiell’s first season at Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights finished with a 15-18 record.
“It wasn’t the way I wanted to end it,” Pikiell said. “That wasn’t the defensive team we’ve been most of the year. But you have to give Northwestern credit. They played at an elite level. I thought they made our defense look bad at times, even when it was good.”
However, things are on the upswing as Rutgers is showing promising signs for the future.
“I think we did a lot of big things this year for Rutgers basketball,” Corey Sanders said. “That was the goal and we are going to keep striving for that goal, move on and keep progressing. I think a lot of people saw that. The goal is just to keep progressing. When I look back on it, I know that we worked hard and we played hard. That is really the biggest thing about it.”
Looking back, Pikiell recollected what things were like when he first arrived at Rutgers.
“If you were at my first workout when I met with my staff afterwards, I was very nervous about every game. So we overachieved.”
Pro Day Tidbits
Pro Day will begin this morning at 9:30 a.m. inside the Rutgers practice bubble and Scarlet Nation will be on hand to bring you all of the action. Here is a list of the participants who will be performing in front of NFL scouts.
WR Carlton Agudosi
DB Anthony Cioffi
OL JJ Denman
LB Greg Jones
LB Kevin Marquez
WR Vance Matthews
OL Chris Muller
OL Derrick Nelson
DB Marcus Parker
WR Andre Patton
RB Paul James
LB Kaiwan Lewis
LB Steve Beauharnais
