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How does a college freshman spend his first free weekend in two months? Hitting up New York City.
Gavin Wimsatt, the quarterback of the future for Rutgers football, went to New York City on Friday. How do we know this? It was posted on social media by his mother.
The four-star quarterback joined Rutgers in early September. The number one player in Kentucky played three games of high school football then enrolled at Rutgers early.
The trip to New York City underscores the importance of the closeness of the Rutgers campus to one of the largest and most important cities in the world. Not only does this matter from an entertainment and cultural standpoint, but in an era of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), the proximity of Rutgers as the closest FBS program to the epicenter of the business world certainly matters to recruits.
The trip was likely just a fun one for Wimsatt to blow off some steam and enjoy some downtime. Business probably didn’t factor into this one.
But it shouldn’t be lost that Rutgers athletes are just an hour from Madison Avenue and the host of international corporations headquartered in Manhattan as well as New Jersey.
It’s Bye Week and My baby @GavinWimsatt went to NYC! Life is to be lived❤️ Enjoy Kiddo😍 pic.twitter.com/GfzUqf0aGS
— Darniece (@Dmdoug3) October 23, 2021
The ease of the trip is a huge selling point for Rutgers to student-athletes and recruits.
Rashad Rochelle, a verbal to Rutgers recently spoke about the importance of New York City and the potential for NIL deals as part of the reason for his commitment to Rutgers. Four-star wide receiver Santana Fleming, a wide receiver out of Florida, said that Rutgers has spoken with him about the potential impact of NIL with regards to New York City’s close location to campus.