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Recruiting

PessimisticallyHopefulPragmatist said:
Again, if rules allow, I'd be more in favor of hiring accomplished wrestlers in various weights to work with the kids. Those would be wrestlers that have retired from competition and are obligated to be there during practices, like a real job.
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Now that's not a half bad idea if allowed. Instead of getting guys who want to further their careers, (we're not getting top guys anyway) get guys who want a part time job. Hold SKWC practices in the evening, I'm sure there's quite a few AA's living in the area. I don't know the in's and out's, I just pay money, but I'd keep contributing if this was to happen.
 
Now, if we could find a way to land PJ Duke... I'm sure he'll follow his teammate and close friend, Ryder, to PSU. (And yes I know we can't contact/recruit him until next Summer)
 
There’s enough talent in NJ that recruiting outside state lines doesn’t necessarily have to be a priority. Obviously we still need to explore those options and if we can land a hammer from elsewhere by all means go for it, but really I think we need to do a better job landing the elites of NJ. It’s going to be a hard sell to a Kentucky kid to travel all the way to NJ if the top NJ kids themselves want to leave.

PA and Ohio are really the only two states that are head and shoulders above NJ consistently. Gayer is also an out of stater that wasn’t mentioned.
 
KidDagger said:
Good question, it’s probably Turley(va) or Vulak(pa) both ranked in the 30s p4p at their peak. Unless u count Aragona(pa/nj) he was #5..
Some other guys were, Aguilar(ca), Dippery(pa), Shawver(oh)..
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Right, I needed a reminder. Aguilar and Aragona should have been great catches. My question was more about how realistic it is to have any expectation that the very top kids from out of state would even consider Rutgers. I can understand in-state like Ashnault, who have connections to Rutgers or want to stay close to family. But I've seen names show up in these threads that are not very realistic at all. Maybe it's a crap shoot where if you play enough, eventually you'll hit. Aragona was one of those, even if having NJ ties, but we all know how that went.

I do agree that in-state recruiting should yield better results and could be enough if successful. Being honest, the top out-of-state kids also being recruited by the elite wrestling schools are pipe dreams.
 
PessimisticallyHopefulPragmatist said:
Right, I needed a reminder. Aguilar and Aragona should have been great catches. My question was more about how realistic it is to have any expectation that the very top kids from out of state would even consider Rutgers. I can understand in-state like Ashnault, who have connections to Rutgers or want to stay close to family. But I've seen names show up in these threads that are not very realistic at all. Maybe it's a crap shoot where if you play enough, eventually you'll hit. Aragona was one of those, even if having NJ ties, but we all know how that went.

I do agree that in-state recruiting should yield better results and could be enough if successful. Being honest, the top out-of-state kids also being recruited by the elite wrestling schools are pipe dreams.
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Why is it a pipedream? PSU can only put ten wrestlers out at a time. A solid kid from Lehigh Valley or New York State can come here and wrestle in the B1G at a top university with great facilities and in front of large knowledgeable crowds. His family can sit and watch him. We have to keep banging away. Thanks. $$$$
 
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SCNJ said:
There’s enough talent in NJ that recruiting outside state lines doesn’t necessarily have to be a priority. Obviously we still need to explore those options and if we can land a hammer from elsewhere by all means go for it, but really I think we need to do a better job landing the elites of NJ. It’s going to be a hard sell to a Kentucky kid to travel all the way to NJ if the top NJ kids themselves want to leave.

PA and Ohio are really the only two states that are head and shoulders above NJ consistently. Gayer is also an out of stater that wasn’t mentioned.
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Hmm PA is def top state but I thought NJ was pretty equal to OH in terms of wrestling talent and producing college AA.. could be off on that.

