Rutgers football has had some positive momentum on the recruiting trail in recent days. The program has received five verbal commitments in under a month, starting with Judah Pruitt and Sam Pilof. After many top recruits visited the Scarlet-White Game in late April, the program has added several commitments. A pair of 3-star tight ends, Matthew Ogunniyi and Monte Keener, as well as Isaiah Crumpler, a speedy high 3-star receiver with a NFL pedigree have committed in the week plus since.
With the 2024 class growing to eight verbal commitments, Rutgers is currently ranked No. 26 nationally in the 247 Sports composite rankings. However, it is early in the recruiting cycle. While RU has some promising recruits in the 2024 class, the only 4-star pledge as of now is athlete Gabe Winowich. Of course, star ratings aren’t the end all, be all with recruiting. That being said, Rutgers needs to add as much high level talent as possible.
The good news is that the Scarlet Knights might be close to landing its second 4-star prospect for the 2024 class. Last week, national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn made a crystal ball prediction for Willy Love. He projects the athletic prospect to land at Rutgers. Head coach Greg Schiano was one of the first to offer Love back in January 2022.
The 6’2″ safety from Camden holds over a dozen power five offers that include Georgia, Penn State, Oregon, Ole Miss, Pitt, Michigan State and Texas A&M. He also has taken an unofficial visit to Florida State. 247 Sports does list Maryland and Syracuse as “warm” in recruiting Love along with Rutgers. However, Dohn obviously felt confident enough to pencil him in as a future Scarlet Knight. In addition, On3 predicts Love to Rutgers with 89.9% confidence.
Love has visited several times unofficially. He has confirmed an official visit to Piscataway for June 9-11. That will be a critical recruiting weekend for RU. High 3-star Caden Brown, who recently included Rutgers in his group of four finalists, is also confirmed to visit that weekend. There will be other priority targets as well visiting.
While Love plays wide receiver and safety, he is ranked a top five recruit in New Jersey listed as an athlete. On3 lists him as the No. 4 recruit, while 247 Sports lists him at No. 5 in their composite rankings respectively. It’s likely that Rutgers projects Love on the defensive side of the ball.
His lead recruiter is linebackers coach Corey Hetherman and secondary recruiter is defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak. That’s telling they covet Love for his potential on defense, as most programs do. The RU staff could potentially envision a role for Love similar to Christian Izien.
The 2024 class is critical for the program to take a step forward in the future. While progress on the field in the fall is the immediate priority, improving the talent and depth on the roster for future is a must as well. Keeping top talent home like Love, from South Jersey no less, is key in doing that.
You can watch junior season highlights of Love here.
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