The Monday Morning Kickoff
A new week begins in the Scarlet Nation and The Monday Morning Kickoff returns to get you caught up on all the latest Rutgers news.
A view from the gridiron (Rutgers Football)
The visitors kept on coming for Rutgers this past weekend as the coaching staff hosted another Junior Day type of event on Saturday. Several offers went out over the weekend to some prospects from in and out of the state of New Jersey.
Junior running back Darien Clemons represented the state of Ohio, hailing from Piqua High School and wound up leaving with a Rutgers offer.
“As soon as we walked in, everyone was real energetic. The coaches were coming up and introducing themselves,” Clemons said. “They took me into the weight room and I got to see the guys work out a little bit. It was pretty nice.”
Pennsylvania offers went out to Wilkes Barre O-lineman Ryan Solt and Harrisburg quarterback Tayvon Bowers.
“This whole program and everything I saw today, I would definitely promote that,” Bowers said shortly after he left campus. “It is just all good vibes from Rutgers. I will definitely be back there for a spring practice. I will be with coach [Drew] Mehringer, listening to the plays and getting a feel for how they do things.”
An offer was extended to a New York product as Tottenville athlete Tim Barrow counted RU as his first offer.
“This is my first time coming out to the campus. I had teammates who attended some games and got a feel for the campus, so it was not much of a surprise,” Barrow said. “But I do love Rutgers so much. When we pulled up to Rutgers, my family was all about academics. Rutgers offers a great academic program. I think it is something everyone should look at. My mom and my dad loved it.”
Finally, there a couple of weekend offers handed out to New Jersey athletes as sophomore Justin Shorter of South Brunswick and Bryce Watts of Toms River North both pulled in RU offers.
“I was at lunch and I was eating. [Defensive line coach Shane Burnham] came over and talked to me for like 30 minutes,” Watts said. “He offered me right there on the spot. I was just expecting to go for a junior day. But I was excited when I got the offer. I prayed about this kind of stuff. I was waiting for an offer to come.”
Stay logged onto Scarlet Nation's The Round Table and stay updated with all the latest recruiting news as it unfolds.
On the mat (Rutgers wrestling)
The No.13 Scarlet Knights closed out its dual season with a thrilling 18-15 home win over No.7 Lehigh on Saturday night. The match was tied going into the final match as heavyweight Billy Smith came up with some last-minute heroics, pulling off an overtime tiebreaker win.
“I’m proud to be the foundation and see this program grow in a bigger direction,” Smith said afterward. “There’s so much more that needs to be done. This is just the beginning and you’ll see that in two weeks or so.”
Rutgers finished the season with a 16-5 record and next up is the Big Ten championships which will take place in Iowa City on March 5-6.
The take from center court (Rutgers basketball)
The woes continued for men’s hoops as head coach Eddie Jordan announced last week that star freshman point guard Corey Sanders was suspended for two weeks.
“Although I am disappointed to announce this suspension, I believe that it will serve as a valuable learning experience for Corey,” Jordan said in a statement. “The team will continue to work hard in his absence and looks forward to his return.”
Without Sanders, Rutgers dropped a pair of games last week to Illinois and Penn State, the second of which came at home on Saturday by a count of 70-58.
Sanders is averaging 16.2 points per game and will miss this week’s road contests against Minnesota (Tues) and Northwestern (Saturday). Rutgers is now 6-21 on the year with four regular-season games left to play.