I think we did a great job recruiting nearly every elite NJ kid in the last few years though, trying think who we missed…. It still stings though couple recruiting cycle previously missing out on, Lewis, Griffith, Glory
 
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PessimisticallyHopefulPragmatist said:
Right, I needed a reminder. Aguilar and Aragona should have been great catches. My question was more about how realistic it is to have any expectation that the very top kids from out of state would even consider Rutgers. I can understand in-state like Ashnault, who have connections to Rutgers or want to stay close to family. But I've seen names show up in these threads that are not very realistic at all. Maybe it's a crap shoot where if you play enough, eventually you'll hit. Aragona was one of those, even if having NJ ties, but we all know how that went.

I do agree that in-state recruiting should yield better results and could be enough if successful. Being honest, the top out-of-state kids also being recruited by the elite wrestling schools are pipe dreams.
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Well, apparently we were very close to landing Schultz and Ferrari.. so maybe it’s not too far off… Aragona idk if can even consider him an out of state recruit as he won a nj state title..
 
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KidDagger said:
Hmm PA is def top state but I thought NJ was pretty equal to OH in terms of wrestling talent and producing college AA.. could be off on that.

I think we did a great job recruiting nearly every elite NJ kid in the last few years though, trying think who we missed…. It still stings though couple recruiting cycle previously missing out on, Lewis, Griffith, Glory
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Ferrari’s if you want to consider them NJ kids. Van Ness and the Blair kids. The BC trio from a few years ago Foca, Cardenas, Fernandes. Robbie Howard was an elite recruit too.

Now I don’t want to make it seem like we’ve struck out as we have landed Peterson, Poz and Soldano in recent years. Hopefully Mullen is next and maybe Knox in a few years. I think we do a nice job overall but it could still be improved. If we can completely lock down the state, even without the Blair kids, it would go a long way towards becoming an elite program. Gotta change the perception of the BC kids.
 
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SCNJ said:
There’s enough talent in NJ that recruiting outside state lines doesn’t necessarily have to be a priority. Obviously we still need to explore those options and if we can land a hammer from elsewhere by all means go for it, but really I think we need to do a better job landing the elites of NJ. It’s going to be a hard sell to a Kentucky kid to travel all the way to NJ if the top NJ kids themselves want to leave.

PA and Ohio are really the only two states that are head and shoulders above NJ consistently. Gayer is also an out of stater that wasn’t mentioned.
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No way Ohio is ahead of Jersey in HS talent.
 
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SCNJ said:
Ferrari’s if you want to consider them NJ kids. Van Ness and the Blair kids. The BC trio from a few years ago Foca, Cardenas, Fernandes. Robbie Howard was an elite recruit too.

Now I don’t want to make it seem like we’ve struck out as we have landed Peterson, Poz and Soldano in recent years. Hopefully Mullen is next and maybe Knox in a few years. I think we do a nice job overall but it could still be improved. If we can completely lock down the state, even without the Blair kids, it would go a long way towards becoming an elite program. Gotta change the perception of the BC kids.
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True.. I never really considered the Blair kids and to an extent BC kids “nj kids” for some reason.. when I said we gotten almost all the elite nj kids recently I was only thinking the public schools in NJ..

Perception of the BC kids….yeah, in his interview Howard expressed how he felt about us…
 
The thing is, we haven’t gotten enough talent to be a top 10 team. NJ is loaded with talent but we have not established any pipeline with the two top programs, Blair and Delbarton, and likely won’t either. People don’t often spent that kind of money sending their kid to high school with their eye on public college. The Ivys recruit heavily in NJ and if they want a guy they are more than willing to lower standards to make it happen. So there is a percentage of NJ talent right off the bat who isn’t in the RU recruiting sweet spot. Also, sometimes we get the NJ kids but the talent is bunched up in certain weight classes and doesn’t help to fill the gaps in our line up.

If we want to be more competitive at the B10 level, we need to establish pipelines that run into PA, Ohio, and NY.
 
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RU Diesel07110 said:
McFadden was a tough one to take
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Yup and that was all money. Virginia Tech was simply able to offer more. I'm not sure who Rutgers had all its money locked up in, but it clearly didn't work out for the coaches and fans. That one really stings as he wanted to come here.
 
