Committed Players
Here's the transcript of Coach Schiano's NSD presser.
Rutgers finished off 2011 with Marquise Wright and Kaleb Johnson.
Johnson said the Rutgers coaching staff would like him to trim down to 270 by the time he reports to preseason drills next fall.
"Then they want me to build up muscle weight. They don't want any fat," he said. "They've told me I can play guard or tackle because I have long arms. One of the reasons I picked Rutgers is because they have real good coaches up there, and I think they'll prepare me to get to the next level [NFL]."
Signee Al Page has a lot on his mind at the moment.
Anyone else having trouble coming to terms with the possibility that Miles Shuler may be mortal?
Quentin Gause will be given a shot at running back?
Uncommitted Players
Remember, written offers can't go out until September. As of now all outstanding 2012 offers are verbal.
Stupid Gamecocks - stay away from Eijah Shumate, who was at Paterson Catholic before transferring to Don Bosco after P.C. closed.
He says his top five schools are South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Rutgers, and LSU.
Shumate is part of a loaded '12 Bosco class (Shumate, Leonte Carroo from Edison, Darius "son of Keith" Hamilton, Mike Strizak, etc...) that seems more receptive to Rutgers than ever. RU signed Nova and Canevari this year, and assistant Jeff Hafley has done well recruiting Bosco.
"Last year was very disappointing," one Don Bosco insider told me. "This is a new start."
It's true that Rutgers hasn't offered every DBP prospect, although they apparently offered Sacco last year contrary to this article. RU did always have the Teel card to play, and DBP's OC Anthony Campanile even played for Schiano.
There's an early verbal offer out to SPP ATH D.J. Singleton.
Rutgers was the first offer for '12 LBs Jazzmar Clax and Dan Mastromatteo.
What makes Brian Angelichio such an important staff addition is how successful he's been at recruiting eastern PA at Pitt.
Pitt and Temple have made aggressive pushes into the area, with Pitt signing six area players since 2006: Holley, Northern Lehigh's Tyler Tkach, Upper Perkiomen's John Fieger, Pennridge's Tristan Roberts and Liberty's Devin Street and Anthony Gonzalez.
Wannstedt's recruiting staff was popular in the area, selling Pitt as a pathway to the NFL and doing so energetically. One area coach, who asked not to be identified, said Pitt and Temple have contacted him annually. He hasn't heard from Penn State since 2006.
That should help with Scranton-area prospects like WR Eugene Lewis. By the way, DT Dane Dudick is from that area too and he'll be walking on.
Rutgers is one of many programs after PA DE Noah Spence. He's from Bishop McDevitt, which supposedly has issues with PSU and was somewhat of a Pitt pipeline school (until Wannstedt's firing ruined everything). One of his '11 teammates in LB Sean Barowski has an offer to walk-on.
There's also Archbishop Wood's RB Desmon Peoples, TE Colin Thompson, and OL Frank Taylor.
RU has offered '12 Aquinas teammates DL Jelani Hamilton and RB Dami Ayoola. FL DL Earl Moore is thinking factory. FL QB Tyler Cameron should end up pretty big.
Per capita, Florida produced the most DI signees for the 2011 class. This year New Jersey was more about quality than quantity. New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fare horribly by this metric.
DB Lafayette Pitts flipped back to Pittsburgh. Rutgers OC Frank Cignetti was surprisingly candid about the reasons why. For the sake of completeness, here's everyone else who was still on the '11 recruiting board. The only players left are Andrew Campolattano (will wrestle in college) and Taques Franklin (hasn't spoken to the media in months).
PA DEs Branden Jackson and Desi Green are going to Texas Tech, with DT Delvon Simmons headed to UNC. FL DE Chad Hannah committed to Cincy. FL DT Elkino Watson committed to USF. FL DT Chris Jones switched from NC State to Illinois, and probably won't qualify. LB Tony Steward chose Clemson over FSU. FL DT Terry Bell committed to FSU. Surprise - FSU signed an eighth OL commit in GA OL Tre Jackson. FL DE B.J. DuBose switched from Miami to Louisville. FL LB Curt Maggitt committed to Tennessee. FL QB Jacoby Brissett committed to UF (which greatly increases the chances that Miami will take a transfer QB like Forcier or Savage). MD ATH Darius Jennings and VA ATH Dominique Terrell committed to UVA. MD OL Cyrus Kouandjio picked Alabama. DC DT Kevin McReynolds verballed to UCLA.
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.
Chevelle Buie, Casey Cochran (2, 3), Brandon Napoleon (2), and Nate Smith (another Archbishop Wood prospect, not the Highland Park one).