Welcome to the WAR ROOM, The Knight Report's best weekly feature. In this feature we provide you with the best Rutgers football, basketball, and recruiting news coverage possible. This week, we feature various coach quotes, updates on Rutgers Football team, Saturday's spring game visitor list of recruits, a look at the Top 10 players to keep an eye out for on Saturday and much more. Enjoy!
Coach Quotables:
Head Coach Chris Ash on offense this spring:
“We are way ahead. We are a long ways away, but we are way ahead compared to where we were at the last two springs. We have more guys out there this spring compared to the past. We only had one scholarship quarterback last spring, so that room is much different. We have more tight ends too, we are just way ahead of where we were in the past.”
WR coach Lester Erb on Eddie Lewis this spring:
“A prep year has benefitted Eddie tremendously, he’s a year older now. He should’ve came in with Bo, Hunter, Shameen, and those other young guys. He’s a little bit older and he’s been through it a little bit now. Milford Academy is no picnic, he came in here and has made a good,smooth transition so far.
Assistant coach Cory Robinson on coaching the cornerbacks:
“The biggest thing we have done is help these guys grow from an IQ standpoint at the position. So this way they can see things and diagnose things sooner. It’s a really talented group, we have some guys in the room that have played a lot of football.”
Top 10 Players To Keep An Eye On During the Scarlet-White Spring Game (No Order)
Class of 2018 Signees:
WR Paul Woods (Canisius - NY)
OL Reggie Sutton (Calvert Hall - MD)
DE Matt Thomas (Midwood - NY)
DB Deion Jennings (Timber Creek - NJ)
DB Avery Young (Coatesville - PA)
ATH Zihir Lacewell (Tottenville - NY)
ATH Christian Izien (Erasmus Hall - NY)
Class of 2019:
QB Zamar Wise (Barringer - NJ)
QB Maasai Maynor (St. Peter's Prep - NJ)⚔️
QB Prince Dru-Bey (Winslow Township - NJ)
RB Aaron Young (Coatesville - PA)⚔️
WR Jaaron Hayek (Wayne Hills - NJ)
WR Chase Jones (St. Peter’s Prep - NJ)⚔️
OL John Olmstead (St. Joe’s Metuchen - NJ)⚔️
DE CJ Bazile (Bayonne - NJ)
DE Joe Rondi (Wayne Hills - NJ)⚔️
DE Bryce Nelms (West Orange - NJ)⚔️
DT Jared Hunte (Christ the King - NY)⚔️
DT Jermaine Donaldson (Eastern - NJ)
DT Izaiah Henderson (Mater Dei Prep - NJ)⚔️
DT Sean Morris (St. Joe’s Hammonton - NJ)
LB Allen Walker (Milton - GA)⚔️
LB Jeremiah Jean (South Dade - FL)
LB Willie Matthews (Montclair - NJ)⚔️
LB Brenton Strange (Parkersburg - WV)
DB Donald Williams (Camden - NJ)⚔️
DB Peter Nazario (Central Regional - NJ)
ATH Elijah Glover (Pleasantville - NJ)
ATH Jordan White (West Orange - NJ)
ATH John Guaimano (Cedar Grove - NJ)
Class of 2020:
DE Jahmeer Carter (Archbishop Spalding - MD)⚔️
ATH Tavion Banks (Bethlehem Catholic - PA)
ATH Micah Brown (St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute - NY)
Class of 2021:
QB Caleb Williams (Gonzaga - DC)
⚔️ - denotes Rutgers offer
- denotes Rutgers commit
Recruiting News & Notes:
’20 QB Michael Alaimo (St. Joe’s Regional - NJ): Rutgers is set to send coaches John McNulty and Nunzio Campanile to watch Alaimo throw next Thursday. Alaimo already holds an offer from Rutgers and is also hearing from some of the new offensive assistants on staff.
’19 DT Mike Ciaffoni (Lincoln - MA) on Rutgers visit this past Tuesday: “It was a great visit. I enjoyed my time with the coaches and liked seeing how they organized and ran practice. I was very encouraged by the day and look forward to the next steps in the process.”
