Facing a firestorm of criticism, University President Richard McCormick announced plans to appoint a sports committee. It's currently unknown how much much power they will actually have.
Rutgers President Richard McCormick has vowed greater "transparency" and complete cooperation with the state probe. A report by the State Commission of Investigation in 2006 found the university’s finances to be confusing and opaque.
McCormick said he will ask the committee to "probe deeply" into the operations of the athletic division, which is headed by Robert Mulcahy – a longtime political player in the state.
McCormick also announced the chairs of the committee that will lead the review: Rutgers University President Alfred C. Koeppe, an alumnus who heads the Newark Alliance, is the former president and chief operating officer of Public Service Electric and Gas Co., and a former chair of the New Jersey Higher Education Commission; and Albert R. Gamper Jr., also an alumnus, who is the former chairman of the Rutgers Board of Governors and retired chairman of the board of CIT Group Inc.
Critics were quick to note that Gamper is the current chair of the governing board’s athletic committee and headed the full board during much of the athletic spending now in question.
Kevin Malast and Tiquan Underwood were the first players to commit to Rutgers in the class of '05.
Brandon Renkart and Ronnie Girault have signed with the New York Jets.
Linebacker Brandon Renkart and safety Ron Girault will have a chance to make the Jets, signing with the team today.
The former Scarlet Knights' duo will have to make two roster cutdowns -- NFL teams must have no more than 75 active players by Aug. 26 and the final 53-man limit by Aug. 30.
A year ago, Renkart had 67 tackles and 2.5 sacks, and Girault had 55 tackles.
Ray Rice continues to dazzle in Ravens camp.
Top three rookies in training camp so far have been running back Ray Rice, linebacker Tavares Gooden and safety Haruki Nakamura.
Rice finds holes and has good acceleration. He might be small, but he runs with both authority and power. Gooden is physical and plays with a lot of energy. He definitely has a passion for football.
Nakamura just makes plays. He is always around the football. He needs to be more physical, but that will come with time as he adds more confidence.
Greg Schiano gave a detailed interview to Keith Sargent. Snippets:
The Justin Francis situation, has there been a resolution to that?
"What I did when this all went down is I decided that Justin, regardless of what happens will be suspended for the season from competition. From that point on, I needed to wait until the legal system plays out. And I did, but from early on Justin and I talked and he was very forthright with me and I just made a decision that this is what needed to be done.
"So in the interim, at some point in his career he was going to need to have his shoulder fixed. So before we knew what we going to happened, he got his shoulder fixed. So he'll be with us, but he won't be eligible to compete by my edict.''
Among the incoming freshmen, Rashad White, Malcolm Johnson and Kevin Eagan. Are they no longer with the team?
"No, there's certain guys that when you're recruiting them, you know they might not be able to meet all the qualifications. What's transpired is Rashad, the plan is for him to go to junior college and come back to Rutgers in two years. And the plan with Malcolm is to go to prep school, and hopefully come to Rutgers sooner than that.
"Kevin Eagan's a different story. That one was a surprise. Kevin called up when it was time to come to summer school, and just had a change of heart. He just didn't want to play Division I football, which was disappointing because I think Kevin could've been a really good player. But it's better now than later.
"So two of them, by the end of the academic year I knew it was going to be the case that they were going to do the alternative path.''
SK.com has released its season preview.
The obligatory Teel profile.
CardChronicle previews the top 25 defenders in the Big East.
Fooch has an interview up with Schiano.