Over the weekend, Rutgers football received a commitment from tight end Monte Keener. And the Scarlet Knights went deep into Big Ten territory to pull out this three-star recruit.
It was yet another offensive addition to a recruiting class that is certainly heavy on the offensive side of the ball.
At the time of his verbal on Sunday, Keener was the sixth commitment to the 2024 recruiting class for Rutgers. That number now stands at seven as Rutgers added another tight end in Matthew Ogunniyi on Monday.
Last year for Linden High School (Linden, MI), Kenner had 25 catches for 318 receiving yards and three touchdowns. In the recruit rankings from 247Sports, Keener is a three-star tight end as well as the No. 33 recruit in Michigan and the No. 66 tight end in the nation.
Keener held Power Five offers from Indiana and Minnesota at the time of his decision for Rutgers. He had visited Rutgers in late April where he met the coaching staff including head coach Greg Schiano and tight ends coach Andrew Aurich.
“I’ve been talking with coach Aurich for a couple of months now. And when I finally got up to a practice, and watched him coach, it felt right,” Keener told Rutgers Wire.
“I had to wait for all the adrenaline to go away before I actually made the decision!
“The overall culture and the direction where the program is going made the decision really easy! I also really like how coach Schiano develops his player.”
Typically, Michigan is not prime recruiting turf for Rutgers. But in the 2024 recruiting class, the Scarlet Knights have landed two players from the state in Keener as well as four-star running back Gabriel Winowich.
[lawrence-related id=26493]
[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]
The connection simply appears to be that Rutgers is targeting players from Michigan who are a good cultural fit for their program. In the case of Keener and Winowich, the feeling is mutual.
“I’m not sure, Michigan and Michigan State didn’t do a very good job of recruiting me, for whatever reason,” Keener said.
“I don’t mind it though – I found my home. I knew I wanted to play in the Big Ten though.”
[lawrence-related id=26481,26479]
[mm-video type=video id=01gzj2qn0q9qwh8ypynt playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gzj2qn0q9qwh8ypynt/01gzj2qn0q9qwh8ypynt-8332519e3ec7038579ce96109f271894.jpg]