PISCATAWAY — At 6 a.m. Wednesday, Rutgers had players in the weight room for strength and conditioning exercises and somebody monitoring the fax machine and email.
Such is the way a program is run on one of the busiest days of the year: National Signing Day.
Rutgers announced 28 scholarship players and two preferred walk-ons in its 2017 recruiting class, including 17 on offense, 11 on defense and two specialists.
RU names fields after Marco Battaglia
“Unlike last year where we only had a couple of weeks to be able to throw the class together, so to speak,” second-year coach Chris Ash said, “we had a whole year to go through and recruit and develop relationships with these players, these families, high school coaches around the state and around the area. And (we are) really happy with what we’ve been able to put together here.”
The class is ranked in the Top 45 nationally by both Scout.com and Rivals.com — a major boost from last season’s rankings despite Rutgers’ 2-10 record in 2016.
“I like this class in terms of their character, their competitive spirit, their ability to be developed,” Ash said. “They are big, they are strong, they are faster than some of the other guys and I’m excited. With the guys returning and this group coming in, what we have done on our football team that we have needed to do was create competition.”
Stay tuned to NJ.com over the next few days for many more stories off of National Signing Day developments — including stories on the five early enrollees. But first here is a recap of Wednesday’s end-to-end coverage:
Chris Ash press conference:
Rutgers addresses need for speed adding freshmen for special teams
Will Rutgers be ‘more competitive’ with 2017 recruiting class
Recruiting rivals brought up Rutgers’ NCAA Notice of Allegations
Recruit announcements:
Cedar Creek’s Bo Melton, Owen Bowles sign with Rutgers
Woodrow Wilson’s Edwin Lopez signs with Rutgers
Michigan State decommit Raheem Blackshear picks Rutgers
Weequahic’s Ihmir Smith-Marsette picks Iowa over Rutgers
How Penn State’s James Franklin sold Paramus Catholic’s Corey Bolds
Piscataway’s Elijah Barnwell stays home for Rutgers
Rutgers visitor Cordarrian Richardson picks Maryland without visiting
Mater Dei’s Eddie Lewis announces for Rutgers on Signing Day
N.J.’s No. 2 WR Eddie Lewis reveals his choice
Mike Tverdov of Union follows his brother to Rutgers
West Orange’s C.J. Oneychi headed to Rutgers
Toms River’s Bryce Watts stick with Virginia Tech over Rutgers
St. Peter’s Prep’s Johnathan Lewis makes Rutgers pledge official
Keeping you informed:
How Rutgers kept together core of recruiting class in face of mounting obstacles
National Signing Day chat: Dozens of your questions answered by our expert
The fax is in! Rutgers announces recruits as it happens
Recapping Chris Ash’s press conference with live updates
WATCH: National Signing Day recruiting show with our experts
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
