Rutgers Baseball lands former national recruit OF Evan Sleight
On Wednesday afternoon, the Rutgers Baseball program received some very big news as one of the top transfers on the market, outfielder Evan Sleight announced his decision to commit to play for the Scarlet Knights starting next season.
The former class of 2019 baseball recruit was ranked as the No. 160 overall recruit in the country for his recruiting class and spent one year at Virginia before announcing his decision to transfer.
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Here at The Knight Report we spoke with the lefty outfielder to get the latest on his decision and learn more about his decision.
“I was at Virginia, where I got hurt and missed the entire season as a freshman last year,” Sleight told TKR. “In addition to the injury, the COVID outbreak put me in a position where it was time for me to move on. After entering the transfer portal, I was lucky enough to speak with coach (Steve) Owens and the rest of the coaching staff. It was apparent that Rutgers was where I wanted to spend the rest of my college baseball career and we made it happen. I am extremely excited to compete and become a part of the Rutgers community.”
The former top ranked prospect already had a couple of connections to the current Scarlet Knights staff, including a relationship with current Rutgers volunteer assistant Branden Cogswell, who was previously a student assistant coach at Virginia.
“The Rutgers staff is fantastic,” said Sleight. “Growing up in Massachusetts, I heard a lot of great things about coach Owens and his staff at Bryant. Also, since coach Cogswell spent his time at UVA, I had heard great things about him as well. Overall, I’m honored and pumped to play for these guys.”
Although Sleight hasn’t stepped foot on campus yet, he already has some pretty lofty goals for his career as a Scarlet Knight.
“I’m ready to do whatever it takes to help my team win the Big Ten Championship,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to get to Omaha. On the academic side, I’m excited to work hard and get everything out of the countless opportunities the school offers.”
Sleight is the highest ranked recruit that the new staff has landed since taking over the program this past offseason and he thinks others will take notice and join him soon.
“When this program continues to do what it can do, the recruits will be attracted on their own,” said Sleight. “The NCAA will be voting on the one time transfer waiver in late May to allow all D1 players to transfer to D1 without losing a year. So hopefully I will be a freshman again next year. On that note, I do know some athletes who plan on attending if the waivers pass in May.”
Sleight joins a 2021 recruiting class that also features RHP Matthew Rowe, SS Joshua Grauer, INF Danny Rogers and C Jason Shockley.
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