’19 ATH Ronnie Hickman on Rutgers making his Top 6: “Rutgers made my top six, first off because they are my home school and a great university. Throughout this process, they have always showed me lots of love and interest.”
‘19 ATH Zukudo Igwenagu (Worcester Academy - MA): Right now the Scarlet Knights are close to, if not the top school at the moment for Igwenagu. He is a very talented player and is one of the top recruits in the Northeast this year. He is also hearing quite a bit from Boston College, UConn, Duke, Missouri, and Oregon. This won’t be the easiest of battles for the Scarlet Knights should Igwenagu land offers from Missouri, Oregon and some others. Despite being listed in the database, as a safety, he will most likely end up at linebacker at the next level.
Team Tidbits:
Racioppi coaching most of Rutgers scholarship QBs: Rutgers freshman QB Jalen Chatman will now start working with quarterbacks coach Tony Racioppi. He currently trains various NFL QBs (David Webb, etc.) along with two other Rutgers QBs in Artur Sitkowski and Johnathan Lewis. Racioppi is best known for his record holding performances at Rowan College, where he holds the record for most TD passes in a quarter (5) in NCAA history.
“Great kid who is a very good athlete, quick feet with a strong arm but very raw fundamentally. Shotgun kid who just needs more reps from under center and pro style footwork on Drops. Throws a beautiful deep ball who has put on almost 15-pounds since he’s been at Rutgers. Has potential to be a very good player as he develops.” - QB trainer Tony Racioppi on Chatman
Jawuan Harris comeback?
On Wednesday we caught up with Jawuan Harris after a solid performance vs. Lafayette in a 4-2 win. From what he told TheKnightReport, it doesn’t appear that Harris will be coming back to play football for Rutgers. However, that could eventually change as he left the option open and said that he wouldn’t be opposed to joining the team again. For what it’s worth, Harris is listed as a WR for Team Scarlet for the spring game.
“Right now I’m just playing baseball and I’ll see where things go. I’m always ready to go back and play football for Coach Ash.” - Jawuan Harris
Offense coming together….
As we posted in our practice notebook yesterday, the offense is finally starting to come together. Starting with the quarterbacks, they are all still splitting reps at times, but you can see they are all showing signs of development. As for the runnings backs, it appears that it is Hilliman’s job to lose as he continues to impress but expect a lot of Blackshear in two-back sets or even as a slot guy. As for wide receivers, like the quarterback position, there isn’t really solidified starters, but that’s expected. All of the receivers bring a different element to the game. It’s safe to say we’d expect most if not all the wide receivers to get some playing time this season.
RU Women’s Tennis...
The Rutgers women’s tennis team isn’t exactly one of the best athletic programs around as it sports a 5-11 overall record which includes an 0-7 in Big Ten play. While it isn’t exactly breaking news as she signed back in November as part of the fall signing period, in honor of the final spring signing period which began on Wednesday, I thought I’d share a little nugget about 2018 signee Tess Fisher. Fisher hails from Vineland High School and Chris got a chance to cover her games for NJ.com this past fall. She was the NJSIAA state singles champion and rounded out her career with an outstanding 159-3 record with 103 shutouts, never losing a dual-meet match. Her three losses came in the state singles tournament to the eventual champion in those three respective years. She helped Vineland win the South Jersey, Group 4 sectional title as a senior as well, when she went 45-0. Fisher has an incredible competitive spirit and is hard on herself. She works extremely hard and will no doubt help bring Rutgers tennis to a respectably level.
For much more on Fisher you can check this feature on her by clicking here.
New Jersey loves Rutgers Wrestling...
The Rutgers wrestling team Scarlet finished fourth in the country in average home attendance for the 2017-18 season, it was announced by the TheOpenMat.com earlier this week. The Scarlet Knights averaged 4,680 fans for its seven matches this past season and averaged 5,070 for its six home duals at the RAC. In total, 32,764 came to watch the grapplers, which is a program record. Rutgers ended the year in the top-5 in home attendance for the third-straight season, with only Iowa (8,996), Penn State (7,693) and Ohio State (6,681) drawing more.
