Rutgers Football

While they have recently secured defensive end Kemoko Turay and outside linebacker Nick Internicola for the defensive squad of 2013, the Scarlet Knights are continuing their efforts to secure elite talent during the 2012 recruiting season.

There are still a number of offensive players that the Knights are pursuing, but they are currently still courting several 4- and 5-star defensive players. The best of those still being recruited are:

Kendall Fuller (CB)

Rated as a 5-star prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, Fuller is 6'0" and 185 lbs. A well-rounded athlete, Fuller also played some at WR, amassing 526 yards and five touchdowns as a junior at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. 

Pursued by 23 colleges, Fuller has yet to visit any of them, but he appears to have the most interest in Clemson, Michigan and Virginia Tech. While Rutgers has made an offer to Fuller, his interest level in the Scarlet Knights has been categorized as ranging from "none" to "medium." Also in the mix for his services are Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma.

Al-Quadin Muhammad (DE)

Assessed as a 4-star talent by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, Muhammad plays at Don Bosco Prep School, which has been a steady pipeline to Rutgers in recent years. Ranked as the seventh-best at his position in the nation, Muhammad's interest in the Scarlet Knights is described as "medium." 

Offers to Muhammad have been made by eight teams, including Rutgers, Notre Dame and South Carolina. Brian Dohn of Scout.com evaluates Muhammad as: "quick off the ball, plays with speed, changes direction well, is athletic, has length and plays at a high rate."

Jayron Kearse (OLB)

According to Chad Simmons of Scout.com, this 4-star prospect is a "versatile athlete." Assessed as a "very rangy linebacker that moves with ease," Simmons feels that Kearse "will need to learn the position."

At 6'4" and 205 lbs, Kearse also plays wide receiver, running the 40 in 4.45 seconds. Currently entering his senior year at South Fort Myers High School, Kearse's interest in Rutgers is evaluated as "low" at this time, but even schools like Auburn, USC and Clemson rate at no higher than "medium" interest, according to Scout.com.

Nadir Barnwell  (CB)

Considering that Barnwell goes to high school in the same town that Rutgers has its main campus, the Scarlet Knights should have a distinct "home" advantage in securing this 4-star talent. 

At 5'11", 180 lbs, Barnwell is reportedly heavily targeted by Penn State (via BlueWhiteIllustrated.com), with offers from Michigan State, West Virginia and Notre Dame, among others.

Rutgers' recruit count for 2013 currently stands at 14 players who have given a verbal promise to join the Scarlet Knights.

The Scarlet Knights may have been very successful in snagging 14 recruits to date, but none of them have higher than 3-star rating.

While the players who have given Rutgers commitments has been well publicized, there are a number of prospects still being pursued by the Scarlet Knights for the 2013 season.

The top five offensive prospects in whom Rutgers has interest are: 

Robert Foster (WR) 

A 5-star prospect [Scout.com] from Central Valley High School in Monaca, Pa, Foster has 4.44 speed and has offers from no less than 14 schools (including Rutgers). Assessed by Scout.com as being "one of the most explosive players in the country," Foster is "literally a threat to score any time he touches the ball."

His size (6'2", 180 lbs) and speed make him a considerable "downfield threat," as characterized by the Scout.com evaluators. Foster's interest in Rutgers is assessed as "medium," and he has not made a visit to the campus. While that may sound lukewarm to many Rutgers fans, Foster has not visited any of the other 13 schools from which he has received offers, and his interest in all of those schools is also described as "medium."

Denver Kirkland (OG)

At 6'4" and 290 lbs, Scout.com rates Kirkland as "a versatile offensive lineman," who needs improvement with his pass protection skills. He is assessed as "a strong run blocker" whom Scout.com rates as a 4-star prospect.

The Miami native appears to have a high degree of interest in his local suitors, namely FSU, Miami (FL) and South Florida. Rutgers, who has had a good deal of success at recruiting in the state of Florida does not appear to legitimately be in the running for Kirkland, who has had offers from 13 schools so far.

