On Saturday afternoon, Kaj Sanders announced a commitment to Rutgers football. It is a decision that could help transition the program on the field and with recruiting.
A four-star defensive back from Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.), Sanders is a top five player in the state. He also was recently bumped to being a four-star by Rivals; he is also a four-star per On3.
He picked on Saturday from a final four that includes North Carolina, Rutgers, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
In his commitment to Rutgers, he becomes the fourth recruit to verbal to Rutgers who is ranked a four-star. In many ways, the potential of his commitment to the Scarlet Knights has the chance toresonate throughout New Jersey beyond just the typical headlines.
Playing for a national powerhouse in Bergen Catholic that is ranked in the top 25 nationally, Sanders is not an ordinary recruit. He is a coveted player and one with name recognition throughout New Jersey. As such, in picking Rutgers, he can now help usher in a new era for the program.
When head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag] left Rutgers in 2012, ending the most successful era in program history, the pipeline that he had painstakingly created to the North Jersey parochials began to wither. It didn’t die entirely, but, Rutgers lost its momentum with the likes of Don Bosco Prep, St. Peter’s Prep and Bergen Catholic among others.
It has taken time to get back in with these programs. But landing a four-star player from one of these elite schools would certainly land Rutgers back in the game for some of New Jersey’s top talent.
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Sanders, one of the state’s top players, is a star for one of these Big North programs. This commitment on Saturday afternoon signals a shifting of the winds for Rutgers on the recruiting front moving forward. It is important for Rutgers to land recruits from these programs if they want to be competitive in the Big Ten.
Not only does the addition of Sanders help solidify a very solid class of 2024 for Rutgers, but Sanders could be the pied piper for next year’s class. His name has clout and his belief in Rutgers would be seismic.
This is not hyperbole, not by any stretch. The class of 2025 is a deep and talented one in New Jersey. Having Sanders leading this current class will certainly get the attention of underclassmen throughout the region. It could…and should… be a big moment for Rutgers to say the least.
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This decision must be viewed as one made by Sanders in his best interest. Sanders could and should make a decision based purely on his own comfort level with the program that feels most like home, the one that resonates the most with him and where he can develop on the field as well as off of it.
He has said that is Rutgers. But the impact goes far beyond his skillset and his potential impact on the field. Sanders is now a leader of not just this class, but in many ways is now a leader of the Rutgers program.
This is a commitment that certainly carries weight. The stars would not necessarily be aligning for the Scarlet Knights, but in Sanders making his pledge, it shows a belief from a blue chip, national recruit in this rebuilding program at Rutgers and in Schiano in particular.
Buckle up.
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