Committed players
Jordan Thomas could not be any more a Scarlet Knight if he tried.
Yet, ask Jordan Thomas to identify the single athletic accomplishment of which he is most proud?
"Practice. Working hard. Just going after it and giving everything," said the first-team all-state football defensive back and Section 4 record holder in two sprints on the track.
The other way Thomas is the prototypical Rutgers recruit? Running the 100m dash in 10.82 seconds, finishing first at the NY State track championships.
Sam Bergen claims progress in his rehab from an ACL tear.
Tejay Johnson was in the running for the Philadelphia Inquirer's South Jersey athlete of the year.
Scarlet Report checks in with a free update on Fred Overstreet.
Uncommitted players
NJ summer track competition is starting to get good.
As he did all spring, Shuler took control of the race at the halfway point and outleaned Timber Creek's Damiere Byrd, arguably the prerace favorite and owner of a 10.57 entering the day, for the win in 10.39 seconds.
That's the second fastest time in New Jersey history according to the article. Here's a link to the all-time results, featuring cameos from James Townsend, Michael Ray Garvin, Tejay Johnson, Shawney Kersey, Mason Robinson, Rashad White, and Reggie Dixon. Miles Shuler-Foster?
Oh yeah, Byrd is no slouch either.
Rutgers is the only school guaranteed to be in NJ RB Savon Huggins's top 10 list.
NJ DE Kyle George picked up a Rutgers offer on his visit last week.
George said he will be visiting schools all throughout the summer. Next week he will attend Rutgers’ Big Man camp and he will be at Maryland later on.
PA ATH Terrell Chestnut enjoyed his visit to Rutgers from a week and a half ago.
It won’t be first trip Chestnut has made this summer. Last Sunday he was at Rutgers with some other high profile recruits.
"They had their barbecue and I was there for that," he noted. "I was there with Jameel Poteat, Savon Huggins and Kevin Snyder—he (Snyder) actually committed to them before the barbecue.
"Those are the three I was mainly with. We all had a good time."
Another visitor was PA RB Jameel Poteat.
“I went to Rutgers, I think it was last week,” Poteat recalled. “We had a good time. We were playing Madden and laughing. It was nice. I talked to the coaches—coach (Greg) Schiano, the offensive coordinator and the running backs coach. It was a good visit. I feel real comfortable with them."
NJ TE Jack Tabb likes Florida, but he also wonders about Rutgers joining the Big Ten, and had a good time at the barbecue.
"It was a great visit—a very relaxed day," he said. "It was cool to each lunch with other recruits like Miles (Shuler) and Savon (Huggins).
"I talk to Miles a lot and we congratulate each other on new offers. But we also kind of look around at (Rutgers) and think what could be."
NJ OL Angelo Mangiro is down to five finalists: BC OSU, PSU, Pitt, and Rutgers.
NY ATH Devon Cajuste calls PSU his dream school.
Rutgers is also a realistic option because Cajuste said he loves the coaching staff, the environment and especially the facilities.
Will NJ DL Connor Wujciak jump on his Notre Dame offer?
"That was a week or two ago," he said of the Notre Dame offer. "It was pretty cool. I wasn’t waiting for it or anything but it was cool. I went (on a visit) when I was real young but I haven’t been there recently."
Rutgers is probably going to have to change its official visit itinerary with Disney planning to close the ESPN Zone franchise.
MD ATH Jamal Merritt likes Rutgers and could visit soon. MD ATH Darius Jennings is drawing comparisons to Derrick Williams. VA CB Demetrious Nicholson is the "total package".
PA teammates OT Delvon Simmons could visit Rutgers, although they're not in his top three.
Newly reported offers include FL CB Johnathan Aiken, FL OT Errin Joe (who has many others), FL CB Nick Waisome, DE Nick Menocal, and FL DT Terry Bell. FL RB Tre Mason loves P.J. Fleck. FL OL/DL Georgio Newberry will visit Rutgers soon. FL DE Giovani Francis was one player attending last weekend's IMG Football Academy. FL WR Rashad Greene could be leaning to FSU, as is teammate OL Bobby Hart. FL OL Zach DeBell keeps adding offers. FL WR Andre Davis added a Louisville offer. FL LB Ryan Shazier has a top 5 that doesn't include RU. Not did RU make FL DL Ruben Carter's top 3. FL RB Mike Blakely is looking at UF and Auburn. WR Ja'Juan Story didn't include RU as a finalist.
Finishing #1 in APR may benefit RU's recruiting.
Greg Vallone said that Boston College and Maryland made impressive academic pitches during their visits. Maryland offered perks for academic achievement, such as being first on line at meals and getting first dibs on off-campus housing.
There are no such perks at Rutgers.
FL ATH Javares McRoy probably misspoke here, because he's a slotback prospect, but this would be a pretty weird quote if accurate considering Florida's interest in Savon Huggins.
McRoy said Meyer and running backs coach Stan Drayton told him they were going to stop recruiting the running back position with his commitment, and he expects to fill a similar role that Percy Harvin and another former Dreadnaught, Chris Rainey, have filled in the offense.
New Brunswick HS coach John Quinn is leaving for Elizabeth.
NJ ATH Bill Belton gave a soft verbal to Pitt. Good get for them. I'm still wondering why Belton dropped RU out of his top ten a few weeks back over schools like Cincy and Louisville. I had long sinced moved on from Belton, but losing Shane Mertz to NW hurts. FL QB Jerrard Randall committed to Oregon. PA RB/LB Brandon Cottom committed to Purdue.
Watchlist: This is a section of this site's weekly recruiting posts featuring links to players that Rutgers may or may not be showing interest in, but has not yet offered.
Lexx Edwards, Kyshoen Jarrett, Kendall Patterson, Nick SanGiacomo, and Louis Smith.