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Rutgers Basketball: Top 100 Shooting Guard Kwe Parker Commits to Rutgers

The Human Highlight Reel will team with another highlight reel in Corey Sanders in the 2016-17 season. Eddie Jordan's recruiting class starts with a bang.

By Aaron Breitman
Jim O'Connor-USA TODAY Sports

The dream has come true, Kwe Parker has committed to Rutgers.  For a program like ours, that has suffered and suffered some more, this is a special moment.  Positive momentum is something foreign to us. Hope rules the day.  A year from now, we will have a pair of talented and fearless 4-star guards, Parker and Corey Sanders, arguably the most athletic players in their respective classes. They will be playing for an NBA coach that happened to be our best point guard on our best team in school history.  Forget the twenty four year NCAA tournament drought.  Two years ago the program was left for dead.  Loyal son Eddie Jordan returned and offered promise of a better days, of days like today.  Two seasons with a combined record of 22-43 including a current 15 game losing streak ensued. When would it turn around?

There have been moments.  Corey Sanders committing last fall as a huge step.  Beating Wisconsin.  Landing Deshawn Freeman and Jonathan Laurent late this spring, two potential difference makers for this season along with Sanders.  Today marks true progress and signals a brighter future than we had yesterday.  The best part is it is only summer.  Eddie and staff have been everywhere in July and probably have more offers out to recruits at one time than the program ever has.  And the level of recruits we are targeting is higher than ever.  All are rated 3-stars and above, giving us a real shot to land a top 25 ranked class.

Kwe is the key to this class.  He previously played with the top point guard in the class of 2016, Dennis Smith.  He played his junior year with the top recruit in the country, Harry Giles.  He has star power in his own right, a natural born highlight reel.  But its more than his dunking and entertaining, Kwe is the type of guard Eddie and the staff covet.  He is ultra athletic, a hard nosed defender who is fearless and aggressive on the offensive end.  He knows how to play with other stars and won a state championship. He has talent and swagger that could help draw other top rated recruits to the banks.  Give credit to the Rutgers staff, they identified Parker during last July's recruiting live period and stayed on him ever since.  When Parker broke his foot in February, some programs lost interest while Rutgers showed him their pursuit was genuine and sincere.

The 2016-2017 season will mark the debut of Sanders and Parker in the Rutgers back court, and that prospect alone should make us all ecstatic.  Oh and by the way, it will also include former 3-star recruit and Kansas State transfer Nigel Johnson.  He scored 17 and 20 points in upset wins over Iowa State and Kansas this past season. Johnson played for Eddie Jordan during his short stint as the head coach of the AAU program DC Assault.  That stop may turn out to be priceless for Eddie for two reasons. Learning the AAU circuit before becoming a college coach and establishing a relationship with Johnson, who Eddie said is off to a great start this summer.  Mike Williams should make strides this season after a decent freshman year.  Justin Goode is arriving this fall, a 3-star shooting guard with NBA 3-point range.  We now have the makings of a back court that has talent and depth to not only compete in the Big Ten, but win conference games on a consistent basis.

At long last, there is momentum and true hope that better days are ahead at Rutgers.  Its possible one day we will look back at this moment as the turning point in recruiting.  When multiple top rated players decide to play at Rutgers together.  No more one show ponies that abandon the program after two seasons.  A group of talented, physical, tough, athletic guys who are motivated by success and willing to buy into Eddie Jordan's vision.  Motivated by their dreams of the NBA, coming to play for an NBA coach in an NBA offensive system.  Playing in the backyard of the media capital of the world.  They aren't burdened by being the lone savior or the local hero who stayed home.  This is different.  The future is now.  Kwe Parker committed to Rutgers.

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