9/4/2021 football Edit

2022 QB signee Gavin Wimsatt set to arrive to Rutgers on Sunday

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

Gavin Wimsatt arrives to Rutgers on Sunday head football coach Greg Schiano said after his Scarlet Knights defeated Temple, 61-14, on Saturday afternoon.

Wimsatt is a four-star quarterback recruit now in the class of 2021 from Owensboro, KY. He is already listed in the Rutgers student directory.

He starts classes on Monday. Wimsatt joins Ohio State's Quinn Ewers to basically miss their entire senior campaign. Wimsatt played in three games for Owensboro High, notching a win this past Friday against Daviess County.

"Well, the way it came to be is you know the situation at Ohio State. The family asked and were curious. We looked into and it was possible. He did a good job academically," Schiano said. "He took some classes to accelerate it. He played in his third game on Friday. He's supposed to arrive on Sunday sometime and start classes on Monday."

It is unclear if he will play this fall -- he has to get adjusted afterall to the speed of the college game, learn the offense, etc., but he's a highly-rated prospect for a reason. Wimsatt competed in this year's Elite 11 Finals.

"What his role is, look, he just played a high school game on Friday. We'll get him here and get him acclimated," Schiano said. "It'll be a great opportunity to learn our culture, get exposed to our scheme, and about being a college football player. It'll be great to have him here and get a head start. He wanted to do it."

Starting Scarlet Knights signal caller, Noah Vedral, praised Wimsatt. The two met back a few months ago when Wimsatt visited campus.

"I actually got to meet Gavin back in June, he was here on a visit," Vedral said. "He's a really great kid. We'll take him in. I remember being the young guy, as long goes that was. We'll make him feel at home and look forward to seeing them.

"He's talented. I'm not sure that's up to coach. He has to get up to speed and stuff like that. I mean, there's a big jump from high school to college. He's a smart kid. I mean, every quarterback goes through kind of some growing pains, but I'm sure he'll pick it up."

Years ago it was a big deal if you were enrolling early for the spring semester instead of finishing out your senior year of high school. Now student-athletics are starting to come to college even earlier. New rules regarding being able to monetize based off your name, image, and likeness, likely plays a role in speeding up the process.

"After doing this for 30 years, I'm a traditionalist, but you have to get with the times otherwise it'll pass you by. This is what college football is now," Schiano said. "Years ago it was a big thing starting in January. Now we had twice as many guys start in January than June. December is the signing day now. Things are changing quickly, but you have to keep moving forward."

Vedral has seen the college game overall change in his time between Nebraska and Rutgers.

"That's gonna be one heck of a story that he's gonna get to tell when he's old and telling his kids," Vedral said of Wimsatt. "It's weird, when I was coming into college football that wasn't even a thought. In my last couple years, the whole landscape is changing so rapidly that you kind of just learn to take things on the fly, you make the most of what you got, and you take it day by day."

When the news of the addition of Wimsatt broke Friday night, Schiano brought all the quarterbacks together and had a conversation about it.

"I told the quarterbacks and explained to them what is happening," Schiano said. "In our program, everything is about competition, everybody knows that. Nobody owns anything. You earn it. They'll accept him and help him learn."

Vedral was appointed the starter for the 2021 season back in the spring and it remained that way during training camp. Cole Snyder and Evan Simon battled it out for backup job. Snyder saw a handful of snaps late in the fourth quarter against Temple. The season is just getting started, so Wimsatt could play by the end of the year. Even if he doesn't there's always competition.

"Rent's due every day," Vedral said. "There's a competition every day. It's been that way my whole career from when I was a true freshman. Every day is a competition."