Under second first-year head coach Greg Schiano, Rutgers football has been on a recruiting roll. Thursday night, that roll continued.
As we noted earlier this week, Rutgers had secured four commitments from 2021 football recruits in a span of six days. On his personal Twitter account Thursday night, Khayri Banton added to the haul by announcing his commitment to the Rutgers football program.
“First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge that, all of the blessing I’ve received in this recruitment process, were God-given,” Banton wrote. “Second, I would like to thank my immediate family, especially my mother for supporting my development as a young man and student-athlete.
“Lastly, I’d like to thank... all my coaches and mentor who’ve helped mold me through my years of playing the sport I love, and also all of the collegiate coaching staffs who’ve recruited me and enabled the opportunity of attending and playing at their University.
“This process and decision was not easy but, I stayed home and represented my city through high school football. Now I’ve decided to stay home and represent my state.
OFFICIALLY A SCARLET KNIGHT 🛡⚔️ #Chop21 @RFootball @RUscarletnation @GregSchiano @RUCoachFraser @CoachHoffmannRU @RUCoachFran @CoachSmithRU @TodderickHunt @RivalsFriedman @247Sports @rivalskeenan @BobbyDeren @BrianDohn247 @AlexBroggi @ShawnB_247 @RichieSRivals @Rivalsfbcamps pic.twitter.com/zsB9ptCkBd
— Khayri Banton (@juiceupkha_x3) March 26, 2020
Banton is a four-star 2021 prospect. On the 247Sports.com composite, the Newark high schooler is rated as the No. 7 player regardless of position in the state of New Jersey. He’s the highest-rated commit in the Scarlet Knights’ class.
In addition to RU, Banton held Power Five offers Boston College, Miami, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
Also on that 247 composite, Rutgers football is currently in possession of the No. 12 class in the country. Ahead of the likes of Georgia (No. 13), LSU (No. 16), Michigan (No. 17) and Oklahoma (No. 26), among others.
Again: Rutgers football, nine months ahead of the Early Signing Period, is on the periphery of a Top-10 class.
For some perspective, the best Rutgers football recruiting class of the past two decades was No. 23 in 2012. The cycle immediately after Schiano left the school for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it should be noted.
Outside of that, the recruiting finishes have been decidedly pedestrian for the Scarlet Knights. Since the start of the 21st century, 18 of the Scarlet Knights’ 21 classes have finished outside of the Top 30. Of those 18, 15 finished 42nd or worse; 10 came in outside of the Top 50.
So, yes, what Schiano and his crew are doing in Piscataway is impressive. Whether that equates to on-field success, though, remains to be seen.