Rutgers strikes in North Carolina again, landing 2025 LB Isaiah Deloatch
Rutgers Football has landed another North Carolina prospect, as they've added a commitment from Hillside High School (NC) linebacker Isaiah Deloatch as he took to social media to announce his commitment.
“I committed to Rutgers and I chose the school because of the culture, the coaches believe in me and my abilities,” Deloatch told TKR. “On top of that I have a huge bonus on the academic side as they are taking a lot of the credits I currently have so I can get my master’s in sports science in four years if all goes right.”
The 6-foot-1, 208-pound linebacker prospect had assistant coaches Joe Harasymiak and Scott Vallone visit him at his school earlier this week and the bond he's built with them continues to build stronger by the day.
“I talk with coach (Scott) Vallone just about every day,” said DeLoatch. “They’ve just been really good with communications, I probably had well over 100 hand written letters from the staff. I have a good relationship with everyone up there, even the recruiting coaches who showed me around on my visit like coach Whitaker and just really close with the whole staff. I just really like the culture they have there.”
Now Deloatch also was on campus last month for a spring practice visit and the facilities seemed to catch his eye more than anything else.
“I visited back on April 3rd,” he said. “What really stood out to me on the trip was the weight room and the recovery spa. I never saw a recovery spot like that before with the infrared sauna or the salt box and then the weight room, it’s way bigger in person. The pictures online don’t do it justice.”
With this addition, Rutgers has now landed five North Carolina recruits over the past 12 months and Deloatch is already working on making sure that he's not the last from the Tar Heel state to join the Scarlet Knights 2025 class.
“Right now I’m trying to get Taeshawn Alston to come up there with me,” said Deloatch. “I’m real cool with him and I’ve been training with him since freshman year. I’m pretty close with a couple of these guys from around the state. I just tell these guys to still make the best decision for them at the end of the day.”
As a high school junior this past Fall, Deloatch finished with 53 total tackles (30 solo tackles), 8.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery. He also serves as his team's punter, where he had 24 punts for 847 yards (35.3 AVG) and had a long of 62 yards.
In the end, Deloatch chose the Scarlet Knights over 14 other offers from the likes of schools such as Duke, Indiana, Syracuse, and several others.