Rutgers football certainly seems to be making up for time with Taeshawn Alston, a three-star edge rusher from North Carolina. One of his most recent offers, Alston nonetheless says that Rutgers is doing well in his recruitment.
Alston is a class of 2025 defensive lineman recruit from Vance County High School (Henderson, North Carolina). According to On3, he is the eighth-ranked recruit in the state and the No. 22 edge rusher nationally.
His top six, announced this week, included South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, West Virginia and Virginia Tech. Rutgers certainly had good timing in all of this as they had offered just four days earlier
According to Alston, things are going well and he cited his growing relationship with head coach Greg Schinao and Scott Vallone (named the Rutgers tight ends coach this week).
“They are good people with a good staff and they want it bad,” Alston told Rutgers Wire this week.
“Coach Schiano is a great coach with a great program and around him, so we built that relationship quickly. Me and coach Vallone made that connection when he came up to my school and ever since then we’ve been talking a lot.”
Vallone was instrumental last year in Rutgers pulling in [autotag]Ben Black[/autotag] and[autotag] Isaiah Crumpler[/autotag] from North Carolina.
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As for official visits, Alston right now is projecting that all six of the programs that made his final six will get an official visit. Plus, he said he would like to visit Tennessee.
Given that Rutgers was his most recent offer, it was intriguing to see Alston include the Big Ten program in his top six that came out just a couple of days later.
“They made my top six because they are a hard-working football team and staff,” Alston said.
“And they really make that connection with the guys they really want and I love that about them. (A) Really great program and like I said, they want it all.”
The staff on the defensive side of the ball is different for Rutgers, with the recent hires of [autotag]Colin Ferrell[/autotag] (defensive line) and [autotag]Julian Campenni[/autotag] (defensive ends).
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The relationship there is growing, he said.
“The connection (is) good. Me and coach Camp have been building that relationship since he’s been there,” Alston said.
“I been talking to him a lot. He loves how I move on the field and he likes me as a person. He’s excited for me to be up there this spring.”