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KidDagger said:
Do we have any connections to Duke? Noticed he beat Bouzakis’s(another guy Leonard really wanted) lil bro
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Our "connections" seem limited, but better than nothing... we recruited his teammate (Ryder), I've seen Ashnault at his club (KD Training Center) and friendly with his club coach, and he was at Mobbin Classic. He was also training with 1 of the former Buxton coaches (Jay Albis) so there may be that as well. We should be recruiting hard these top NY and PA recruits that are within an ~1:30 of campus. It's not too far to get out there, and is no different than driving up to High Point. Have to find a way to get him to an SKWC workout to start developing the relationship.
 
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west2east said:
Probably only 78
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That's even more than I was thinking. But my real question is about who's offering. He's another out-of-state kid and an elite one. Those are the ones I consider pipe dreams. Unless there is an important connection to Rutgers, I don't know what is going to be the attraction. That leads me to another question; what do the coaches say to such a candidate?

If the kid has wrestling ambitions and gets offers from the usual top wrestling schools, what argument can be made for him to choose Rutgers? Other than money, which I keep hearing we don't have, what will attract the kid over the elite offers? In-state kids, and especially the ones with practice connections to Rutgers, are a much different situation. From what I remember, Ashnault not only had a connection with his older brother but wanted to help make Rutgers the state's wrestling school - or destination for the state's wrestlers. Others don't seem to think that way; they're most concerned with their own interests. I don't understand what is meant by establishing a pipeline to another state. That seems just a metaphor for establishing interest, which is the dilemma. How?

I think the football team is experiencing much the same issue. It strikes me as the chicken or the egg, which is another metaphoric example of a situation that is tough to answer or cure. Rutgers gets a few 4-star-rated recruits when they're lucky. The rest of the team is made up of 3-stars. The top football schools usually have a minimum of one and maybe up to five 5-stars each year. They fill in most of the balance with 4-star recruits. Can Rutgers really compete without being able to attract 5-star talent on a regular basis? The 5-star kids are attracted to the successful programs. The program will be challenged to attract those kids without being successful first. There's the dilemma; which comes first and how? I think the wrestling program has the same problem.
 
OH,Pitt and Lehigh Valley need to be prioritized. RU needs an AA assistant who has ties to Those regions. A bit of geographical diversity in the coaching staff would go a long way.

i get a big kick out of the all nj lineup but the top tier private schools kids are going to lean IVY/ EIWA/ UVA s of the world. “2nd/3rd tier “ PA recruits are potential AA s on the next level. Need to head out to the LH valley , central and western pa. Multiple times 3A PA place-winners should be a focus.
 
I thought we had Jeff Buxton who could help sway Pitt and Lehigh valley wrestlers our way? I know he is RTC, but look what he did with Seabass in a short period of time.
 
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I would think someone similar to Luke Pletcher’s profile (WPIAL HS / Ohio state ) would be ideal. Need a young coach to connect to the young hs kids.
 
Gibson leaving Finger Lakes/Cornell to be closer to home. Guessing PSU? Not sure where he fits into the PSU lineup, so maybe an outside chance of Princeton or us jumping into it?

 
They are M2 guys so if they go anywhere else except PSU at this point I'd be shocked.
 
MS-RU said:
They are M2 guys so if they go anywhere else except PSU at this point I'd be shocked.
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Agreed. Just seems like PSU has a bunch around his weight, so he'd have a better opportunity to start elsewhere.
 
koleszar said:
Yup and that was all money. Virginia Tech was simply able to offer more. I'm not sure who Rutgers had all its money locked up in, but it clearly didn't work out for the coaches and fans. That one really stings as he wanted to come here.
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Wasn't it Glasgow?
 
Seems like a lot of smoke with Mullen and VT unfortunately which is a massive blow for us once again.
 
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