Dorian Miller (OG)

With a high degree of interest in Rutgers, this 4-star [Scout.com] recruit has been courted by 18 schools from coast to coast. One advantage the Scarlet Knights have is that this 6'3", 285-lb offensive lineman is a local product from nearby Metuchen, NJ, which is less than 10 miles from Rutgers University. Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Penn State are three of the schools who have also expressed interest in Miller for 2013.

David Williams (RB)

A 4-star prospect [Scout.com] out of Philadelphia, Pa., the 6'1", 185-lb running back has 4.42 speed in the 40. His interest in Rutgers is described as "low," which may be due to his pursuit by 18 other schools besides the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers has gone so far as to make an offer to Williams, but the fact that current Knights' running backs Savon Huggins and Jawan Jamison will both only be juniors in 2013, the Pennsylvania native may consider it to be difficult to get onto the field in Piscataway.

Beau Sandland (TE)

Currently a junior college player, Sandland stands 6'6" and runs the 40 in 4.6 seconds. With an offer in hand from Rutgers, this 4-star recruit [Scout.com] is projected as having "medium" interest in Coach Flood's program. Currently courted by 21 schools including LSU, Texas and Florida, Sandland has only visited one school to date. Reportedly, Sandland is scheduled to visit ASU this month.

With offers extended to all of these prospects, Rutgers can only wait for the decision of these talented recruits. While the success the program in recent years may be a lure to many prospects, it may well be that some players are skeptical if new head coach Kyle Flood can continue to carry the team forward in 2012.

Eric LeGrand's on-field excellence wasn't commemorated on Wednesday night, but his ability to persevere off the field was. LeGrand's ability to carry on earned him the Jim Valvano award at the ESPYs on Wednesday evening.

"Don't give up. Don't ever give up."

You would be hard pressed to find more famous words from a prominent sports figure. Now, almost 20 years after Valvano uttered those words at the 1993 ESPYs, an athlete who perfectly embodies that phrase wins the award presented in Valvano's name.

Not only is this award important, it's downright special.

LeGrand was paralyzed from the neck down after a collision on the field in 2010. He's been in a wheelchair ever since, but he doesn't plan on staying there.

Last year, in an interview with SI.com's Jon Wertheim, LeGrand claimed he plans to walk again.

I believe I will walk again. I do. When that happens, I already know what I'm going to do. I'll go to Giants Stadium and find the exact spot in the field where I went down. I'll lie there for a second. And then I'll get up on my own power and walk away.

I'm sure Valvano would get chills the same way I did after reading that.

Some people would get down after an earth-shattering incident such as the one LeGrand suffered against Army, but he managed to keep his head above water. The accident didn't create a weak person. If anything, it created a pillar of strength.

This message is more important than any award given out at Wednesday night's ESPYs. LeGrand provides a hopeful example for the world's most disheartening conditions.

LeGrand's will to walk is a gleaming message in the sky. It's the ultimate testimony to the human spirit, and it comes from a young mind. It doesn't matter how many buckets LeBron scores, how many times Anthony Davis gets taken No. 1 or how many yards Drew Brees passes for.

This is the message you want America's youth to see. This makes the ESPYs worth watching. It's a message that transcends the sporting world.

Watching LeGrand lead his Scarlet Knight team onto the field for one game last season was incredible, but this award showed something else.

It honored his ability to persevere, and that's what Valvano's award should be all about. LeGrand is a role model and a genuinely special person.

He couldn't be more suited to hoist an honor in Jimmy V's name, because he definitely hasn't given up.

Every Wednesday we'll take a trip around the Big East to see how recruiting is panning out. Whose class is shaping up nicely and who has a lot of work left to do? Your weekly recruiting roundup will help answer just that.

Commits

The last couple of weeks on the recruiting trail were very good for Rutgers. The program received commitments from DE Kemoko Turay, 3-star LB Nick Internicola, 2-star DT Josh Klecko, 3-star TE Taylor Marini and 3-star ATH Myles Nash. In addition to a group of commits with many stars between them, the Orlando Sentinel ranked Rutgers the No. 36 football team in the nation. As far as recruiting, Rutgers now has eight commits.

