Syracuse.com's Donnie Webb claims that Rutgers is getting involved again with former decommit Malcolm Bush.
Rutgers has gotten involved with tight end Malcolm Bush, who had his scholarship offer to North Carolina pulled and made an official visit to Syracuse last weekend. The timing by Rutgers might be curious. Is it because the Scarlet Knights are trying to stop a New Jersey player from going to Syracuse?
Of course, the idea that our recruiting strategy is getting dictated by Syracuse is laughable. In fact, as far as I can tell Bush just took a courtesy visit to Syracuse and had been leaning towards Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh angle is funny, because they had a very similar situation happen last year with a TE named Mike Cruz. He decommited early on, Pittsburgh dropped him, and late in the process they decided to bury the hatchet and Cruz ended up signing with the Panthers.
Bush committed to Rutgers last fall, but did it seemingly just to hold a spot in a class that was filling up fast. He did not make many friends by publicly campaigning for an offer from Florida. Later on, he was no longer a verbal commit, and reports were (from several sources, including free articles from Bob Lichtenfels on Scout) that Rutgers was no longer recruiting hm. That development puzzled me a bit, because Rutgers had thin depth at TE and could have used two in the class, and they were still seemingly his best option.
Bush had been looking at UNC and Pitt as his main serious suitors as of late, and had been leaning towards the Panthers. Rutgers received verbal commitments from the Merrell twins last month, and one of them might play either on the defensive line or tight end, so we seemingly were set there. How ironic would it be if Bush pulls a Mike Cruz and ends up on the Banks after all?
It would make sense, if both Merrells are going to end up on defense. Rutgers is thin at tight end. Bush is a raw athlete, but could contribute down the line. Schiano's mentor Mike Miello is the head coach at Hackensack. That's a town that regularly produces Division I-A prospects, so it's a good idea to stay involved there.
Can both sides let bygones be bygones and make the smart decision here?