Rutgers adds late addition in local RB commit Eli Barnwell

Rutgers added a late addition to its class of 2017 as Piscataway as Piscataway High athlete Eli Barnwell committed to the Scarlet Knights a day before he signed his national letter of intent. Barnwell took an official visit this past weekend to Buffalo, where he committed, but things changed in a hurry.

“I was in touch with Rutgers all last week, the last two weeks,” Barnwell told Scarlet Nation. “Once [running backs] coach Lester Erb and [offensive coordinator] Coach Jerry Kill got to Rutgers, they started recruiting me and I was a guy they were extremely interested in. They kept in contact with me throughout January. They were indecisive of what they wanted to do moving forward and whether or not they wanted to continue to recruit me. Then, they came to the conclusion that they wanted me in their program and they made the offer this weekend.”

After committing to Buffalo, the Rutgers offer gave Barnwell something to ponder.

“I definitely thought about it. I sat down with my parents and wrote down what I could do at Rutgers and what I could do at Buffalo,” Barnwell said. “Rutgers outweighed them by a little bit so I thought Rutgers was a better fit for me and that I would be more comfortable there playing running back. Buffalo wanted me as a safety. So I feel more comfortable playing running back.”

Barnwell will now be coached by Erb, who is a new addition to Rutgers, coming over from the University of Nevada in January.

“When I first met him, he was extremely honest with me,” Barnwell said of Erb. “He laid it out for me when he and Jerry Kill first came to see me. He told me how much he liked me and how I am his type of running back. The same with coach Kill. They both thought I was a great fit for their offense. They both were just all over me. Coach Lester Erb is a great guy. My father liked him and we have built a good relationship in the last two weeks.”

The 5-foot-10, 196-pound Barnwell was a standout all four years at Piscataway, although his recruitment was not as busy as it was expected to be. Nevertheless, he will end up spending his college career close to home with a very good chance of playing early.

“It was a great relief when Rutgers offered me,” Barnwell said. “I was happy about it, it is a great opportunity to play for my state school and it is a great opportunity for me.”

Barnwell also mentioned how Rutgers is planning on using him when he gets to the college level.

“They told me they are going to build me into a versatile back that can go in between the tackles and out of the backfield. They said they want to get me to 215 [pounds] and get me a good 10 to 15 carries a game.”