It took new Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell and assistant Brandin Knight to do what the State University of New Jersey should have done a while ago.
Knight called Sports U Team Izod coach Brian Coleman this week to offer scholarships to the Class of 2018 “Fab Five” that Seton Hall first offered as a group last October.
The group consists of 6-foot point guard Jahvon Quinerly, 6-3 shooting guard Luther Muhammad, 6-6 small forward Louis King, 6-3 point guard Atiba Taylor and 6-9 power forward Naz Reid, the most highly recruited of the five.
“Brandin called and offered all five of them scholarships,” Coleman said Wednesday by phone.
“They can’t speak directly to the kids until June [15] so I just relayed the message to the kids.”
Said Quinerly: “We’re all excited and humbled to be given another opportunity to play together at the next level.”
For what it’s worth, I wrote that this was one of the five things Pikiell should do upon getting the job in March.
There’s no guarantee that Rutgers will land all — or any — of these players, just as there’s no guarantee Seton Hall will although the Pirates have at least a year’s head start. Reid, for example, holds offers from the likes of Kansas, UConn, Louisivlle, Maryland and St. John’s, but Coleman said, “He’s wide open right now.”
Asked how good the group could all be in college if they stayed together when Seton Hall first offered, Quinerly said: “That would be crazy, that would be pretty crazy. That’s some W’s.”
Is it realistic?
“We’ve talked about it before so I know that there’s a possibility that it could happen,” Quinerly said. “We just talk about playing together. Me and Luther came to the same high school together. Originally, Louis, Atiba and Nazi were all going to go to Roselle Catholic together, so we paired up with each other. We talk about it all the time.”
Quinerly, Muhammad and King are all now at Hudson Catholic, Reid plays for Roselle Catholic and Taylor for Hackensack.
Pikiell and his staff have been busy handing out offers to other young talented area players, including 2017 Christ the King point guard Jose Alvarado, 2018s Jalen Carey and Justin Winston of Immaculate Conception and 2019s Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine of the Ranney School, Al Dawes of The Patrick School and Paul Mulcahy of Gill St. Bernard’s.
“I think it says that Pikiell wants to try to aggressively recruit the state and he’s being aggressive and proactive at trying to establish relationships with the young guys and give them a chance to try to know him and show them what his plans are going forward for Rutgers basketball,” Coleman said.
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ZagsBlogIt took new Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell and assistant Brandin Knight to do what the State University of New Jersey should have done a while ago.