Tag: Rutgers basketball recruiting

Watch: Rutgers basketball commit Dylan Harper shows some nice moves in nailing an 18-foot jump shot

Dylan Harper continues to have an outstanding season.

Five-star guard Dylan Harper is a special talent, the likes of which Rutgers basketball has never before landed. This season, he is showing a maturity and a nuance that will correlate well to next year in the Big Ten.

(And to think that alongside Harper in this recruiting class is also five-star Ace Bailey and it is incredible to think how good Rutgers can be next season).

A 6-foot-5 guard from Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, New Jersey), Harper is a nuanced guard who can run an offense and be dominant as a scorer. This summer, he showed an explosiveness to his game that is very encouraging for his transition to the Big Ten this year.

There is also added accuracy and consistency from distance that will be needed at Rutgers (and beyond). This season has only confirmed his status as one of the top three recruits in the nation.

To that end, check out this jump shot from Harper on Tuesday night against St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, New Jersey).

Harper sets himself up and creates some space for the shot with an intriguing move:

 

Make sure to expand the video to really see the nuance of what Harper did on the shot. Pretty savvy stuff from the high school senior.

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Don Bosco beat St. Joseph 62-24. With the win, the Ironmen are 17-3 on the season.

Rutgers basketball offers a bigtime four-star recruit Jayden Hodge

Rutgers basketball offers Jayden Hodge.

Consensus four-star Jayden Hodge was offered by Rutgers basketball on Monday. They join a recruitment that features several big offers for a player who is fast becoming a national recruit.

Hodge is ranked the No. 23 player in the nation by Rivals. The class of 2026 guard plays for St. Rose (Belmar, New Jersey) and is the second-best shooting guard in the 2026 class according to 247Sports.

He is a 6-foot-5 guard who can easily run an offense but has an impressive inside/outside game on offense. A solid defender, Hodge is dynamic in the open court.

Rutgers joins a recruitment that includes Maryland, Old Dominion, Penn State, St. Bonaventure, Seton Hall, Temple Villanova and Virginia Tech among others.

On Monday, Hodge posted on social media about his Rutgers offer.

The class of 2024 is a big-time group for Rutgers and a consensus top 25 class. It features two recruits ranked as five-star players in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.

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Bailey was recently bumped up to being the nation’s second-highest-ranked recruit according to 247Sports. Harper checked in at third nationally on the list.

Both Bailey and Harper were named McDonald All-Americans last week.

Rutgers basketball: Top prospect Trey McKenney to join the 2024 Junior National Team’s Minicamp

On January 12, top 2025 prospect Trey McKenney received an invitation to join USA Basketball’s 2024 Junior National Team’s Minicamp.

This week, top 2025 prospect Trey McKenney received an invitation to join USA Basketball’s 2024 Junior National Team’s Minicamp. A Rutgers basketball recruit, McKenney will participate in team activities on April 4 in Phoenix, Arizona, as part of the 2024 NCAA Final Four.

This invitation is a great opportunity for the young prospect to learn, compete, and work towards earning a roster spot on an upcoming Junior National Team.

The four-star recruit visited Rutgers basketball in October and has yet to decide where he wants to showcase his talent on the collegiate level. According to 247Sports, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound small forward is the No. 1 prospect in Michigan and is the No. 3 small forward in the nation within his 2025 recruiting class. Overall, he is the No. 18 recruit in the nation.

Since visiting the Scarlet Knights, McKenney has logged official visits with TCU on Nov. 11 and Georgetown on Dec. 2. The top small forward in the country has prompted 35 college offers.

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As a sophomore last season, he averaged 25.4 points and 11.1 rebounds, recording consecutive state playoff game performances of 26, 30, 28, 28, and 20 points, carrying the St. Mary’s Prep Eaglets to the semifinals. In his first season at St. Mary’s Prep, McKenney averaged 16.9 points and six rebounds as a freshman.

In 13 games this season, McKenney has guided the Eaglets to a 12-1 record and the No. 1 school ranking in Michigan.

 

Rutgers basketball commit Airious ‘Ace’ Bailey shows off his NBA read moves with a clutch game winner

Airious ‘Ace’ Bailey made a clutch game winner over the weekend.

Airious ‘Ace’ Bailey is the real deal, as the Rutgers basketball signee hit the game winner for his team over the weekend. And Bailey made it look super smooth in the process.

Bailey is a five-star forward who made everything official with Rutgers during the early signing period. At 6-foot-9, the McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia) talent is a very smooth and effortless player.

