Recruiting Snapshot: Rutgers Scarlet Knights
While most of college football has been put on hold, recruiting marches on. The class of 2021 has seen a wave of commitments since the start of April, and the team rankings have adjusted to reflect growing classes. We are taking a snapshot of each class in their order of the Rivals Team Rankings and continue with Rutgers at No. 19.
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CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
RUTGERS
Current rank: No. 19
Number of commits: 12
Top commits: Three-star S Alijah Clark (No. 15 at his position), three-star OLB Khayri Baton (No. 31), three-star WDE Keshon Griffin (No. 28), three-star ATH Jordan Thompson
Top targets: Four-star DT Tywone Malone (No. 41 overall), four-star OL Geno VanDemark (No. 151), four-star RB Audric Estime (No. 197), three-star SDE Ryan Keeler (No. 40 at his position)
LOCAL REACTION
"We knew Greg Schiano could recruit because of his first tenure at Rutgers, but I don’t think anyone expected him to basically pick up right where he left off. So far it’s been nothing sort of amazing what Schiano and crew have done on the recruiting trail, as they were already ranked as high as 10th in the class rankings so far this year.
"At the moment, the Scarlet Knights have done a great job in local recruiting, either landing early verbals or getting in a good spot for some of the top prospects in the Tri-State area. Eight commits are from New Jersey. The crazy part about this is some of these kids who are now high on Rutgers wouldn't even sniff the program under the previous regime.
"With that being said, all fans and media alike know that this top-20 ranking won’t last forever, but when it’s all said and done, Rutgers could very well have its first top-35 class or better since 2012. Expect Schiano and staff to continue to hit the local area hard for recruits, in hopes of a quicker turnaround for the football program." - Richie Schnyderite, TheKnightReport.net
NATIONAL REACTION
“The Scarlet Knights were one of the big early stories of this recruiting cycle. The fast start by Schiano and his staff with this recruiting class has been outstanding, but what’s more impressive is that they’re having success recruiting top local targets and aren’t doing anything fancy. The coaches aren’t promising players limitless playing time, an easy academic schedule, or a specific jersey number. These are talented players that want to learn and develop under quality coaches and have a lot of trust in the longstanding relationships they’ve built with these coaches.
“Many members of this Rutgers recruiting class have a chance to move up the rankings once we gather new, verifiable information on them. Clark, Banton and Griffin have been very impressive in the past and we were looking forward to seeing how much they’ve developed this spring. Thompson receiver Carnell Davis, defensive lineman Cam’Ron Stewart, and some of the other Rutgers commits look good on film and we’re looking forward to seeing them this fall.
"The Scarlet Knights have a very good chance of landing commitments from a few of their top targets listed above. Running backs coach Augie Hoffman was the head coach of Estime and VanDemark at Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph’s Regional last year and a number of other coaches on staff have had relationships with top prospects around the state for years.” - Adam Friedman, East Coast analyst