Knight Caps: The world is a carousel of Scarlet

We need to bring everyone up to speed on whats been happening around Scarlet Nation. Here goes....

Men’s Golf

And a child shall lead us.

Freshman Oliver Whatley won the Janney Invitational with a 10-under-par 206 (65-72-69) to claim the individual championship on Tuesday at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond. He carded a three-under-par 69 in his final round, which including three birdies and an eagle. It’s the first RU golfer to earn the weekly honor.

Volleyball

You need to - wait, I need to - go to more volleyball matches. They give away some really good stuff!

And you might see some good play, too. I got all excited back at the end of August and wrote about how well the team was doing. They then proceeded to lose their next five contests and I thought, that’s it. It’s my fault, no more volleyball posts!

Changed my mind. The team went 2-1 in western PA and won the Robert Morris Invitational. As was said in the other post, the Big Ten is a nasty volleyball conference and things won’t get easier despite an influx of young talent.

New floor

Just as in field hockey, sometimes the surface you play on makes a difference.

Last week, Rutgers Volleyball unveiled its new floor at the College Avenue Gym for its match against Iowa. The Knights become one of just 26 NCAA Division I programs to utilize Gerflor USA's Taraflex floor, the same surface used at the last 11 Summer Olympic Games. The portable Taraflex floor at Rutgers is the only one of its kind among collegiate programs in the Northeast region and one of just nine to be used by a Power 5 institution across the nation. It seems like RU is doing some investing in volleyball.

Head coach CJ Werneke is very excited about the new surface. "This is a game-changer. Our hard-working volleyball program competes with the best teams in the nation in the Big Ten Conference, and they deserve the best and the safest playing surface possible. The historic College Ave. Gym is now home to a state-of-the-art floor that only a small handful of top programs can claim."

Share a Coke and an R

That’s it. Can’t say much more. I’m getting it. Add to the collection. Next....

Community Knights

Much is made on both the pro and college level about the amount of community service offered by athletes. Rutgers is certainly no different. I know someone whose grandchild was helped immensely by visits through Embrace Kids (looking at you, Ken Theobold!) And it continues this fall season.

And then something that impacts a lot of us in the metropolitan area.

Visiting kids in the hospital is great....and the athletes aren’t doing it for show. They really get into seeing the kids. This is a little different. And I truly hope that the players got a chance to really feel the importance, the gravity, of the run’s background.

Every time I hear soething about Stephen Siller and what he did, I am awed and saddened. And very proud of every first responder. And a great job by Steve Pikiell.

On a lighter note, how about that graphics team.....

Name a sport at Rutgers and the graphics team here has been phenomenal. They picked up another honor from Poster Swag in its annual football schedule category.

For the record, RU finished behind No. 1 Ohio State (grrrr) and No. 2 TCU.

Another close shave

A year ago, former Scarlet Knight Tim Wright opened a barber shop in Livingston Plaza. We were going to highlight it but just never got around to it. It’s a year later and the place is still going strong.

We did get up there for its opening and got some photos....I’m the shorter one in this picture.

rvc73

rvc73

Lacrosse Knights in the Pros

Class of 2015 Knight Joe Nardella (that’s him in our lead photo) is re-upping with the Boston Cannons. I 2016, Nardella hasd nine goals and six assists for the MLS club, playing in 13 of the team’s 14 games, tied for second most on the team.

And in non-sports news....

The Zimmerli Museum is Rutgers’ premier museum on campus. And it is looking for an even higher profile.

The Zimmerli houses more than 60,000 works of art, including the Dodge Collection, a major body of Soviet nonconformist art. It's currently exhibition is on a century of social photography.