The recruiting process in college athletics can create a ripple effect that spreads into future years. It’s how pipelines are built. At Rutgers, coach Rob Shutte is building one, slowly picking up New Englanders.
A glance at the Scarlet Knights roster in the years before Xavier Marcoux (Concord, Mass.) joined the squad in 2019 shows no players from New England.
Marcoux’s ripple has become a wave that has slowly spread across the region for the top-ranked Division 1 program in the northeast. Weston Jones (Sudbury, Mass) joined Shutte’s team in 2021.
Toss in Max Jackson (Cumberland, R.I.) and Tommy Murdough (Concord, Mass.) verbally committing for the 2024 season, and suddenly there’s a strong connection from New England down to New Brunswick, N.J.