Cincinnati ended June at the top of the Big East with 11 commits. Since then, they've only added one to the recruiting class, which is 3-star WR Eric Carter. The wideout from Lakeland, Florida turned down offers from Missouri, Minnesota, Purdue, Iowa State and others for a chance to be a Bearcat. He stands 5'10" and 174lbs.

Connecticut snagged a few commitments with DT Lance Burlingame, 2-star DT Folorunso Fatukasi and 2-star DB Thomas Lucas. Burlingame hails from Dean (Ma.) Junior College, so he will be eligible to play right away.

South Florida and Syracuse each pick up a 3-star commit this week. South Florida received a verbal pledge from OL Cameron Ruff and Syracuse with 3-star RB Augustus Edwards. Villanova was right behind with 2-star WR Lincoln Collins being added to the program's 2013 recruiting class.

The biggest recruiting story of the last couple of weeks definitely goes to Pittsburgh. While the program did pick up OL Carson Baker, 4-star QB Tra'von Chapman and DT Tyrique Jarrett, it was K Chris Blewitt that stole the show. Blewitt arguably has the worst name for a kicker in college football, as fellow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Adam Kramer points out. Hopefully the kid just never misses. As far as Blewitt is concerned, his kicking will quiet the critics, per LarryBrownSports.com.

Decommits

Nothing to report on in this area. There is still plenty of time between now and February, but hopefully Big East coaches can continue to keep their recruits pledged to their respective programs.

Rumors

Pitt looks to be facing some tough times finding elite players in Western Pennsylvania, per TribLIVE Sports. A couple top recruits have already committed elsewhere, with Pitt still in the running for others. Could be interesting to see how the program handles keeping local talent.

Vernon Hargreaves III, who has been offered by Clemson, sprained his ankle at The Opening, per ESPN.com. It shouldn't hold the 5-star DB back much as he plans to continue visiting schools. It should still be awhile before Hargreaves makes a decision.

As strange as it sounds for Rutgers, following the path of former Big East member West Virginia and applying for membership in the Big 12 Conference may be the best move to keep their floundering football program financially sound.

I don't think anyone at the state university of New Jersey wants to talk about just how unstable the athletic program is, mired in a situation largely brought on by the continual collapse of the original Big East Conference.

Rutgers already has one big strike against itself; according to a USA Today report, it leads the nation in athletic subsidies among public schools. This means that each Rutgers student is paying nearly $1,000 a year in student fees to keep the athletic department on its feet.

Strike two: It appears that once the new college football playoff system takes place in 2014, the new Big East Conference loses its automatic bid to a major college bowl. 

Strike three: It appears that the new Big East television contract will be much less lucrative than originally thought.

It's getting pretty difficult for Rutgers to keep putting out a big-time product on a small-time budget.

All these financial problems would disappear if either the ACC or Big Ten invited Rutgers to join their conference, but it hasn't happened yet, and it may never.

Both know that offering a membership to another school means cutting up the pie in two more slices because they'd likely be seeking to have an even number of teams. 

It's hard to imagine the Big Ten would say to any school except Notre Dame "here's a check for $25 million, expect one every year."

But the Big 12 Conference currently has 10 teams and needs to add two more to be allowed to have a conference championship game.

It aggressively sought West Virginia and shown it's open to teams out of the region.

Would the Big 12 make sense for Rutgers? It would.

The new Big East Conference includes San Diego State (2,420 miles) and Boise State (2,139 miles), both require more traveling than any Big 12 school.

New Big East teams Houston (1,411 miles) and SMU (1363 miles) are both located in the heart of Big 12 country.  Most Big 12 schools are on an average 1,400 miles of traveling for Rutgers. Texas Tech being the furthest (1,595 miles) and Iowa State (1,010 miles) the closest, except for West Virginia.

USF, UCF and Memphis, three other Big East teams, are each 1,000 miles of traveling.

