RU signee Djwany Mera has a wrestling background, which undoubtedly made him a more attractive prospect in Coach Schiano's eyes.
Several future Rutgers walk-ons stepped by last week's chat on State of Rutgers.
Moving onto 2011, the premium sites are reporting more new offers by the day, and that pace should continue for the time being. New reported offers (or ones that I hadn't yet noticed until now) include Bosco QB Gary Nova, Florida WR Bo Brand, Union City OL Josue Matias, St. Peter's OL Keith Lumpkin, Scranton OL Kevin Reihner, Florida OL Jordan Prestwood, Sayreville DT Daryl Stephenson, NY DL Kieran Borcich, Florida LB Tony Steward, and MD ATH Jamal Merritt. Add Orlando QB Jeff Driskel to the list too.
There was a linemen camp at the Rutgers bubble yesterday, and Rivals has a few details on the event. Several RU targets like Trip Thurman were mentioned in that.
Absecon Holy Spirit linebacker Anthony Sarao is expected to be one of the top prospects in the state next year, continuing in the tradition of past alumni like Marcus Witherspoon.
"I’m really kind of done with combines," he said. "I’m waiting ‘til the summer, and then I’ll go to a couple of camps and get out as much as I can.
"I want to verbally commit before my season if I can, just to get it out of the way. I would at least like to have it narrowed to five schools or three schools … something like that."
The one shoe yet to drop with next year's class is Penn State, who traditionally get off to a slower start than other programs. This article on their future recruiting plans has some interesting tidbits on how many scholarships PSU is prepared to accept, along with info on prospects like TE Ben Koyack and ATH Terrell Chestnut out of PA. As usual, they'll be going after many of the same players as Rutgers.
Lineman Anthony Mangiro, running back Savon Huggins and safety Sheldon Royster - all from New Jersey - probably won't have to wait long to receive their official offers; Huggins and Royster are teammates at St. Peter's Prep. The same can be said for Bishop McDevitt tailback Jameel Poteat.
SPP Coach Rich Hansen appeared on Tom Lemming's show with several of his juniors like Royster and Huggins on Signing Day.
The other competition in the East aren't sitting on their thumbs either. The Wannstache has been getting around.
Last week, University of Pittsburgh head football coach Dave Wannstedt visited northeast Pennsylvania.
He met with Scranton Prep lineman Kevin Reihner and Delaware Valley lineman Brandon Clemons, who both have already been extended scholarship offers from the Big East school.
Remember that Junior Day video from a few weeks back? There's another one up on YouTube, which appears to be from someone with ties to the Shuler family. That same user has other vids up, including a Charles Davis highlight package, and one from BC's Junior Day.
Rutgers is one of several programs involved early with Virginia prospect Dominique Terrell. Clemson commit Cortez Davis is still open, and considering several offers including Rutgers. Hakeem Flowers doesn't seem to be mentioning RU.
The Orlando Sentinel has an early 2011 ranking of the top 100 prospects in Florida, and the top 60 in central Florida.
Bergen Catholic HC Fred Stengel is stepping down.
As has been mentioned here before, Bill Connelly from Football Outsiders has been looking into the efficacy of recruiting rankings lately, following up on his initial foray on the subject in last year's FO Almanac. He had an article about signing day on ESPN Insider last week, which I haven't read. He covers similar ground in this Washington Post podcast segment, which I need to listen to soon. I did ask Bill last week about that OU study that I always bring up, and he wasn't yet aware of it at that time.
Watchlist: Garrett Clark, William Connelly, Kyshoen Jarrett (worth reading), Drew Loughery, and Antoine Young.