TheKnightReport - Rutgers strikes in North Carolina again, landing 2025 LB Isaiah Deloatch
Rutgers Football lands yet another North Carolina prospect as 2025 LB Isaiah Deloatch commits to Rutgers Football.
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FB Recruiting Rutgers strikes in North Carolina again, landing 2025 LB Isaiah Deloatch
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
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Looks like a great pick up
I do have a question though, from what I've heard here and elsewhere, last year we went out of state a lot because it was a down year in talent. This year is a big swing in the other direction with a lot of talent in NJ, so I thought we'd be getting a lot of NJ guys. There was also an episode of the podcast a while ago where the Mike and Richie suggested we have a shot with a few top 10 NJ guys and generally where we stood with each.
I'm looking at the NJ rankings this year and our commit list. 4 in state and 4 out of state so far. I don't see any guys in the top 20 that are uncommitted where I'd say we are in a strong position. In fact, I'd say I would have hard time naming any NJ player that looks like a likely commit.
Then you look at currently 3 out of state future casts.
Are we really looking at 4 or 5 NJ commits vs 12 or 13 out of state commits in this strong year in NJ football? And what do you attribute that to?
I do have a question though, from what I've heard here and elsewhere, last year we went out of state a lot because it was a down year in talent. This year is a big swing in the other direction with a lot of talent in NJ, so I thought we'd be getting a lot of NJ guys. There was also an episode of the podcast a while ago where the Mike and Richie suggested we have a shot with a few top 10 NJ guys and generally where we stood with each.
I'm looking at the NJ rankings this year and our commit list. 4 in state and 4 out of state so far. I don't see any guys in the top 20 that are uncommitted where I'd say we are in a strong position. In fact, I'd say I would have hard time naming any NJ player that looks like a likely commit.
Then you look at currently 3 out of state future casts.
Are we really looking at 4 or 5 NJ commits vs 12 or 13 out of state commits in this strong year in NJ football? And what do you attribute that to?
To hear a player talk academics and career planning is refreshing
So there is actually some hope left ? On the recruiting front what happened with the DT transfer portal from Kent State. Where did he wind up?
I think it’s Gregg being comfortable with his way of doing things, which isn’t a bad thing, and knowing that with early signing day and NIL, as well as the portal, there will be undoubtedly be some attrition before the ink is dry
The top programs don’t have to worry about this as they can afford to wait and essentially cherry pick, but for where we are right now and attempting to get to, I believe that Gregg thinks this is the best way to go, and I personally like his method
He’s beating schools for these recruits that are on the same level. We are for the most part, so locking them up now is a smart move.
NJ kids are just reluctant to stay home, always been that way.
I sort of understand both sides- when I was younger and looking- I really was excited about going anywhere but local. Just wanted to experience something new.
And so many NJ families have either come here from somewhere else or just plain look down at Rutgers for strange reason.
On the positive side, when our son was looking, at first, he seemed to like the idea of getting away, until he OV’d down south and realized he had nothing in common with the other players. And then, he just knew he wanted to stay home.
As a player parent it is sort of similar. You may say your son is playing at Rutgers and friends and co workers are quick with “he didn’t get offers from Florida or PSU???”
But as a parent the reality should always be there of…your kid is playing a violent sport. Any given game, he could be sent to the hospital- if he is local, you will be there with him within the hour. If he is playing in Michigan, he is going to be alone for 24-48 hours before you can get there.
True, but I think you could compare last year against any previous year and say that we took less New Jersey players than in those years. Ok, so it was just a bad year, and I think it's perhaps early to make this call, but we could be actually following up last year with another statistically low NJ output, but this time in a good year for NJ talent.
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Just quickly some perspective on my previous post. Roughly, the # of New Jersey players per class:
2019: 9
2020: 12
2021: 9
2022: 9
2023: 5
2024: 4 ( includes Winowich)
2025: 4 with only half the class filled, but hard to see how this gets above 5 maybe 6.
2019: 9
2020: 12
2021: 9
2022: 9
2023: 5
2024: 4 ( includes Winowich)
2025: 4 with only half the class filled, but hard to see how this gets above 5 maybe 6.
Rutgers has obviously expanded their recruiting footprint in recent years being in the Big 10. Does it really matter if we get a prospect, for example, out of NC or Florida v. NJ?
NC produces 5 times the amount of NFL players than New Jersey does. Florida 7 times.... Plenty of talent all over.
Seems a lot of our recent commits have a ‘Cuse offer 🤔
Such good perspective and it’s been a several generation reputational battle for Rutgers.
The 70s seemed to be pretty good for Rutgers. The public Ivy perception and some great sports success made alumni from that period super proud of their alma mater .
The 80s and 90s were definitely not good for Rutgers reputation building. During that time fell behind significantly as they didn’t market themselves , didn’t join a big time conference until late , didn’t invest in the campus or athletics. I think the multi campus model and admissions severely confused people and damaged the overall brand.
The 00s then the school basically fluttered between conferences and identities. Greg Schiano had a flash but that quickly went away.
I think starting in 2010 .. Rutgers has found its new identity. The consolidation of the NB schools into one admissions, entrance into Big Ten, honors college, some investment into new buildings on campus, New Brunswick improving its city scape and partnership with Rutgers, the medical school. All improvements that were decades overdue.
I think the next step of beautifying the campus and making it simpler to get around would turn the student into an experience into a specular one . That’s where it all starts. You have to breed classes of students (tens of thousands a year!) who then become cheerleaders for the school. And in a decade or two the reputation totally switches over. But the student experience has to be A+. People have to leave the campus beaming with pride.
They got two guys RU offered: a 4 Start DE from PA, and a 3 star DT from Pennington. Elijah Robinson is a good recruiter. Not really worried about them.
Yeah so let's all just agree this is the reason and not say that in down years we're not recruiting it because there's no talent, if in the up years it's the same amount just for a different reason ha. New Jersey could have all the talent in the world or the least, doesn't matter, either way they're not coming. So sad cause at some point it was Fence the Garden right?
Fence the Garden was under Ash. If we end up with a good class, it would not be sad.
I trust coach. He recruits players who are talent AND cultural fits, regardless of where they’re from. For some reason selling Rutgers to home state talent is tough both athletically and academically. The grass just appears greener at the moment. Get to 7-9 wins consistently and that will change. Rutgers will become a sexy destination where now it clearly isn’t. We’ve seen this in spots but it was never sustained. Hopefully this time is different.
Don't wait for the NJ kids. If they think the grass and opportunities are better elsewhere then so be it. In the past we would get played by the NJ kids who kept lingering with us and then bolt when the Penn St, BC, Miami, or other "bigger name" opportunity came. We would then have to scramble to backfill as fast as possible. I like the approach now of asking the NJ kids to join us by offering early, but not wait for them to shop around and rather if someone just as good from out of state is available grabbing them instead. It has become a business.
Besides the four NJ guys we've already got verbals from in this class, I think we're in pretty good shape for #2 Joseph, #3 Archie, #5 Forster, and #12 Thomas.
Eight isn't a bad number.
