The Monday Morning Kickoff
A view from the gridiron (Rutgers Football)
It was a busy weekend on the Rutgers campus as the staff hosted its second junior day of the year. An offer went out early on Saturday morning as Bergen Catholic junior quarterback Johnny Langan received an offer after spending some time with offensive coordinator Jerry Kill.
“The Rutgers offer means a lot to me because it is my home state and it's always been a dream of mine to have a scholarship from them," Langan said. "What I like about Rutgers is Coach Ash's style of coaching and the energy he brings to the team and Coach Kill's new offense is one that I would thrive in.”
Another offer went out last week to St. Peter’s Prep junior defensive back Zamir Mickens., who was also on campus on Saturday.
"Two of my former teammates K.J. Gray and rising freshman Johnathan Lewis are attending Rutgers,” Mickens said. “[Head Coach] Chris Ash said Rutgers would be a tremendous look for me, especially at the position I play.”
Like Mickens, there were other juniors with RU offers who visited on Saturday. This served as a chance to see more of the school and learn more about the program.
“It went great,” said St. Augustine running back Kyle Dobbins. “In the morning, I met with Coach Ash and we had like a 30-minute talk about building relationships and having a great junior day and how he would have them show us around the campus. He talked about commitment, recruitment and all that.”
Here is a complete rundown of the junior day reactions as Scarlet Nation’s The Round Table has the latest scoop on all things Rutgers recruiting.
The take from center court (Rutgers Basketball)
The RU men’s hoops team dropped another close game over the weekend. This latest loss came at the hands of Northwestern, who narrowly edged out the Scarlet Knights 69-65 in Evanston, Ill.
“I'm proud of our guys,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said via RU communications. “Northwestern had to have this win. We missed some timely free throws that hurt us, but we outrebounded them and played our hearts out in a tough environment.”
Sophomore guard Corey Sanders finished with 17 points as the loss dropped Rutgers to 13-15 on the year with three home games remaining.
Next up, is a Wednesday night home contest against Michigan with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
On the mat (Rutgers Wrestling)
The RU grapplers had one more dual on Friday night as the No.12 Scarlet Knights lost to No.11 Lehigh 23-10 on the road as part of the NWCA national dual championship series. Rutgers only managed to win three matches on the night and finished 12-5 on the season.
“I’m a fan of the event. I like this event,” said head coach Scott Goodale. “Everybody’s got to be on board to make it a success. For us, it’s important we get in environments like this. There is a lot of history in this gym. We need to get on the road and win one of these, but this is why we’re in this sport, to wrestle matches like this. Not sit at home and try to get ready for the Big Ten’s.”
The Big Ten championships will take place on March 4-5 in Bloomington, Ind.