It was not realistic to expect Mullen to pick RU. Why would he come here with no heavyweight coach. He was out once Pollard was hired. Pollard is a good guy. But hard to recruit without a big man coach and only 1 All American as a coach. Can’t expect Donny to do it all. Having All Americans as coaches attracts high school kids.
Recruiting
- Thread starter Racpack
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And yet fans like us were criticized when the team hired Pollard instead of an upperweight coach.
RU is in recruiting hell…PSU and OSU to the West…we are surrounded by Ivies in every direction…then you have schools like UMich Duke, UNC, VT, etc. come in and cherry pick. Nightmare!
I think if he did both sports here, it probably would have just translated to football full time. I get it - just way more monetary potential in football.
It’s a loss, but it’s not a big loss because with dual sports, we know what’s going to happen.
It’s a loss, but it’s not a big loss because with dual sports, we know what’s going to happen.
Do we know if Schiano offered Mullen? I know it was reported a few years ago Mullen was offered but wonder if it was still on the table as Mullen is a solid football prospect but not a super high prospect....
Scholarship Rules as it pertains to Football- Mullen is doing both sports at Va Tech..so he is on a Full Football Scholarship.
If Rutgers did not offer a Football scholarship it does not matter what RU wrestling offers(and he would be a full scholarship kid). If he wants to play Football he would be a walk-on and have to give up his Wrestling money.
As I said, not sure what his Football scholarship was at RU, but just something to keep in mind.
Scholarship Rules as it pertains to Football- Mullen is doing both sports at Va Tech..so he is on a Full Football Scholarship.
If Rutgers did not offer a Football scholarship it does not matter what RU wrestling offers(and he would be a full scholarship kid). If he wants to play Football he would be a walk-on and have to give up his Wrestling money.
As I said, not sure what his Football scholarship was at RU, but just something to keep in mind.
True if Mullen is good enough in football he should just do that.. being a elite 2 sport d1 wrestling athlete is too hard imo… hopefully PJ Casale can bulk up to hwt
PJ will wrestle HWT for Rutgers. He's weighing 230 plus.
We must face the facts. Recruiting has slowed. Only one kid in next year’s class and he is an unranked undersized 125lber. It is early for the kids who are juniors. So far we have Nini who is ranked 14th by Flo and connected to Rivera as he trains at Steve Rivera’s club. There have been other quality kids who have visited.
The loss of Leonardis, Ashnault, Martin, and Rivera as our only world class athlete seems to be having a negative impact on recruiting,
The good news is we have 3 returning AAs in Alvarez, Turley, and Poz plus Shaver, Peterson, Heilman, White, and Janzer with good potential. All is not lost. Just need to step up the recruiting.
The loss of Leonardis, Ashnault, Martin, and Rivera as our only world class athlete seems to be having a negative impact on recruiting,
The good news is we have 3 returning AAs in Alvarez, Turley, and Poz plus Shaver, Peterson, Heilman, White, and Janzer with good potential. All is not lost. Just need to step up the recruiting.
I’ve seen him play football a couple of times. I can’t see him seeing the field at the p5 level. He’s good but didn’t really stand out. See a patriot league level in football.
A down year recruiting wise doesn’t concern me. But if we follow it up again and it becomes a pattern, then you worry.
I’ll be very surprised if he’s able to do football/wrestling both full time and be able to be a NC contender.. especially with how many good/young hwt there are rn..
Agreed, maybe the staff didn’t c many they wanted to grab this year then better save for next year…. We been pretty good recruiting last few years :
Number of Big Boarder's Per Year
2022: #12 Brian Soldano (NJ), #43 PJ Casale (NJ), #59 Luke Gayer (CA), #71 Jon Fongaro (NJ), #236 Brandan Chletsos (PA)
2021: #10 Dean Peterson (NJ), #24 Kyonte Hamilton (NJ), #54 Joey Olivieri (NJ), #69 Anthony White (NJ), #190 Dylan Weaver (NJ), #245 Michael Cetta (NJ), #266 John O'Donnell (NJ)
2020: #40 John Poznanski (NJ), #44 Connor O'Neill (NJ), #63 Dylan Shawver (OH), #164 Andrew Clark (NJ)
2019: #5 Jojo Aragona (PA), #30 Jackson Turley (VA), #33 Ryan Vulakh (PA), #36 Sammy Alvarez (NJ), #47 Robert Kanniard (NJ)
Can he legitimately challenge Boone for the starting spot Mike?
As for Mullen, if he isnt all in for wrestling, better he went to VA. That hasn't worked well for us in the past. It would sure suck if Mullen ends up playing both sports all four/five years and excels on the mat though.
Yeah also curious how he stacks up against Boone.. was more thinking he RS this year but they got that new rule where freshman can wrestle a few matches and still RS..
Can anyone recall any AA college wrestler that played football at the same time?? I know Steven Neal played in the nfl but he never played college football.
No, PJ has to get stronger and learn how to hand fight. He will get there working with Jimmy and Boone. Once Mullen found out PJ was committed to HWT Mullen moved on. I wish Mullen the best but we can only worry about the young men that want to come to the Rutgers Family.
Josh Hokit from Fresno State a couple years ago was a very good football player and All-American on mat...Signed a free agent deale with 49ers after college
If we can get to a place where the mere thought of landing Duke wasn’t a complete pipe dream that would be sweet. Or any bonified out of state blue chip prospect for that matter.
RU football did not want Mullen for football so that closed the door on his wrestling career at RU. I doubt if Franklin wanted him at PSU
Yep Hokit is the only recent one I can think of - but if you go way back I believe another Fresno State guy AAed while playing football, Lorenzo Neal. Antonio Garay did it for Boston College as well, both of them had respectable NFL carees.
Thank God because McDermott isn't good enough to take on the B1G heavies.
Boone is a solid 260 so he is sure big enough now. Let’s see if he is good enough
We're getting closer to what I called for months back. Now move Soldano to 197.
I don’t like Soldano at 197. I don’t think he has the frame for it.
I was hearing that last year about Janzer - that he couldn't keep the weight on. I'd like to see the best guys at 184/197. I don't like redshirting either of the calibers of Poz and Soldano. Of course, if a 197 Soldano couldn't beat Janzer, then what you said.
Hold your horses though. As Mike said above, CJ probably isn't ready to challenge just yet.
Who knew Zach was playing football?? I'm not taking away anything from Zach as a wrestler, but it seems 220 lb high school wrestlers just don't fit in to the college scene very well. Transitioning to HW from 220 requires someone to have elite skill on the mat.
Even if he could beat Janzer does it make much sense to wrestle a true freshman up a weight? Unless they really both wanna go this year seems like a RS is best for the longterm individually/teamwise
Pess
I have been to practice and Janzer has grown into 197 and he is as hess as ethyl as he has been. Brian S is not a 197 pounder yet and I am not sure he would beat Janzer. Boone is not a blubber but a d sad loud muscle 260
I have been to practice and Janzer has grown into 197 and he is as hess as ethyl as he has been. Brian S is not a 197 pounder yet and I am not sure he would beat Janzer. Boone is not a blubber but a d sad loud muscle 260
Janzer had a back surgery . He's now healthy and back in the weight room he's a 197 now. Also Brian is closer to a 174 then a 197
