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Recruiting

Looks like we got a commit/walk on from one Lex's wrestlers:



Here is what Lex said about him:

"He is anticipated to wrestle at 120-lbs this season, and projects to be a life-long 125-lber. Wehner is extremely tough on top, is vey competitive, and is someone I consider a gamer. He may not have the star-power of some recruits on the market, but he has several wins over nationally ranked wrestlers. This is someone who could develop into a very nice prospect for Rutgers, especially if he is able to stay at 125-lbs his entire career."
 
Looks like we got a commit/walk on from one Lex's wrestlers:



Here is what Lex said about him:

"He is anticipated to wrestle at 120-lbs this season, and projects to be a life-long 125-lber. Wehner is extremely tough on top, is vey competitive, and is someone I consider a gamer. He may not have the star-power of some recruits on the market, but he has several wins over nationally ranked wrestlers. This is someone who could develop into a very nice prospect for Rutgers, especially if he is able to stay at 125-lbs his entire career."
Not sure if he would cause a boom tweet but don’t be surprised at a commitment from Kurt Wehner of Donovan Catholic within the next few months. 5th place this year and should be a placer next year possibly at 120

👀👀
 
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Flowrestling just published the 2024 class recruiting rankings. We are ranked # 13 with Harer, Nini, and Blanchette as our top 3 recruits. The teams ahead of us in order are: Penn State, Stanford, Missouri, Ohio State, Iowa, Minnesota, Cornell, NC State, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, and Iowa State.
 
Flowrestling just published the 2024 class recruiting rankings. We are ranked # 13 with Harer, Nini, and Blanchette as our top 3 recruits. The teams ahead of us in order are: Penn State, Stanford, Missouri, Ohio State, Iowa, Minnesota, Cornell, NC State, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, and Iowa State.
For all the doom and gloom I read on the board about our recruits at times, #13 is a pretty solid class.
And, like everyone else, hoping we hit a few more of the top targets we got in the next class 💪🏾
 
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Daniel Zepeda # 1 at 138 and the # 5 top recruit in class of 2025 wrestlers commits to NC State. Any news on the Cortez brothers who are also from Gilroy? I believe they visited in September.
 
Recruiting is becoming a financial issue so unless we get some big donors to step up we are in big trouble so prepare to bitch and moan now when we miss out on top 1 or 2 kids in weight classes we are recruiting. Iowa and Michigan are offering big dollars to kids who have said they want to come to RU but we can’t compete with offers thrown out there.
 
“College/Amateur” sports have become a joke. Call them professionals and face all that comes with it. $1 mil to a QB, $250k to a wrestler, etc. NCAA royally f’ed this up.

Personally, I am putting 3 kids through college so that is Priority #1 for my family, not giving $1000 to a kid so he can play Sports at RU until someone else comes bidding higher. Thats what Athletic Scholarships are for.

The entire Spirit of what the NIL was made for is out the window. Now its just Baseball Free Agency with no luxury tax. Count me out.
 
Regarding NIL, can someone clarify what is legal and what is not. I wonder if our competition is doing illegal stuff.

It is my understanding that college coaches cannot offer money as an incentive for high school athletes to compete at their school. NIL deals cannot be used as an incentive in recruiting and athletes cannot be guaranteed a deal in the recruiting process.

Are other coaches promising NIL money in the recruiting process? Is there a legal way other schools do this? If yes, how is it done? Would most parents of a recruit believe a specific financial offer without a written contract?

If my reading of the NIL rules is wrong, please correct me. Can coaches discuss NIL with high school recruits? If no, how are recruits offered a specific dollar amount? What is legal and illegal is very confusing.

Do our coaches know that other schools are doing illegal stuff? If yes, are the Rutgers coaches and/or administration reporting these violations. I can't believe we would follow the rules and not report schools that are cheating.
 
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Regarding NIL, can someone clarify what is legal and what is not. I wonder if our competition is doing illegal stuff.

It is my understanding that college coaches cannot offer money as an incentive for high school athletes to compete at their school. NIL deals cannot be used as an incentive in recruiting and athletes cannot be guaranteed a deal in the recruiting process.

Are other coaches promising NIL money in the recruiting process? Is there a legal way other schools do this? If yes, how is it done? Would most parents of a recruit believe a specific financial offer without a written contract?

If my reading of the NIL rules is wrong, please correct me. Can coaches discuss NIL with high school recruits? If no, how are recruits offered a specific dollar amount? What is legal and illegal process is very confusing.

Do our coaches know that other schools are doing illegal stuff? If yes, are the Rutgers coaches and/or administration reporting these violations. I can't believe we would follow the rules and not report schools that are cheating.
From how I have been told/read about it, other schools have a bag man. Someone in charge that makes the offers.
Tangentially related to the school in some association, but no official tie. I imagine this is the kind of thing that is very, very difficult to prove.
 
Quite a few former state champs not ranked #1. Should be a good season.

Freshman Paul Kenny ranked #1 at 113 ahead of a state champ is crazy respect
Doing well against nationally ranked competition is held in more respect then a state title.. the state champ probably wouldn’t have faired as welled as Kenny against the same nationally ranked competition hence his #1 ranking..
 
Jude Correa the top Big Man in the class of 2025 and # 11 overall recruit commits to Michigan. He wrestles for Wyoming Seminary. . Not sure if we were after him.
 
Jude Correa the top Big Man in the class of 2025 and # 11 overall recruit commits to Michigan. He wrestles for Wyoming Seminary. . Not sure if we were after him.
From what I heard back in the day Jude tried to get into Blair twice but was an academic mess…do these kids have to go to class in college anymore?
 
High school recruits are getting $150k and up by the big powers so how are we going to compete for them without a big NIL fund?
 
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Simple answer is we won’t. What appeared to be a great thing by some is what will more than destroy most sports conferences. One NCAA Division of Schools where you either pay or can’t play.
 
High school recruits are getting $150k and up by the big powers so how are we going to compete for them without a big NIL fund?
Unlevel playing field. Always has been and probably always will be. Until we get super, high level training partners and a sugar daddy or two, we will be stuck where we are or get passed by those who get them.
 
Yes, per year
Someone help me out here. Grown men are funding 18 year old wrestlers to the tune of $800K during the 4 years they spend on a college campus for…ummm? Bragging rights? Entertainment? Charity? Or are businesses/corporate mainly funding NIL these collectives?
 
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I think it's as simple as some people who got a whole mess of cash that don't have to care about an ROI. As long as "their team" wins, they are happy to burn that money per year.
Also which is why I'm really really curious to see how this turns out -- does cliff keen moneybags burn $1m a year on Michigan wrestling and by yr 4, if they don't have 3 team trophies, stop funding? Or cut back. Or is there a normalization/equalization coming to pull these numbers down?

It's a time of haves and have nots way more than ever before. In the past, if you hired the right coach and got the right recruits, you could turn around a team and compete. Movong forward, you are gonna a handful of teams/rts "fully funded" and those are where the top guys go, until they scoop up a transfer from the project schools (everyone else).
Someone help me out here. Grown men are funding 18 year old wrestlers to the tune of $800K during the 4 years they spend on a college campus for…ummm? Bragging rights? Entertainment? Charity? Or are businesses/corporate mainly funding NIL these collectives?
 
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