Category: Rutgers recruiting

Rutgers football recruit Tosin Babalade pushes back decision date

Rutgers football recruit Tosin Babalade pushing back his commitment date.

Four-star Tosin Babalade, who took an official visit to Rutgers football in June, has decided to push back his decision date. Babalade was scheduled to announce his college decision on Sunday.

Instead, late last week, Babalade announced that he will not be going public with his college decision over the weekend. In his announcement, the Maryland offensive lineman did not publish a new date for his announcement.

According to On3, South Carolina is the heavy favorite to land Babalade, with their Recruiting Prediction Machine projecting the SEC program at 81.5 percent. Maryland (4.6 percent), Rutgers (3.9 percent), North Carolina (3.3 percent) and Ohio State (2.5 percent) round out the top five for Babalade.

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In late June, Babalade talked about his decision and what he is looking for on the football field in a school.

“Definitely playing time,” Babalade said.

“I just want to get better, I just want to get to the next level. I don’t mind sitting, waiting for a little. I just don’t want to wait that long. I just want to keep getting better every year.”

Rutgers was one of the programs to land an official visit with Babalade. He said after his official visit that his time with the Big Ten program went well.

“We’re definitely close. I was able to spend more time with them,” Babalade said. “They want to see me get better and better.”

Babalade also had a very strong impression about Ohio State football and his entire visit.

“It was definitely – I wouldn’t say the facilities but the next level stuff. The tech that they have to transform a player’s body,” Babalade said about the Ohio State football program. “Everything was just next level…the field, the buildings, they just re-did the turf and stuff in the field house. It was all good. The NIL, they are amazing at it.”

One of the other programs in the mix for Babalade is North Carolina. Babalade talked about his official visit there in June.

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And the Tar Heels head coach, who made an impression on him.

“It was nice. They weren’t many people there but I understand because of summer. It was good, it was fun,” Babalade said before talking about what stood out to him during the visit.

“The coach – the coach Mack Brown. He’s a great man, he’s very relaxed. He’s honest.”

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Football Recruiting: Rutgers offers four-star Chauncey Bowens

Rutgers extends offer to four-star running back Chauncey Bowens from class of 2024

Rutgers football continued their very strong recruiting effort in the state of Florida this week, as they extended an offer to running back Chauncey Bowens today, July 30.

A four-star recruit according to On3.com, Bowens is ranked as the No. 12 running back and the in the class of 2024 in the 247 Composite. The five-foot-eleven-inch versatile athlete from North Palm Beach, Florida is a multi-sport varsity athlete. He plays lacrosse as well as multiple events in track and field.

Bowens already has a strong offer list with multiple Power Five programs including Miami, Florida, Florida State, and Auburn. Fellow Big Ten programs Indiana and Illinois have also extended offers to the four-star back. The offer from the Seminoles came at the beginning of July.

Rutgers have clearly targeted Florida  heavily. In the last three recruiting classes, the Scarlet Knight program has extended 74 offers to players from the sunshine state – including a whopping 40 offers in the class of 2023.

Don’t let his size fool you, the young man has shown impressive strength in the weight room to go along with the athleticism needed to be a varsity athlete across multiple sports.

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Rutgers football offers four-star Illinois tight end Christian Bentancur

Rutgers football offers Illinois four-star tight end Christian Bentancur.

Christian Bentancur was offered by Rutgers football on Thursday, involving the Scarlet Knights with one of the top prospects in the class of 2024.

A tight end out of Marian Central Catholic (Woodstock, IL), Bentancur is ranked as the No. 236 player in the nation according to 247Sports. He is the fifth-best player in Illinois in his class per the recruiting analysts.

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound tight end is already a monster recruit, holding Power Five offers from programs such as Arkansas, Boston College, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan, Ohio State, , Penn State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin among others.

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Last season he had 53 receptions for 1,165 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.

He tweeted about the Rutgers offer on Thursday night:

 

Marian Central Catholic struggled a bit last season, going 3-5. They did close out the season strong with wins over Leo and Woodstock.

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Earlier this week, Bentancur received an offer from Texas A&M. In June, he took several visits including stops at Arkansas, Louisville and Wisconsin.

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Rutgers football set to host Wisconsin linebacker on Friday

Three-star linebacker Sam Pilof set to visit Rutgers on Friday.

