Oh, hey, a basketball win over St. John's? Talent was always there, but confidence hasn't been. The only logical conclusion is that Fred Hill is secretly dead and has been replaced by the smoke monster. Don't go about getting any big ideas now. As much as I think Rutgers doesn't want to buy out Hill, these last two games shouldn't change anything. By all means though, any additional success at this point is just gravy, so enjoy it. Would be nice if Hamady and Rosario can keep it up.
Hooray, wrestling is ranked 23rd.
Today's news will be dominated by signing day, with live video coverage on SK.com. The Record is saying that Lodi LB Joe Falato will sign a LOI today and play DE in college.
As mentioned yesterday, Casey Turner's final call is still up in the air.
Turner is saying he's still considering Rutgers and will announce his final choice on Wednesday.
He's singing a different tune though.
"Rutgers did send a letter-of-intent to my school, but I’m 100 percent North Carolina. When I sign, it will be a burden off my back."
The other known names to watch are Cater and Kirksey.
Brandon Coleman: tap dancing, etc...Susan and Jenkins leaving were no big deal to him. Rashad Knight is coming into Rutgers as a corner. Jeremy Deering is at receiver (video).
Adam Zagoria has a video interview up with Betim Bujari. Should have more stuff up on his site today. Sam Bergen is still rehabbing his ACL injury. Luicci says Pitt made a late run at Taj Alexander; if true, that's understandable given how hard it is to find defensive linemen. PSU and ND going after Bujari is interesting/reassuring.
How can anyone be mad at Keith Sargeant for his article yesterday? Farrell and Lichtenfels are just hacks, and now they're starting to backtrack of course. Good comment from Dohn, who actually knows what he's talking about, at the end of that about the value of taking an official visit. They're so important.
Kinda have mixed emotions about the whole 96 team NCAA tournament rumors. Rutgers is one team that would greatly benefit from that. Despite the logistical infeasibility, I've always been a fan of the proposed "jailbreak" scenario in which the NIT champion would earn a bid to say the Sweet 16 after running through the whole gauntlet.
A decade ago, Tim Tebow's brother chose a FCS school over Rutgers.
Why do recruits chose Rutgers? It's nice to hang your hat on 15 student-athletes making the Big East's All-Academic team.
Mike Vorkunov has the first entry in Kevin Haslam's running draft diary. Jack Corcoran is also running one of his own. Could only find one mention of George Johnson.
Those Pitt to the Big Ten rumors? Total bunk.
Via Pat Hanlon from the Giants, here's a picture of Ray Rice and Shaun O'Hara at the Pro Bowl.