Bailey is the No. 3 recruit in the nation per ESPN.

He certainly made this shot from the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions (played at the Great Southern Banks Arena in Springfield, Missouri) look quite natural.

Check out the shot here from Bailey. Just routine from the five-star forward:

 

Bailey’s show gave McEachern a 61-59 win over Edmond North (Edmond, Oklahoma). With the win, McEachern is now 13-4 on the season.

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One of the four losses came three weeks ago to No. 11 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, New Jersey). In that game, Bailey played against his future Rutgers basketball teammate Dylan Harper, a five-star guard who committed to the program in mid-December.

On Sunday night, Harper had 22 points (8-for-18 shooting) along with seven rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes played. It wasn’t enough as Don Bosco lost 74-67 to Archbishop Stepinac in the Hoophall Classic.

Rutgers basketball: How did 5-star guard Dylan Harper do at the Hoophall Classic?

Five-star guard Dylan Harper was solid for Don Bosco Prep despite losing in the Hoophall Classic.

Rutgers basketball commit Dylan Harper had a strong game for Don Bosco Prep on Sunday night night in the Hoophall Classic.

No. 11 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, New Jersey) was upset by Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, New York) at the renowned Hoophall Classic. The game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Harper had 22 points (8-for-18 shooting) along with seven rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes played. It wasn’t enough as Don Bosco lost 74-67 to Stepinac.

Rutgers landed a commitment from Harper in mid-December. The No. 2 player in the nation according to ESPN.com, Harper is the highest-ever ranked commit in Rutgers basketball history.

It was an overall good night for Harper, despite the loss.

 

Kentucky commit Boogie Fland, a five-star guard in the 247Sports Composite, had 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting in the win. Stepinac was led by Braylan Ritvo’s 27 points.

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Ritvo is a three-star forward in the 2024 class who is currently uncommitted.

Harper returned to Don Bosco Prep on Friday following multiple weeks off due to an injury.

Five-star decision: Rutgers new guard Kiyomi McMiller explains why she picked the Scarlet Knights

Kiyomi McMiller talks about her Rutgers basketball commotment.

Over the weekend, Rutgers women’s basketball received one of the biggest commitments in program history from Kiyomi McMiller. The five-star guard from New Jersey is now the centerpiece of head coach Coquese Washington’s rebuilding of the program.

A 5-foot-9 guard from Life Center Academy (Burlington, New Jersey), McMiller is ranked the No. 22 player in the nation by ESPN. She had a predictably strong offer list that included Arizona State, Baylor, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan and Ole Miss among many others.

McMiller, in committing to Rutgers, sent a massive message to her fellow recruits in the class of 2024, which is deep and talented in New Jersey. She tells Rutgers Wire that she believes in the direction of Washington’s rebuilding of the Scarlet Knights.

When asked about her decision to commit, McMiller said that Washington had a pitch where “her vision for me aligned my vision for myself.”

“I think me and coach’s relationship is pretty good,” McMiller told Rutgers Wire this week.

“Because me and coach can just sit on the phone and just talk about basketball and I think she is just an easy person to talk to anyway.”

McMiller has certainly lived up to the five-star hype this season. Through the first 11 games of this season, the standout guard is averaging 29.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

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Rutgers offered McMiller the chance to play at a high level in the Big Ten. The dynamic guard, who is a complete prospect, believes that Rutgers is in an ideal spot to develop her skill set.

“I picked Rutgers because of the conference. I will be able to play competition every night,” McMiller said.

“I also really liked the team and thought I just connected with the whole team very well. And I also really liked all the coaches and the vision they had for the team and me.”

With Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, where does Rutgers basketball’s recruiting class rank now?

The Rutgers basketball recruiting class made a predictable jump this week in the national recruiting rankings.

With the commitment of Dylan Harper on Wednesday, Rutgers now has two players in their 2024 recruiting class ranked as five-star prospects. Considering that Rutgers has never had one commit ranked as a five-star, this is certainly some rarified air for the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers and Duke are the only two teams in the country to each have two players committed and signed in the top 15 of the ESPN rankings.

