The Monday Morning Kickoff
A view from the gridiron (Rutgers football)
It was a bit of a quiet week on the recruiting front as far as visitors, although new offers continued to go out to prospects all over the country. It appears that the staff is targeting a lot of out-of-state prospects with offer lists already in the double digits.
One of those offers went out to class of 2017 defensive end Jacob Lichtenstein of Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Fla.
“My coach told me about it today. He told me to call the coach from Rutgers,” Lichtenstein said last week. “So I called and spoke with [assistant defensive backs] coach Aaron Henry. He said they really like me, they like the way I play and wanted to offer me.”
A local offer went out to Don Bosco quarterback Tommy Devito while Rutgers continues to recruit some other signal callers who already hold RU offers.
One of those quarterbacks is Tayvon Bowers of Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg, Pa.), who is in contact with the staff on pretty much a daily basis.
“Coach Ash was telling me how he wants to get me back up there. I am definitely going up for two spring practices and most likely the spring game,” Bowers said. “I will be there for practice on April 2nd and April 16th and then the spring game.”
Attention will shift from recruiting to the NFL Draft as Rutgers’ annual pro day will take place this Wednesday on campus. NFL scouts will convene to watch the following Scarlet Knights perform various combine drills: Sam Bergen, Leonte Carroo, Kyle Federico, Quentin Gause, Paul James, Kaiwan Lewis, Steve Longa, Keith Lumpkin, Djwany Mera, Joey Roth, Gary Nova and Savon Huggins.
The take from center court (Rutgers basketball)
The RU men’s basketball team broke back into the win column during its final regular season contest with a 75-52 win over Minnesota yesterday inside The RAC. The win was fueled by 29 points from Mike Williams and 13 rebounds courtesy of Greg Lewis.
“It meant a lot to get a win at home after struggling through our season that we have had. I am happy for Greg,” head coach Eddie Jordan said post game. “He does more than what the stat sheet shows every day, every game and every practice.”
The win snapped a 17-game losing streak and a 32-game conference losing streak. Rutgers finished the season 7-24 and 1-17 in conference play.
Next up is the Big Ten tournament where Rutgers is seeded 14th and slotted to play No.11 Nebraska on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Indianapolis.
On the mat (Rutgers wrestling)
The Scarlet Knights crowned their first-ever Big Ten champion wrestler as Anthony Ashnault earned the distinction of being the conference 141-pound champion this weekend at the Big Ten championships in Iowa.
“I think we all definitely expected to win. Coming into this tournament sometimes things don’t go your way, especially in the sport of wrestling where it’s one of those sports where anyone can win,” Ashnault said. “I definitely expected to win. This is just a stepping stone to get to the national tournament. I really want to win the national title this year and I’m confident going in.”
As a team, Rutgers placed fifth with 90.5 total points on the day. The NCAA championships are next and nine RU grapplers have qualified to compete. Those nine wrestlers are as follows:
133 Pounds - Anthony Giraldo (Guttenberg, N.J.)
141 Pounds –Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.)
149 Pounds –Tyson Dippery (Harrisburg, Pa.)
157 Pounds –Rickie Lewis (Toms River, N.J.)
165 Pounds –Anthony Perrotti (Roseland, N.J.)
174 Pounds –Phillip Bakuckas (Hammonton, N.J.)
184 Pounds –Nicholas Gravina (Allendale, N.J.)
197 Pounds –Hayden Hrymack (Point Pleasant, N.J.)*
Heavyweight –Billy Smith (Wantage, N.J.)