Category: Rutgers recruiting

Freshman Ja’elyne Matthews gets another offer, this one from Nebraska football

Ja’elyne Matthews adds an offer from Nebraska.

Another day, another offer for Ja’elyne Matthews.

A standout freshman offensive tackle at Toms River North, the 6-foot-7, 300-pound Matthews announced an offer from Nebraska on Thursday. Last fall, Matthews pulled in his first offer which came from in-state Rutgers. After that, UConn and Boston College offered.

In late April, Matthews attended the Rutgers football spring game where he spent significant time with the coaching staff.

A class of 2025 offensive lineman, Matthews saw his recruitment absolutely explode over the past two weeks with offers from Cincinnati, Georgia, Louisville, Miami, Ohio State, Penn State, Syracuse, Texas A&M and West Virginia.

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“I am extremely blessed to be given the opportunity and all glory belongs to God,” Matthews said.

“It means a lot that they have faith in me and have faith that I will continue to get better and play harder.”

Matthews is fast becoming one of the top recruits in the nation for the class of 2025.

 

The offer from Georgia came when Fran Brown, the secondary coach for the Bulldogs, was in New Jersey making recruiting visits. When he was offered by Penn State, Matthews said that head coach James Franklin told him that he was their first offensive lineman that the program has offered in his class.

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Rutgers football latest to offer four-star athlete from Florida

Rutgers football offers Kylen Webb, a four-star athlete from Florida.

Kylen Webb has an offer from Rutgers football, the Florida athlete tweeting about the news on Wednesday night.

A four-star athlete, Webb is one of the top recruits in not just talent-rich Florida but also nationally. He is ranked as the No. 26 athlete in the nation according to 247Sports as well as the No. 57 recruit in Florida, regardless of position.

Webb was a standout at Sumner High School (Riverview, FL). The class of 2023 recruit played safety and running back.

On offense, he had 426 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. As a defensive back, he had 19 tackles and two interceptions.

Sumner finished last season 9-3.

Webb announced the offer on Wednesday night:

 

A national recruit, Webb has offers that include Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Indiana and Syracuse among others.

Rutgers currently has three recruits in their 2023 recruiting class. Three-star wide receiver Yazeed Haynes from Pennsylvania is the latest commit. Two players from the top 10 of New Jersey, four-star defensive lineman Jasire Peterson and three-star offensive lineman John Stone

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New Rutgers football offer rolls out to Virginia three-star Armel Mukam

Rutgers football sends out an offer to three-star defensive end Armel Mukam.

Armel Mukam pulled in an offer from Rutgers football on Wednesday night, another Power Five offer for the defensive end.

A defensive end out of Virginia, Mukam is a three-star recruit according to Rivals. He has a number of Power Five offers including Cal, Colorado, Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. He also has some strong academic offers from Ivy League programs.

The Woodberry Forrest (Woodberry, VA) defensive end is a class of 2023 prospect. He is listed at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds. If that program sounds familiar, it is the high school of Rodney Lora, a Rutgers football recruit who is a three-star recruit and will be making an official visit to the Scarlet Knights this summer.

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Mukam tweeted about the offer on Wednesday night:

The Rutgers 2023 recruiting class includes three commits, including two top 10 players from New Jersey (four-star defensive end JaSire Peterson and three-star offensive lineman John Stone). Also committed is wide receiver Yazeed Haynes, a three-star from Pennsylvania with elite athleticism and speed.

Rutgers football offers Florida three-star linebacker Abram Wright

Rutgers football offered Florida three-star linebacker Abram Wright on Tuesday night.

Rutgers football offered Abram Wright this week, becoming the first Power Five program to extend an offer to the Florida linebacker.

The class of 2023 standout from Fleming Island had a tremendous junior season, registering 76 total tackles, seven sacks and an interception. He is a three-star recruit according to 247Sports and is ranked as the No. 99 prospect in Florida as well as the No. 59 linebacker in the nation.

In addition to Rutgers, his offer list includes Delaware, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee State, Troy and UT-Martin.

Fleming Island was 6-5 last season.

Wright tweeted about the recent offer from Rutgers on Tuesday night:

The 2023 recruiting class currently has three verbal commits, with two of the recruits currently top 10 players in New Jersey (four-star defensive lineman [autotag]JaSire Peterson[/autotag] and three-star offensive lineman [autotag]John Stone[/autotag]).

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Three-star wide receiver[autotag] Yazeed Haynes[/autotag] of Pennsylvania recently received an offer from Big Ten rival Minnesota.

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Rutgers football target Hykeem Williams gets impressive basketball honor

Rutgers football recruit Hykeem Williams gets basketball honor.

Hykeem Williams is racking up the honors, the Rutgers football recruit getting some pretty big recognition for his standout play on the basketball court.

The Stranahan (Ft. Lauderdale) athlete was just named third-team all-state, capping off an impressive season for the four-star football recruit. The honor also underscores his elite athleticism.

Ranked the No. 36 player in the nation, Williams is the fifth-best wide receiver in the nation and the ninth-best player in Florida according to Rivals.

As for the basketball side of things, Williams led Stranahan in scoring with 12.2 points per game (355 total points on the season) as well as 10.2 rebounds per game (299 total rebounds on the season). He also averaged .6 blocks per game, third-best on the team.

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Stranahan beat St. Petersburg for a state title, their third state title in four seasons. They finished the season 27-3.

 

Williams has a strong national offer list that includes Ohio State, Michigan and Alabama among others. He recently took a visit to Georgia, a program many consider to be the front-runner for his services.

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Last month, Williams announced that he will be taking an official visit to Pittsburgh. His primary recruiter at the ACC program is wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood, who recruited him last year while holding the same position at Rutgers.