Coach Quotables:
Head Coach Chris Ash on offense this spring:
“We are way ahead. We are a long ways away, but we are way ahead compared to where we were at the last two springs. We have more guys out there this spring compared to the past. We only had one scholarship quarterback last spring, so that room is much different. We have more tight ends too, we are just way ahead of where we were in the past.”
WR coach Lester Erb on Eddie Lewis this spring:
“A prep year has benefitted Eddie tremendously, he’s a year older now. He should’ve came in with Bo, Hunter, Shameen, and those other young guys. He’s a little bit older and he’s been through it a little bit now. Milford Academy is no picnic, he came in here and has made a good,smooth transition so far.
Assistant coach Cory Robinson on coaching the cornerbacks:
“The biggest thing we have done is help these guys grow from an IQ standpoint at the position. So this way they can see things and diagnose things sooner. It’s a really talented group, we have some guys in the room that have played a lot of football.”
Top 10 Players To Keep An Eye On During the Scarlet-White Spring Game (No Order)
- QB Artur Sitkowski
- RB Jonathan Hilliman
- WR Bo Melton
- WR Shameen Jones
- TE Travis Vokolek
- DT Julius Turner
- LB Tyshon Fogg
- LB Malik Dixon
- CB Tre Avery
- P Adam Korsak
- Safe to say we expect Gio Rescigno to get the first snaps at quarterback in the game, but I’d expect that Artur Sitkowski will also get a significant amount of reps
- Damon Hayes has moved to safety, due to lack of depth at the position, it will be interesting to see if he stays there come fall, when the team adds some more depth.
- The defense with some help from honorary coach Bart Scott will win the Scarlet-White Spring Game
Class of 2018 Signees:
WR Paul Woods (Canisius - NY)
OL Reggie Sutton (Calvert Hall - MD)
DE Matt Thomas (Midwood - NY)
DB Deion Jennings (Timber Creek - NJ)
DB Avery Young (Coatesville - PA)
ATH Zihir Lacewell (Tottenville - NY)
ATH Christian Izien (Erasmus Hall - NY)
Class of 2019:
QB Zamar Wise (Barringer - NJ)
QB Maasai Maynor (St. Peter's Prep - NJ)⚔️
QB Prince Dru-Bey (Winslow Township - NJ)
RB Aaron Young (Coatesville - PA)⚔️
WR Jaaron Hayek (Wayne Hills - NJ)
WR Chase Jones (St. Peter’s Prep - NJ)⚔️
OL John Olmstead (St. Joe’s Metuchen - NJ)⚔️
DE CJ Bazile (Bayonne - NJ)
DE Joe Rondi (Wayne Hills - NJ)⚔️
DE Bryce Nelms (West Orange - NJ)⚔️
DT Jared Hunte (Christ the King - NY)⚔️
DT Jermaine Donaldson (Eastern - NJ)
DT Izaiah Henderson (Mater Dei Prep - NJ)⚔️
DT Sean Morris (St. Joe’s Hammonton - NJ)
LB Allen Walker (Milton - GA)⚔️
LB Jeremiah Jean (South Dade - FL)
LB Willie Matthews (Montclair - NJ)⚔️
LB Brenton Strange (Parkersburg - WV)
DB Donald Williams (Camden - NJ)⚔️
DB Peter Nazario (Central Regional - NJ)
ATH Elijah Glover (Pleasantville - NJ)
ATH Jordan White (West Orange - NJ)
ATH John Guaimano (Cedar Grove - NJ)
Class of 2020:
DE Jahmeer Carter (Archbishop Spalding - MD)⚔️
ATH Tavion Banks (Bethlehem Catholic - PA)
ATH Micah Brown (St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute - NY)
Class of 2021:
QB Caleb Williams (Gonzaga - DC)
⚔️ - denotes Rutgers offer
- denotes Rutgers commit
Recruiting News & Notes:
’20 QB Michael Alaimo (St. Joe’s Regional - NJ): Rutgers is set to send coaches John McNulty and Nunzio Campanile to watch Alaimo throw next Thursday. Alaimo already holds an offer from Rutgers and is also hearing from some of the new offensive assistants on staff.
’19 DT Mike Ciaffoni (Lincoln - MA) on Rutgers visit this past Tuesday: “It was a great visit. I enjoyed my time with the coaches and liked seeing how they organized and ran practice. I was very encouraged by the day and look forward to the next steps in the process.”