The distance may seem large because everyone in the Big 12 except West Virginia is located in the central time zone, but when one breaks it down, there's really not much difference in traveling in either conference for Rutgers

Because of all the great football powers in the Big 12, their new television contract will be huge. Each member will make three or four times what the Big East schools can expect.

So the Rutgers athletic department has some financial problems. Something's got to change, and let's not forget it has a stadium expansion to pay for.

The football program could also see problems in recruiting top players to a conference which will have such a hard time getting to a major bowl or getting into the four-team playoff.

It's still premature, but amid all the chaos at Penn State, it snapped up four of New Jersey's top players (Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 21) right under Rutgers' nose.

It doesn't appear that the 2013 recruiting class will be loaded with top New Jersey talent like that of 2012; at least that's how Rivals recruiting service reads it.

So what's the answer for Rutgers?

Is it time for Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti to call up West Virginia AD Oliver Luck and ask him how to get out of the Big East and get in the Big 12?

You can rest assured that Cincinnati and Louisville are thinking about it.

Rutgers may not yet know whether or not Kyle Flood can coach the football team to victories, but he appears to be able to recruit. The first year coach is busy preparing for the 2012 season, but the success for years after this season will depend heavily on his ability to consistently bring talent to the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers' rise in recent years has been due in large part to keeping local talent close to home, and of the current crop of recruits, eight are from New Jersey. As for the rest, one is from New York, two are from Pennsylvania, two are from Maryland, and two are from Florida.

For the week ending July 7, 2012, two more recruits have made verbal commitments to the Scarlet Knights:

Kemoko Turay (DE) - A senior at Newark Tech in New Jersey, Turay is 6'4" and 202 pounds. Many consider Turay to be a reach, perhaps even an outright stretch. Turay did not play football in either his sophomore or junior years, but is eligible to play in his senior year. The Scarlet Knights were so impressed with Turay at their recent camp that they offered him a scholarship, which he accepted on July 5, 2012.

The Scarlet Knights may have been impressed with Turay's athletic prowess. His personal best time in the 100 meter dash is 12.14 seconds, 70 inches in the high jump, and nearly 22 feet in the long jump.

“The Rutgers’ staff saw him at their annual camp and were impressed with his athleticism,” according to Scarletnation.com representative Matt Hladik [via myCentralJersey.com]. “He is an exceptional track athlete and Rutgers is hoping the explosiveness he displays in the triple jump and on the basketball court will translate to the gridiron.”

Nick Internicola (OLB) - A defensive end at his high school, the Fort Lauderdale native was recruited as an outside linebacker/edge rusher by the Scarlet Knights. At 6'3" and 210 pounds, Internicola would be small as a college defensive end, but the Rutgers staff was impressed enough by this three-star [Scout.com] recruit to make him an offer, which he accepted on July 3, 2012.

The University School of Nova South senior gave his commitment to the Scarlet Knights over competitors West Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse, USF, Houston and Florida International.

The trademark of Rutgers teams has always been defense, and the 2013 recruiting class has been decidedly defensive to date.

A quick review of the 2013 recruits:

DEFENSE:

Nick Arcidiacono DL - committed 6/21/12.

Anthony Cioffi DB - committed 2/19/12.

Sebastian Joseph DE - committed 6/23/12.

Josh Klecko DT - committed 6/27/12.

Myles Nash DE - committed 6/27/12.

T.J. Taylor DB - committed 6/6/12.

Eric Wiafe DL - committed 6/12/12.

OFFENSE:

Dontea Ayres RB - committed 5/25/12.

Justin Goodwin RB - committed 5/17/12.

Chris Laviano QB - committed 6/15/12.

Taylor Marini TE - committed 6/27/12.

John Tsimis WR - committed 5/25/12.

Scout.com currently evaluates Rutgers 2013 recruiting class as 35th in the nation. Currently, Michigan is ranked 1st overall, with 24 commitments, including three five-star players and fourteen four-star players. By comparison, Rutgers has no five- or four-star recruits, but eight players who are rated as three-star prospects.