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Four-star Sydir Mitchell announces his top nine (Rutgers is in it)

Four-star Sydir Mitchell has Rutgers, Texas and Georgia in his top nine programs as the Don Bosco Prep star cuts down his list.

Four-star defensive tackle Sydir Mitchell just dropped his top nine on Sunday afternoon as the New Jersey prospect narrows down his recruitment significantly.

A number of big-time programs made the cut for Mitchell, a national recruit out of Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.). Mitchell is the No. 15 defensive tackle in the nation and the fourth-best player in New Jersey according to Rivals.

The future Under Armour All-America Game participant is one of the most highly recruited players in the nation.

Six SEC programs made the cut for Mitchell (seven if future conference member Texas is included). One ACC program and one Big Ten program, that being in-state Rutgers, make the cut for Mitchell.

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Mitchell dropped a top nine that includes (in the order that he lists on his edit):

The order of the edit does not indicate a favorite program according to the player.

Mitchell’s most recent visit came over a week ago when he was at Rutgers for the annual spring game. The four-star was impressed with the Scarlet Knights.

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Last week, Mitchell broke down his recruitment, including giving an update on his official visits, saying he is set to take official visits to Georgia and Texas A&M as well as likely an official visit to Auburn this summer.

He hopes to decide on a school in August.

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Former Rutgers recruiting target Elijah Taylor enters transfer portal

Former Rutgers basketball recruiting target, power forward Elijah Taylor, has officially entered the transfer portal

One of the top 50 power forwards and the No. 6 basketball prospect out of Pennsylvania from the class of 2020 is officially a free agent. Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Elijah Taylor entered the transfer portal on Friday.

The Philadelphia, PA native is transferring out of Notre Dame after just one season with the Irish. His freshman season was shut down before it got started. Taylor underwent ankle surgery on December 11, 2020, and sat out the entire 2020-21 season through rehabilitations.

He saw game time in three contests in the 2021-2022 season, averaging under four minutes per contest and totaling eight points, two rebounds, and a block.

A three-star recruit in the 247Sports Composite, Taylor was noted as being a tough, aggressive guy who would can mix it up in the paint and add good athleticism to boot.

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Prior to committing to the Fighting Irish, Taylor received offers from Seton Hall, Florida, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Penn State, George Washington, and Rutgers. His first offer came from the Scarlet Knights.

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Academic issues caused him to not only not be able to play, but also to practice with the team this past season. Nevertheless, at the time, Taylor pledged to be back and get things worked out so he could continue his Irish career. He entered the portal a few days prior to the deadline for players to be able to transfer and play immediately in the fall.

Former Rutgers recruiting target Rondel Walker enters transfer portal

Former Rutgers basketball recruiting target Rondel Walker has officially entered the transfer portal

One of the top 15 combo guards and top-five recruits out of Oklahoma from the class of 2020 is once again available. Former Oklahoma State Cowboy Rondel Walker has officially announced he entered the transfer portal on Friday.

The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma native is transferring out of OSU after two seasons. Walker is the fifth player for the Cowboys to enter the portal this cycle. He did so just two days before the May 1 deadline, allowing him to play this next season.

Walker played in all 30 of Oklahoma State’s games this past season, making eight starts. He averaged 4.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game in 2021-22. His 48 steals ranked fifth in the Big 12.

A four-star recruit in the 247Sports Composite, Walker was noted as being smooth, explosive three-and-D guy by scouts. Prior to committing to OSU, he received offers from Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, and Rutgers among others.

As a freshman, Walker averaged 7.8 points a game, scoring in double figures 12 times. He put up a career-high 20 points in Ames against Iowa State as a freshman.

Rutgers defensive lineman/linebacker Brian Ugwu enters the transfer portal

Rutgers defensive end/linebacker Brian Ugwu officially entered the transfer portal on Thursday.

Rutgers defensive end/linebacker Brian Ugwu officially entered the transfer portal Friday. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound edge rusher will now have three years of eligibility left to play college football elsewhere.

A three-star recruit in both the 247Sports Composite and per Rivals.com, Ugwu committed to the Scarlet Knight program on signing day back in February of 2019. Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash was the one who recruited and offered Ugwu when he was at Hillside high school.

He made his collegiate debut in 2019 against Massachusetts, but ended up tearing his ACL and was passed on the depth chart while recovering from injury. As a sophomore in 2020, he did appear in two games (Penn State, Maryland) and was named to the Academic All-Big Ten list.

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Ugwu did not see game action in 2021. He did not feature heavily in Friday’s annual spring game scrimmage as other edge rushers have lept ahead of him on the depth chart.

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Prior to committing to Rutgers, Ugwu saw offers from Pittsburgh, Duke, Syracuse, Temple, and Nebraska.

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Rutgers football lands another 2022 commitment in Kareem Lewis

Kareem Lewis commits to Rutgers football on Thursday night.

Kareem Lewis announced his commitment to Rutgers football on Thursday night.

A standout defensive back at Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, PA), Lewis is a hard hitter who is solid in coverage and steps up as part of the run defense. He is a member of the class of 2022.

Lewis is rated a two-star athlete by Rivals. He had four offers including Bowling Green, UConn, UPenn and Temple.

Last June, he committed to UConn. He de-committed from the program in late November.

247Sports ranks him as the No. 47 player in Pennsylvania for the class of 2022.

He announced his decision via social media on Thursday night:

 

Roman Catholic is home to a number of top recruits and is a powerhouse of the Philadelphia area.

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Some of the top prospects on the roster include offensive lineman Austin Ramsey (a three-star class of 2023 prospect with a strong offer list including Boston College, Maryland, Miami Nebraska and Penn State among others) as well as wide receiver Tyseer Denmark (a four-star athlete in the class of 2024 who is a consensus top 150 player in the nation). Both players have been offered by Rutgers.