Sam Pilof will be on campus on Friday for Rutgers football. This as the coveted linebacker continues what has been an incredibly busy few weeks in his recruitment.

Fresh off a trip to Notre Dame, the three-star linebacker from Middleton High School (Middleton, WI) will be checking in on Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights were an early program to get in on Pilof, offering him on April.

Rutgers was his first Power Five offer.

Now Pilof holds Power Five offers from Iowa State, Penn State and in-state Wisconsin. The offers from Penn State and Wisconsin came in June. He is a three-star according to 247Sports.

Pilof tweeted about his Rutgers football on Thursday:

 

He was an all-conference and all-region selection for a Middleton team that was 8-4 last season.

Pilof is an impressive linebacker with good speed and instincts. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, the class of 2024 recruit already has impressive size.

His coverage skills are impressive as his ability to make quick reads.

K.J. Duff says Greg Schiano, Rutgers staff’s hospital visit ‘really left a positive impact on me’

K.J. Duff talks impact of Rutgers football’s hospital visits.

In June, Long Island wide receiver K.J. Duff was injured participating in a Rutgers football camp held for high school prospects. Following the injury, Duff was impressed with the outpouring of support from the Scarlet Knights including head coach Greg Schiano.

In fact, Schiano visited Duff in the hospital after the injury.

Duff suffered a broken finger in the recent Rutgers 7-on-7 competition. At the time of the injury, he was on the ground and someone ran over his finger.

The class of 2024 prospect from St. Anthony’s (Melville, N.Y.) says his recruitment has slowed down a little bit after the injury.

But that hasn’t stopped Rutgers football from making an impression on Duff. He went to the hospital following the injury and two assistant coaches popped by shortly thereafter.

“I got to the ER and after I saw the doctor, coach Shaw (wide receivers coach Damiere Shaw) got there first and stopped by for about 20 minutes,” Duff told RutgersWire. “Then after that coach Vallone (assistant coach Scott Vallone) stopped by. Coach Schiano got there right as I was leaving, he walked with me back to my car.”

Duff is almost completely back from his injury. He is hoping to visit Boston College, Maryland and Rutgers in the next few months.

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The effort made by the Rutgers staff seems to have made an impression on Duff.

“As far as what coach Schiano said to me it was something along the lines of: ‘Rutgers is here for you and we want you to know that, we wish you a speedy recovery and that we will continue to stay in touch.’ The rest of the conversation was just some small talk about the 7-on-7 day,” Duff said.

“Having three coaches from the school – one being the head coach – (stop by) really left a positive impact on me.”

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Four-star Tosin Babalade set to announce his college decision

Four-star Tosin Babalade is set to announce his college decision.

Tosin Babalade is set to announce his college decision this weekend as the four-star from Maryland wraps up his recruitment.

On June 1, Babalade unveiled his top seven that included Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Rutgers and South Carolina. He has taken all five of his official visits (only Michigan and North Carolina State did not get an official visit from Babalade).

He is ranked a four-star in the 247Sports Composite and the No. 26 offensive tackle in the nation. He plans to announce on Sunday, July 31.

As for his visit to Rutgers, Babalade told RutgersWire in June that the official was a good experience:

“It was great. I had a blast, going to see New York, seeing Times Square. It was a great time.”

He also said that Ohio State was the official visit that most impressed him:

“It was definitely – I wouldn’t say the facilities but the next level stuff. The tech that they have to transform a player’s body. Everything was just next level…the field, the buildings, they just re-did the turf and stuff in the field house. It was all good. The NIL, they are amazing at it.”

When interviewed in June, Babalade said that all the programs that made his final cut are equal in terms of his commitment. One place that stood out was North Carolina.

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And North Carolina’s football program stood out for a simple reason:

“The coach – the coach Mack Brown. He’s a great man, he’s very relaxed. He’s honest.”

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Rutgers basketball offers Baltimore guard Tyler Jackson

Tyler Jackson gets an offer from Rutgers basketball.

Rutgers basketball is one of the latest programs to get involved with Tyler Jackson, a class of 2025 guard. The Scarlet Knights offered Jackson this week.

Jackson is a 6-foot guard from St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD). His recruitment is showing signs of taking off.

He pulled in his first offer last October from George Mason. Since then, Jackson has been offered by North Carolina A&T, Rhode Island and Illinois. The offer from Illinois came in May. Rutgers basketball and DePaul are his most recent offers reported offers.