’19 ATH Ronnie Hickman on Rutgers making his Top 6: “Rutgers made my top six, first off because they are my home school and a great university. Throughout this process, they have always showed me lots of love and interest.”
‘19 ATH Zukudo Igwenagu (Worcester Academy - MA): Right now the Scarlet Knights are close to, if not the top school at the moment for Igwenagu. He is a very talented player and is one of the top recruits in the Northeast this year. He is also hearing quite a bit from Boston College, UConn, Duke, Missouri, and Oregon. This won’t be the easiest of battles for the Scarlet Knights should Igwenagu land offers from Missouri, Oregon and some others. Despite being listed in the database, as a safety, he will most likely end up at linebacker at the next level.
Team Tidbits:
Racioppi coaching most of Rutgers scholarship QBs: Rutgers freshman QB Jalen Chatman will now start working with quarterbacks coach Tony Racioppi. He currently trains various NFL QBs (David Webb, etc.) along with two other Rutgers QBs in Artur Sitkowski and Johnathan Lewis. Racioppi is best known for his record holding performances at Rowan College, where he holds the record for most TD passes in a quarter (5) in NCAA history.
“Great kid who is a very good athlete, quick feet with a strong arm but very raw fundamentally. Shotgun kid who just needs more reps from under center and pro style footwork on Drops. Throws a beautiful deep ball who has put on almost 15-pounds since he’s been at Rutgers. Has potential to be a very good player as he develops.” - QB trainer Tony Racioppi on Chatman
Jawuan Harris comeback?
On Wednesday we caught up with Jawuan Harris after a solid performance vs. Lafayette in a 4-2 win. From what he told TheKnightReport, it doesn’t appear that Harris will be coming back to play football for Rutgers. However, that could eventually change as he left the option open and said that he wouldn’t be opposed to joining the team again. For what it’s worth, Harris is listed as a WR for Team Scarlet for the spring game.
“Right now I’m just playing baseball and I’ll see where things go. I’m always ready to go back and play football for Coach Ash.” - Jawuan Harris
Offense coming together….
As we posted in our practice notebook yesterday, the offense is finally starting to come together. Starting with the quarterbacks, they are all still splitting reps at times, but you can see they are all showing signs of development. As for the runnings backs, it appears that it is Hilliman’s job to lose as he continues to impress but expect a lot of Blackshear in two-back sets or even as a slot guy. As for wide receivers, like the quarterback position, there isn’t really solidified starters, but that’s expected. All of the receivers bring a different element to the game. It’s safe to say we’d expect most if not all the wide receivers to get some playing time this season.
RU Women’s Tennis...
The Rutgers women’s tennis team isn’t exactly one of the best athletic programs around as it sports a 5-11 overall record which includes an 0-7 in Big Ten play. While it isn’t exactly breaking news as she signed back in November as part of the fall signing period, in honor of the final spring signing period which began on Wednesday, I thought I’d share a little nugget about 2018 signee Tess Fisher. Fisher hails from Vineland High School and Chris got a chance to cover her games for NJ.com this past fall. She was the NJSIAA state singles champion and rounded out her career with an outstanding 159-3 record with 103 shutouts, never losing a dual-meet match. Her three losses came in the state singles tournament to the eventual champion in those three respective years. She helped Vineland win the South Jersey, Group 4 sectional title as a senior as well, when she went 45-0. Fisher has an incredible competitive spirit and is hard on herself. She works extremely hard and will no doubt help bring Rutgers tennis to a respectably level.
For much more on Fisher you can check this feature on her by clicking here.
New Jersey loves Rutgers Wrestling...
The Rutgers wrestling team Scarlet finished fourth in the country in average home attendance for the 2017-18 season, it was announced by the TheOpenMat.com earlier this week. The Scarlet Knights averaged 4,680 fans for its seven matches this past season and averaged 5,070 for its six home duals at the RAC. In total, 32,764 came to watch the grapplers, which is a program record. Rutgers ended the year in the top-5 in home attendance for the third-straight season, with only Iowa (8,996), Penn State (7,693) and Ohio State (6,681) drawing more.
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