The Monday Morning Kickoff
A view from the gridiron (Rutgers Football)
The dead period has come to an end and recruiting has picked back up as the Scarlet Knights are looking to add some more prospects to its incoming class of 2017. The staff hit the road on Thursday and has since made a number of visits.
Quarterback commit Johnathan Lewis of St. Peter’s Prep was among those players who welcomed RU coaches into his home as head coach Chris Ash and new offensive coordinator Jerry Kill stopped by for a visit.
"We mostly talked about Coach Kill and all the coaching experience he has,” Lewis told Scarlet Nation. “We also talked about how he wants to run the offense and how I can help with that. I now know that Coach Kill is a great coach and an even better person. He has great experience, 33 years to be exact. He also coached a lot of good players and I'm excited to be one of them.”
The future has started sooner than later for some Scarlet Knights as Ohio defensive end Brendan Bordner was among four early freshman enrollees who made their way to campus this past weekend.
“I'm not usually a big goal guy, but I'd like, of course, to play and definitely have a good game against Ohio State," Bordner said. "I am not necessarily a grudge against Ohio State, but it'd be great to have a good game against the team I grew up rooting for. If I end up redshirting though I just want to get in the weight room as much as possible."
Bordner is joined by four-star Micah Clark and three-stars Jamaal Beaty and Samuel Vretman as the other spring freshman enrollees.
This coming weekend will be a big one at Rutgers with a host of official visitors scheduled to be on campus. Go inside The Round Table for the very latest on those RU commits and targets.
The take from center court (Rutgers Basketball)
The Scarlet Knights finished out their week with a Sunday afternoon 76-57 loss to Indiana to fall to 11-7 on the year. Poor foul shooting coupled with a high number of turnovers helped do Rutgers in, despite a good day of rebounding.
“I knew this would be a difficult game for us today,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said afterward per RU communications. “Indiana was very efficient offensively. They got a lot of guys that can hurt you. They played really well. We unfortunately turned the ball over a lot, missed a lot of free throws. Credit Indiana, the good job that they do. We’re moving on to the next one."
Next on tap for Rutgers is a noontime home contest against Nebraska this coming Saturday inside The RAC as the Scarlet Knights will have close to a week to prepare for the Huskers.
On the mat (Rutgers Wrestling)
It was a disappointing Friday for the RU grapplers as the No.11-ranked Scarlet Knights fell to No.2 Penn State on the road by a final of 37-6. Anthony Ashnault and Scott DelVecchio were the only Scarlet Knights to come away with a win. The loss was only Rutgers' second on the season as the team dropped to 7-2.
Next up for the Scarlet Knights is a Friday night home dual against Oregon State with a scheduled start time of 7 p.m. The dual will also be televised live on BTN Plus.