Here is how the three major recruiting services (Rivals, 247Sports and On3) have Rutgers ranked following the commitment of Harper:

  • Rivals has the Rutgers class as second-in-the-nation, headlined of course by the five-star duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Rutgers is lifted in the rankings by a third player, Lathan Sommerville, who is a four-star and the No. 101 player in the nation. Sommerville, a summer commit to Rutgers, is an impressive center who moves well and has very good range in his offensive game.
  • In the 247Sports rankings, the commitment of Harper saw Rutgers shoot up eight spots. The Scarlet Knights are now third in the nation per the 247Sports rankings, sitting behind Duke and Kentucky. They are one of just four programs with multiple five-star commits.
  • On3 is a bit lower on Rutgers, ranking the class sixth in the nation. The major reason is that while Harper and Bailey are both five-star recruits, On3 doesn’t rank any of the other three commits in the class as either four-star players or top 100 recruits nationally.

Bailey and Harper will play at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Dec. 29 in ‘The Battle in New Jeersey.’ The high school tournament, hosted by Rutgers, will feature 10 top-tier teams.

Report: Nigel James has scheduled a Rutgers basketball official visit

Four-star guard Nigel James will visit Rutgers basketball in October.

Four-star guard Nigel James is looking to take an official visit to Rutgers basketball this fall. The Big Ten program are one of four teams that James has scheduled an official visit with so far.

James, a 6-foot, 170-pound guard for Long Island Lutheran, is one of the top prospects in the northeast.

Offered by Rutgers in late June, James has also been offered by Marquette, UMass, St. Joseph’s (Philadelphia), Providence, St. John’s, George Mason, Iowa, Syracuse, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech among others.

James will be taking an early October official visit to Rutgers basketball.

On Friday, 365 Recruits tweeted several of the planned official visits for James including the one from Rutgers.

 

James re-tweeted the report.

Confident in his handle, James is a silky smooth ball handler and distributor. He has great range to his offensive game and is strong defensively.

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The class of 2024 prospect is already very nuanced in his game. He is a four-star recruit according to ESPN.com.

Rutgers basketball recruiting: Trey McKenney is ranked in the ESPN 60

Rutgers basketball recruit Trey McKenney is named to the ESPN 60.

Five-star guard Trey McKenney was not only selected to the ESPN 60, but McKenney is on the cusp of being a top 10 recruit in the nation. McKenney has been hot on the recruiting trail, including being offered this month by Rutgers basketball.

He is a 6-foot-4 guard from St. Mary’s (Flint, MI) and a member of the class of 2025.

Georgetown, Missouri, Ole Miss, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois had all offered McKenney prior to August. But since mid-August, he has absolutely blown up.

In the past few weeks, McKenney has been offered by Rutgers followed by Tennessee, Notre Dame and Oklahoma since mid-August.

In the ESPN 60, McKenney checks in as the No. 11 recruit in the nation.

 

In a recent interview with Rutgers Wire, McKenney said that Rutgers, Georgetown, Missouri and Ole Miss will get official visits. He said that his relationship with Rutgers assistant coach Marlon Williamson is part of the reason why the Scarlet Knights will get an official visit.

“I like him. He brings a kind of energy to Rutgers. I like what he stands for,” McKenney told Rutgers Wire.

“He’s a good person, everything isn’t about basketball.”

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Five-star Trey McKenney talks Rutgers basketball, relationship with ‘Coach Smoke’

Trey McKenney opens up about Rutgers basketball and his official visit this fall.

Trey McKenney is taking an official visit to Rutgers this fall. It is a significant development for the Big Ten program as they get in with one of the top guards in the nation.

A five-star recruit according to ESPN.com, McKenney is the No. 10 recruit in the nation according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He is a 6-foot-4 guard from St. Mary’s (Flint, MI).

Georgetown, Missouri, Ole Miss, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois have all offered the talented guard. He has also been offered by Tennessee and then Notre Dame since mid-August.

‘Coach Smoke’ is making an impact on the recruitment of McKenney to Rutgers. More popularly known as Marlon Williamson, he has made an impact on the recruiting trail since being hired from Central Michigan this offseason.

McKenney tells Rutgers Wire that Williamson is part of the reason why Ruttgers is getting an official visit this fall. The Scarlet Knights join Georgetown, Missouri and Ole Miss as the four programs so far that are scheduled to get official visits from McKenney.

“Coach Smoke, one of their guys, he used to be at (Central) Michigan,” McKenney told Rutgers Wire.

“He is trying to recruit his home state, trying to get his home state back to Rutgers.”

UCLA and USC could also be getting visits, McKenney said.

Rutgers is one of the later schools to have offered McKenney, having only gotten involved since mid-Jume. But they are doing well right now with the five-star guard, and the recruit credits Williamson for making that connection.

“I like him. He brings a kind of energy to Rutgers. I like what he stands for,” McKenney said.

“He’s a good person, everything isn’t about basketball.”

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