The Monday Morning Kickoff
A new week has begun 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)
With the dead period concluding last week, the Rutgers coaching staff has taken to the road and begun visiting prospects in person. Last night, head coach Chris Ash was in South Jersey for an in-home visit with Palmyra wide receiver Kelvin Harmon and continues to gain ground in the race for the four-star prospect.
Quarterback recruiting also picked up as Rutgers will host three dual-threat prospects over the next few weeks for official visits. Yesterday, marked the start of an official visit for Ty Pigrome of Clay, Alabama. Pigrome mentioned what RU offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer Mehringer has told him about the Rutgers offense.
“He said they are going to be using the offense Houston used. It’s a spread so I could definitely see myself playing in that.”
Louisville commit Tylin Oden of Spring Hill, Tenn., will visit Rutgers officially on Wednesday, but will receive an in-home visit later today.
Meanwhile, former Syracuse commit Lindsey Scott of Zachary, La., will also visit Rutgers officially with the start date for that trip next Sunday the 24th.
All that recruiting translated into Rutgers’ first commit last week as Piscataway High alum Elorm Lumor became the first commit of the Ash era. He attended Milford Academy last fall and was a former Temple commit.
“I believe in them. That is why I chose them,” Lumor said of Rutgers. “I believe in what they want to do. Coach Ash has been at Ohio State and Wisconsin so he knows what it takes to win.”
Lumor will start classes this week, along with fellow early enrollees Trey Sneed, Jonathan Pollock and Solomon Manning.
“I feel like it is going to be a huge advantage,” Manning said. “When the football season starts, I won’t have to take as many classes and can really focus in on football. I will be accustomed to the workouts and also be stronger and faster.”
Rutgers is also expected to officially announce its final coaching staff hire early this week as former Purdue assistant Jafar Williams will coach the running backs.
For all the latest updates, be sure to stay logged onto The Round Table for team and recruiting news as it happens.
On the mat (Rutgers wrestling)
The RU grapplers returned to action yesterday but fell just shy against Minnesota in a 17-16 loss that dropped Rutgers to 11-3 on the season. RU’s top wrestler, No.4-ranked Anthony Ashnault, suffered an 8-1 loss to No.12 Tommy Thorn.
That cut Rutgers’ lead to 9-8 and was the first of three consecutive decisions for Minnesota grapplers which proved to be the turning point.
Last week, Rutgers reached a No.6 national ranking, but will likely fall when the latest rankings are released this week.
Next up for Rutgers is a Friday night home matchup against Wisconsin inside The RAC.
The take from center court (Rutgers basketball)
Rutgers put together a strong first half last week, building a 41-39 halftime lead during a Wednesday night contest at Ohio State. But that could not last as the Buckeyes overpowered the Scarlet Knights in the second half to claim a 94-68 win.
“A team like that, once they taste a little blood and a little let down they get it after it,” Eddie Jordan said of Ohio State in his post-game press conference. “They did a good job early in the second half doing that.”
The loss moved Rutgers to 6-12 on the year and the team will return to action tonight with a home affair against No.24-ranked Purdue with tip-off set for 7 p.m.