Rutgers 2025

[CU77]

hah !

Time for someone to start up the Rutgers 2024 thread.

Looks like 1766 just renamed this one ...

Trying for a Hopkins-level page count, maybe? Yer gonna need a decade or two!

[1766]

No sense in cluttering the board.

Probably longer. They must not have a board on any of the major sites.

[Asgot]

They got a top 30 middie coming in next year,
and a midfielder from Haverford - which you don’t normally see Haverfords heading to Rutgers.
Haverford upset unbeaten St Anthony’s this weekend.
I’m also looking at 2024 when another Kirst comes in with also a possibility of a certain 5th year Kirst joining his brother that year.

that top 30 middie is coming because he is a Legacy. Kirst is good but not a game changer and CJ will not have an extra year as he unenrolled from Cornell to preserve his eligibility at Cornell

So two goods are no good.

Nothing wrong with legacies.

And also, the Haverford kid,
that’s not the usual pipeline for Rutgers.
They should target Malvern Prep also - any number of solid DIs in that pipeline - which Knights did for 2024.

I was simply pointing out that recruiting legacies, especially that one, is not that difficult, show me the dynamic offensive player in the last few classes. where are the fogo's or the goalies for that matter?

I think one of the issues that RU has is that they keep chasing their tail. taking kids out of the portal instead of developing kids, then their recruited kids leave (either quit or transfer) so they have to hit the portal again and the cycle continues. They have already taken 2 poles and a fogo. Is there any wonder why Reynolds or Romaneck left? Reynolds was the 2nd pole as a freshman to Rall and this year he was given a SS while the kid recruited to come and play SSDM sat the entire year, he is now also in the portal, their Rope unit was in complete disarray this year, but you think none of this has anything to do with poor recruiting or the reliance on the transfer portal? now with NIL and the portal, we are going to be picking at the leftovers again while our competition will be picking up The Jack Boyden's of the world.

[Crease Crank]

Unfortunately, your concerns are fair and will hinder a high school player from considering RU. The best players in the summer high school circuits at the top level all know each other and compete with each other at showcases or against each other at tournaments. With the media throwing up over the last 2 years about how Rutgers is transfer u, the players certainly listen. Certainly other teams are doing the same thing but Quint loves to announce this over and over. Then you lose the 2 players you mention who are well known in the circuit and possible recruits immediately say to themselves that they don’t want to participate.

Maybe future RU becomes a primary portal team full of upperclassmen and grad students, no freshman. That would be wild.

[livelovelax]

There is a reason why Reynolds left that won't be discussed on this board. Good kid and nice family. The other guys wouldn't see the field anytime soon. Hitting the portal like Rutgers has and will do this year is the right thing to do, especially for fogo. I hear that the Knights have 4-5 transfers already committed but only two listed so far. There will be more. Some of the talented underclassmen have to step up and put the work in prior to the fall.

Rutgers loses a lot at fogo and on the defensive side. Fall ball is going to be critical to figure out what the 24 season looks like. Hopefully they can figure out their defensive scheme and get one more hammer to compliment Scott, Aimone and Knobloch.

[AOD]

Hitting the portal like Rutgers has and will do this year is the right thing to do, especially for fogo.

But this is only necessary because of the abject failure to identify and recruit a local FOGO. I've been beating the home-grown FOGO drum for Rutgers since Trevor Baptiste. Nearly every year a young man who played HS ball in NJ winds up in the top 5 D1 FOGOs. Just around the corner from where you post (and a little more than 40 miles south of New Brunswick) both Connor Gaffney and Zach Cole dominated the HS dot, and they decided to bring their talents to Lehigh and St. Joe's respectively. This failure to successfully recruit local talent (with limited exceptions like Shane Knobloch) has plagued RU for 10 years. My goodness, the last goalie to play significant time in college that was recruited by RU in HS was Kris Alleyne (and that was Stag's recruit). You don't need to go to the portal annually for FOGO help if you can recognize the quality in your backyard.

[livelovelax]

Perhaps Brecht and Co did recruit these Jersey guys and those kids decided to go elsewhere. Heck, it's been long noted that if NJ could keep their best home in all sports, Rutgers would be top 20 in most, if not all of their athletic programs. Jersey is a transient state and most people want to move out or attend other schools as they this as the grass is greener. NJ's top sports programs are mostly private or catholic schools and the upity attitude is to go the the "name" schools. It's a shame as most non Jersey residents see Rutgers as a top notch school…….which it is, especially for a State University.

It's amazing how we are talking as if the sky is falling for RU lax but again, we are in the top 15. I like that the bar has been raised.

[1766]

Perhaps Brecht and Co did recruit these Jersey guys and those kids decided to go elsewhere. Heck, it's been long noted that if NJ could keep their best home in all sports, Rutgers would be top 20 in most, if not all of their athletic programs. Jersey is a transient state and most people want to move out or attend other schools as they this as the grass is greener. NJ's top sports programs are mostly private or catholic schools and the upity attitude is to go the the "name" schools. It's a shame as most non Jersey residents see Rutgers as a top notch school…….which it is, especially for a State University.

It's amazing how we are talking as if the sky is falling for RU lax but again, we are in the top 15. I like that the bar has been raised.

Dugenio transferred after 1 year at St. John's. I'd call that home grown. Certainly not a typical portal one and done.

FOGO is probably the hardest position in lacrosse to project. You see very highly rated kids flame out all the time, and vice versa.

