The Monday Morning Kickoff
It’s time once again for The Monday Morning Kickoff to get you ready for a brand new week in the scarlet nation.
A view from the gridiron (Rutgers Football)
Rutgers hosted its second junior day event yesterday, which saw a large collection of prospects visit the Rutgers campus.
Several offers went out to those in attendance and that included ones to freshman, sophomore andjunior prospects.
Virginia junior running back TyQuan Brown of Freedom High School earned himself an offer.
“I was surprised to get the offer,” Brown said. “I just went there to see the campus and experience the junior day. I got the offer from Coach Ash. I met with him before we did everything and then after the junior day, the running back coach told me that he wanted to meet me again when the junior day was over and that’s when he gave me the offer.”
Defensive tackle Tayquan Johnson of Williamsport High (Md.) and New Jersey linebacker Mohamed Toure of Pleasantville High School were the other juniors who earned themselves offers yesterday.
“Coach Ash offered me,” Toure said. “He said he loved the way I play, he loved my family. I wasn’t expecting the offers to come this early. It feels good to get these early offers, but I can never relax. I have to keep working. I just have to keep getting better and better.”
For complete feedback from the junior day visitors, check out Scarlet Nation’s Recruit Reactions.
This is also set to be the final week without any football in Piscataway as spring practice is set to commence on Tues, March 6th.
The take from center court (Rutgers Basketball)
Senior Day could not provide the necessary spark to help Rutgers defeat Illinois yesterday as the Scarlet Knights dropped their final regular season game by a final of 75-62.
“They've worked hard,” head coach Steve Pikiell said post-game. “I took over the job two years ago and they didn't know me from anyone. There are guys that have chosen to leave and go different routes, but these guys have stuck with us and the rise of this program is because of the work that they've done. We took over a team that won seven games, and now we're in every game just about. These guys have done immense work over the years and I'm proud of them.”
The loss dropped Rutgers to 13-18 on the year, and the team will take the court again on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament against Minnesota.
“We've got to get healthy. Corey [Sanders] has been having a little foot problem too, so we've got to give him a tip of the hat today for playing the minutes he did," Pikiell said. "He missed practice the other day. So we've got to get healthy, and these guys are good. We've got 40 minutes to get you 40, and we're going to be there ready to play. These guys always play with energy, and the seniors are going to lead us. We're going to Madison Square Garden, and 40 minutes gets us 40. That's going to be our slogan, and we're going to play. I'm very confident in that.”