Both programs offered Jackson on Monday.

Jackson tweeted about the offer on Monday evening:

 

Jackson plays for a very strong St. Frances team that went 35-6 last season.

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Rutgers has been consistently hitting up underclassmen. Also on Monday, the Scarlet Knights offered class of 2026 standout Chidi Nwigwe.

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A rising freshman at Bergen Catholic, Nwigwe is listed as 6-foot-6. Currently, he holds offers from Georgia Tech, St. Bonaventure, Fordham and Illinois.

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Who is the favorite to land four-star Dylan Gooden?

The projections are looking good for Rutgers and four-star Dylan Gooden.

Dylan Gooden, a four-star edge, is set to make his college decision on Aug. 9. And a pair of Big Ten programs are in the lead for one of the top players in Maryland for this recruiting cycle.

Ranked the No. 243 player in the nation according to the On3 Consensus, Gooden is an edge rusher with tremendous length. He is a standout for Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, MD).

Gooden announced a final four of Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers and Virginia Tech.

Rutgers is the leader here according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. The Scarlet Knights have a 32.8 percent chance of landing Gooden.

Penn State is second at 19.4 percent. West Virginia is at 16.7 percent and in-state Maryland checks in at 7.3 percent.

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If the predictions hold up, it would be a huge recruiting win for Rutgers to land a talent like Gooden. He is a consensus four-star and ranked as one of the top players in Maryland in what is a rather deep year for the state.

The class of 2023 talent is the son of former MLB pitcher Doc Gooden. Over the weekend, Doc said that his son’s decision is going to be a “good surprise.”

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Rutgers football recruit Ted Gregoire talks pushing decision back

Three-star Ted Gregoire discusses pushing his college announcement back.

Ted Gregoire had been eyeing a July decision for his college announcement. But now the New Jersey defensive lineman is taking a step back to evaluate his options.

The Hudson Catholic defensive lineman is a consensus three-star who holds Power Five offers from Rutgers, Syracuse and Vanderbilt as well as programs such as Army, Columbia, UMass, Princeton and Yale among others.

Gregoire was scheduled to announce his college decision on July 23 but he has pushed back that timeline a bit. He hopes to announce it before his senior season but he has no date in mind.

“I don’t have any timeline for announcing or picking a school but hoping for before the season,” Gregoire told RutgersWire on Tuesday. “Like I say, God got a plan for me.”

Gregoire underscored that he wants to make the right choice and not rush things.

“I’m just preparing myself for my last high school year and just getting better every day and being the best teammates and team player I can be,” Gregoire told RutgersWire on Monday.

“I’m not in a rush for my decision because God has a plan for me. So going day by day and getting better physically and mentally that my number one goal for me.”

Gregoire took an official visit to Rutgers football in June.

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He told RutgersWire after his visit that his time with the Big Ten program on his official visit was a positive one:

“So Rutgers is in Jersey and I’m from Jersey, so I already know a lot from there. I’ve seen a couple of things I’ve never seen before. A couple of things I’ve never seen before so that was pretty cool on the visit,” Gregoire told RutgersWire in June.

“And on the visit, they talk more about how they used me and how things might go if I go there – if that’s the direction I choose. For the most part, I had a good time.”

He said that everything with the Scarlet Knights “is still the same” as it was after his official visit.

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Rutgers basketball offers Chidi Nwigwe

Rutgers basketball offers a rising freshman from New Jersey.

Class of 2026 prospect Chidi Nwigwe got an offer from Rutgers basketball on Monday.

It was another big offer for Nwigwe, who is listed as 6-foot-6 and will play for Bergen Catholic this season.

In addition to his most recent offer from Rutgers basketball, Nwigwe also holds offers from Georgia Tech, St. Bonaventure, Fordham and Illinois.

Last season, Bergen Catholic went 21-8 including a 7-2 record in the Big North.

Nwigwe tweeted about the offer mid-afternoon on Monday:

 

Rutgers is already piecing together a very solid 2023 recruiting class. Four-star Gavin Griffiths, a consensus top 50 player in the country, has committed to the Scarlet Knights.

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Griffiths is the highest-ranked recruit since Steve Pikiell took over as head coach.

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There is plenty of reason for optimism about the Scarlet Knights and the future of the basketball program. Not only is recruiting on the up, but Pikiell just led Rutgers to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 1976.

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