The Rutgers basketball program has added a tight end to its Class of 2022 recruiting haul.
You read that right.
Antwone Woolfolk, a two-sport standout from Ohio who is probably better known for football than hoops, committed to the Scarlet Knights for the latter Monday. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound power forward is the third member of Rutgers’ 2022 recruiting class, joining Lenape High School point guard Derek Simpson and wing Braeden Moore, a California native.
Here are three things to know about Woolfolk, a senior at Brush High School in the Cleveland area.
RELATED:Rutgers nearing RAC naming-rights deal
1. Boston College and Cincinnati recruited him for football.
A three-star tight end known for having good hands, he actually started his high school football career as a quarterback. The thinking on Rutgers’ end is that he’s got a ton of room for growth on the hardwood once he focuses on hoops year-round.
“He loves basketball; he likes football,” Brush High School basketball coach Chet Mason said. “He plays football because everybody says he can be a pro. But his love has always been basketball.”
2. He was lightly recruited for basketball.
His other offers were Cleveland State and Cal-State Bakersfield, and he’s unrated by the scouting industrial complex. Newly elevated assistant coach T.J. Thompson played pro ball with Mason with the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association. Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell saw Woolfolk at the Peach Jam over the summer and liked his physicality and the way he held his own against five-star Memphis-bound big man Jalen Duren.
“He’s a big, strong kid and he hasn’t even scratched the surface of his potential yet,” Mason said. “He’s not refined; he always misses the development part (of basketball offseason) because it’s time for football.”
3. Pikiell continues to do it his way.
He tells his staff to ignore rankings and star ratings and instead to trust their eyes and recruit for fit. He’ll point to Geo Baker, Ron Harper Jr., Caleb McConnell and Myles Johnson — the core of last March’s breakthrough NCAA Tournament team — as proof that it works.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
