Rutgers Football: IMG Academy Teammates Jalen Jordan and Artur Sitkowski Harkens Back to the Days of Carroo and Nova

The last time a quarterback-wide receiver package came to Rutgers who were high school teammates, the results were nearly record breaking. Leonte Carroo and his high school teammate Garry Nova out of Don Bosco Prep brought their aerial attack to Rutgers.

The two etched their names in the Rutgers football record books, and the two were instrumental in Rutgers’ Big East Conference title-winning team in 2012.

The Scarlet Knights are hoping for similar results when former IMG Academy (Brandenton, FL) teammates quarterback Artur Sitkowski and wide receiver Jalen Jordan take their skills to the banks of the old Raritan this fall.

Sitkowski, has long been on the Rutgers’ recruiting radar initially starring at Old Bridge High School before transferring to spend his senior year at IMG, and then committing to the University of Miami.

Prepping in Florida, and committed to a school in Florida, it seemed like Rutgers was out of the picture until a surprise commitment flip in November.

A key difference between the Carroo and Nova situation and the situation of Sitkowski and Jordan is that Carroo and Nova developed a great chemistry while at Don Bosco, while Sitkowski spent much of 2017 on the sideline.

However, the shear talent that these two possess have to make Scarlet Knights fans salivate at the possibility for the strong-armed passer and the rangy and speedy Jalen Jordan who stands 6’5” and runs a 4.63 40-yard dash according to 247 Sports.

Another key difference is Rutgers already has talented freshman (a sophomore in 2018) Johnathan Lewis, Gio Recigno who will be a senior, and former Western Michigan quarterback, Tom Flacco on the roster.

A second difference is another talented quarterback, Jalen Chatman out of Harbor City, CA should be joining the Knights in the 2018 class.

This will provide the future offensive coordinator options where there were little before at the quarterback position - A strong-armed pocket passer like Sitkowski, a senior leader in Recigno, a transfer in with NFL quarterback bloodline Tom Flacco or the dual threat possibilities of Chatman or Lewis.

A lot will depend on the new offensive coordinator now that Jerry Kill has retired from the program.

At the moment, it appears Rutgers has the pieces to work a pro-style offense or a spread style offense with the talent pool it now has at the quarterback position.

The new offensive coordinator and head coach Chris Ash will need to weigh the program’s direction with regards to its offense, but for the time being, for once it seems that the coaching staff will not have to jam square pegs into round holes.

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out, but Rutgers fans can’t fear transfers out, competition is good at any position, and talented players are necessary for winning.