newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MATT SUGAM

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

PISCATAWAY – Less than 24 hours after being introduced as the head football coach, Kyle Flood had his first test and aced it.

On National Signing Day, he brought in 19 recruits that collectively make up the best class in school history according to several recruiting outlets.

“It is the top recruiting class we’ve ever had here at Rutgers and we’re very proud of it,” Flood said.

The fact that that happened is impressive in itself. It happened less than a week after 11-year head coach Greg Schiano shook the program with his unsuspected departure to become the Buccaneers head coach, causing many to believe that the once promising recruiting class would begin to unravel.

But that was something that never concerned Flood. Since he had the interim tag placed on him on Friday, he always thought things would go this well.

“The reason I thought that was because of continuity and we had relationships,” Flood said. “We’ve been recruiting this class for over two years. This is not an 8 month process. This is two years worth of visits that culminate in home visits and official visits. It’s two years of coming to games, meeting with coaches, talking football, talking about things other than football and, if you have that, this is what should happen.”

And it did, giving the first time head coach the most talented class in program history.

“This is as exciting a day as we’ve had in Rutgers history,” Flood said.

That excitement began brewing last night when Don Bosco’s defensive lineman Darius Hamilton announced his commitment to Rutgers.

By making it official this morning with his John Hancock, New Jersey’s No. 1 recruit will be playing at Rutgers for the second straight year after running back Savon Huggins did so last season.

And the trenches are what Rutgers beefed up the most with this class. Especially on the offensive side of the ball. Headed by J.J. Denman, the Scarlet Knights bring in five offensive linemen.

As a former offensive line coach, Flood couldn’t be happier about it.

“It’s going to be hard for me to not coach those guys,” Flood joked. “I believe this is the top offensive line recruiting class in the country.”

While no one will really know how good this recruiting class is until we see them play at the collegiate level over the next few years, Flood did his part to keep the promising group together, passing his first real test.

Rutgers 2012 recruiting class

Name, Position, Height, Weight, High School/Hometown

Carlton Agudosi, WR, 6-6, 205, Franklin Twp./Somerset

Brandon Arcidiacono, OL, 6-5, 250, Archbishop Wood/Holland, Pa.

Ryan Brodie, OL, 6-5, 305, Long Branch/Long Branch

Leonte Caroo, WR, 6-1, 205, Don Bosco Prep/Edison

J.J. Denman, OL, 6-7, 305, Pennsbury/Fairless Hills, Pa.

Kyle Federico, PK, 6-0, 175, Ponte Vedra/Ponte Vedra, Fla.

Darius Hamilton, DL, 6-4, 250, Don Bosco Prep/West Paterson

Davon Jacobs, ATH, 6-0, 185, DePaul/Paterson

Quanzell Lambert, LB, 6-2, 230, Timber Creek/Sicklerville

Steve Longa, LB, 6-1, 205, Saddle Brook/Saddle Brook

Chris Muller, OL, 6-6, 287, Boyertown Area/Perkiomenvillw, Pa.

Derrick Nelson, OL, 6-4, 285, Archbishop Carroll/Capitol Heights, Md.

Julian Pinnix-Odrick, DL, 6-5, 250, Montclair/Montclair

Ruhann Peele, WR, 6-1, 170, Linden/Linden

Desmon Peoples, RB, 5-7, 160, Archbishop Wood/Cheltenham, Pa.

Blake Rankin, QB, 6-4, 195, Bloomsburg/Bloomsburg, Pa.

Delon Stephenson, ATH, 5-11, 170, Sayreville/Sayreville

Ian Thomas, WR, 6-1, 190, Franklin/Baltimore, Md.

Jevon Tyree, CB, 5-10, 170, South Brunswick/Somerset

Note: Fedrico and Marlyand transfer R.J. Dill enrolled in January and will participate in spring practice

For More Rutgers football coverage follow Matt Sugam on Twitter @MattSugam and on Facebook.