Cole and Baptiste are great examples. They weren't at St. Joe's and Denver because everyone recruited them and they wanted to go there. They were there because they had very few options. Everyone recruits NJ. Everyone missed on them. It happens a lot, especially at that position.

Great point about expectations at Rutgers now. The season as viewed as a failure because they didn't make the tournament. That's the minimum bar now, which tells you how far the program has come.

[10stone5]

You can see who Brecht is going after on ILs site,
just they don’t keep history,

but for two classes out, the info is there, who they recruited, who also recruited the same players — assuming of course ILs info is accurate,

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiti ... rs/17/2024

[AOD]

Cole and Baptiste are great examples. They weren't at St. Joe's and Denver because everyone recruited them and they wanted to go there. They were there because they had very few options. Everyone recruits NJ. Everyone missed on them. It happens a lot, especially at that position.

Not everyone. Taylor Wray didn't miss. I've seen Taylor Wray at Burlington County games; I've never seen Brecht. Cole shined the moment he stepped onto the field. From his bio on the SJU site:

- Turned in the most successful rookie face-off campaign in SJU history in 2019
- Set a program record with 169 face-off wins as a freshman, recording a 62.6% win percentage
- Tallied 102 ground balls (SJU freshman record)

And its not like he was hidden. Two-time US Lacrosse All-American. All State, All County, All Group, All Conference. The Courier Post (a local SJ newspaper) lacrosse Player of the Year. Played on the highly successful Dukes Lacrosse Club that sends so many to the best programs each year. Unrecognized gems like Cole should be easy pickings for the State's flagship program playing in the Big10.

This isn't missing on Cole; this is ignoring him.

[Crease Crank]

Baptist was a great story. I believe he was committed to a D3 school until after his senior year and Coach Tierney happen to see him somewhere and was able to get him to switch.

[1766]

A great story indeed.

Would be interesting to see over the last 15 years how the top rated fogo's coming out of high school fared in college. For every Sissleberger and Ierlan, I think you'd find a Batiste and Nardella.

[wgdsr]

A great story indeed.

Would be interesting to see over the last 15 years how the top rated fogo's coming out of high school fared in college. For every Sissleberger and Ierlan, I think you'd find a Batiste and Nardella.

wouldn't sissleberger and ierlan fall into the baptiste and nardella category? here's 1st link when u google "ierlan recruit albany":
https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... ic-offense

[1766]

A great story indeed.

Would be interesting to see over the last 15 years how the top rated fogo's coming out of high school fared in college. For every Sissleberger and Ierlan, I think you'd find a Batiste and Nardella.

wouldn't sissleberger and ierlan fall into the baptiste and nardella category? here's 1st link when u google "ierlan recruit albany":
https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... ic-offense

Sissleberger was a 5* on Inside Lacrosse ranked #13 in his class. Not sure how that isn't polar opposite of Nardlella and Baptiste. From my recollection TD Irelan had a ton of recognition. I don't recall his ranking but he was a known commodity. His team won a state title and he was named player of the year in New York, as well as being a 2x All American.

[AOD]

Baptist was a great story. I believe he was committed to a D3 school until after his senior year and Coach Tierney happen to see him somewhere and was able to get him to switch.

Yes, he committed to Franklin & Marshall before Tierney contacted him.

[1766]

Cole and Baptiste are great examples. They weren't at St. Joe's and Denver because everyone recruited them and they wanted to go there. They were there because they had very few options. Everyone recruits NJ. Everyone missed on them. It happens a lot, especially at that position.

Not everyone. Taylor Wray didn't miss. I've seen Taylor Wray at Burlington County games; I've never seen Brecht. Cole shined the moment he stepped onto the field. From his bio on the SJU site:

- Turned in the most successful rookie face-off campaign in SJU history in 2019
- Set a program record with 169 face-off wins as a freshman, recording a 62.6% win percentage
- Tallied 102 ground balls (SJU freshman record)

And its not like he was hidden. Two-time US Lacrosse All-American. All State, All County, All Group, All Conference. The Courier Post (a local SJ newspaper) lacrosse Player of the Year. Played on the highly successful Dukes Lacrosse Club that sends so many to the best programs each year. Unrecognized gems like Cole should be easy pickings for the State's flagship program playing in the Big10.

This isn't missing on Cole; this is ignoring him.

Ok, that's one coach. From a sea of coaches that all recruit NJ.

You have no idea how many games the staff at Rutgers saw him play or not. He's an admittedly great player. But if Brecht missed him, so did every coach not named Wray. As with recruiting, there is always more to it than something so simplistic.

[1766]

Big pick up from the portal. Colin Kelly has transferred to the program. He will slide in nicely to one of the open attack spots. He will have two years in the program.

[Rolldins]

Hearing rumors of a Colgate FOGO from NJ potentially transferring to RU. Take it with a grain of salt.

[Njlaxx11]

Hearing rumors of a Colgate FOGO from NJ potentially transferring to RU. Take it with a grain of salt.

Colucci? Makes sense, jersey kid coming home

[Njlaxx11]

tons of pickups in the portal by brecht - i think they realize the offense wasn't what it was 2 years ago.

Sidorski from lehigh and the Canisus kid are solid pickups.

always a bit leery of a D3 kid coming D1 but he was dominant at amherst - should compete for PT.

hund, hubbard and rizzoti should help immensely on D.