Scarlet Knights Newzer

Easing back in... with updates

Wow, it's been a while. Without football practice for fodder every day, and with my hoops assignments being a bit haphazard, I've clearly become less chatty. I apologize and I promise to get back into the blogging groove ASAP. Of course, reader questions and comments sure would help get things going...

Alright, two quick updates. Fresno State offensive coordinator Jim McElwain told his local media he's off to Alabama, Alabama coach Nick Saban told BamaOnline.com McElwain is indeed his new offensive coordinator and so Mike Teel can rest easy... John McNulty's still Rutgers' offensive coordinator. McNulty was flown down to Alabama - on a private jet no less - Monday. He interviewed after McElwain and before LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, but with all the coaches out on the road recruiting, I don't yet know if McNulty was actually offered the job.

Alabama could probably pay McNulty at least $100,000 more than he makes at Rutgers and Saban does right now have what's been called one of the country's three best recruiting classes. But at the same time, I could see McNulty turning down an offer. He did last year, from Miami, citing a desire to give his family some stability. And as tough as Greg Schiano is, Saban's the man who - in a Sports Illustrated poll a few years ago - was voted the worst head coach to work for.

In the other bit of news, Rutgers lined up a potential wideout for McNulty to work. Eddie Poole, a 6-3, 185-pound WR/DB out of Belle Glade, Fla., has committed to Rutgers this morning. Eddie's from the same high school as William Beckford and he brings Schiano's 2008 class total to 17. It's just a week to Signing Day now...

Courtney too?

Courtney Greene yelled at me today. Okay, it was kind of a mock yell and he wasn't really angry, but when I told him about the website I saw that said he'd declared for the draft, he DID get kind of loud.

"That web site's tripping," he said. "Come on, Aditi, if I declare, you know I'm going to tell everyone."

I'll be honest, I kind of got hung up on that "if." It's true - Courtney really is considering foregoing his senior year.

Apparently, Courtney decided to get a draft assessment just to get the assessment and it came back with a higher grade than he was expecting. Someone close to the situation told me that, despite the somewhat quieter year Courtney had, there are a lot of NFL people who think he could still be a third round pick. Courtney's family is by no means in trouble, but his dad did pass away when he was in grade school and this projection is something he has to think about.

From what I could tell, he sounds genuinely torn. He spent the day Wednesday talking to people close to him at home in New Rochelle and he said he's going to sit down with coach Greg Schiano later this week to see what he thinks. The NFL gives underclassmen until next Tuesday (the 15th) to declare, but I think Courtney wants to have his mind made up by the end of this week.

Greg Schiano always said there'd be a day where he'd have athletes who would leave early for the NFL. I suppose this marks another sign of progress. What do you think?

Business tripping it

The night before the Final Four, the NCAA hosts the Salute Dinner and so the afternoon before the International Bowl, the organizers hosted a luncheon. The players put on their suits, the invitations were issued for noon and at exactly 12 p.m., the Ball State players filed into an enormous ballroom in the Westin Harbour Castle.

Thirty minutes later, the Scarlet Knights came in.

When Ball State was introduced, the players whooped and hollered and banged their table. When Rutgers was introduced, nary a sound was made. When Ball State coach Brady Hoke was asked to speak, his players stood and cheered. When Greg Schiano was introduced, Rutgers' side of the room was again quiet. 

Sure, Hoke yelled at his kids to sit down ("You don't want to be here any longer than I do," he said. "We need to get going!") and Greg later motioned to his kids to stand, in recognition of their work. And it wasn't, of course, that the Scarlet Knights refused to have fun. When the MC instructed George Johnson and Patrick Nemorin to stand up and twirl in their bright red suits, they got their teammates guffawing. Jamal Westerman willing played along when the MC asked how many tickets his mom, who lives half an hour away in Brampton, requested, shouting, "120."

Courtney Greene practically skipped out of the room and Jason McCourty gamely rolled his eyes when I asked who was in that loud, loud pink and magenta plaid suit (it was freshman Jameil Farrington). The team had been remarkably loose - and remarkably broken up - at the start of yesterday's practice, as Eric Foster was announcing his own special awards. (Half the team beat him to the punch on the one for "player who talks longest to his girlfriend." The guy who one "player who kisses the most girls at parties" sternly instructed me not to reveal his name. And I have honestly not ever seen Greg Schiano laugh as much as he did in those 10 minutes.)

Still, there is most definitely a more business-like air to the way Rutgers is carrying itself. No matter what they say to the contray, the Knights are acting like they've been here and been to bigger than here. And International Bowl president Dan Loding said he has absolutely no problem with that.

"We've been around sports a long time. We understand the situation and we understand the position teams like Rutgers are in," Loding said. "But we haven't sensed anything from the Rutgers folks that makes us think that (they're viewing us as small-time). They're very professional."

Now, as for the 8,000 Rutgers fans in town, Loding said, "We don't feel that way AT ALL."

The Rutgers fans have indeed been something else. They're all over the place in their red Rutgers gear, the bar here at the Renaissance (which looks out onto the Rogers Centre field) hasn't had an empty seat in two days and if I'm with Tom Luicci, we can't get two feet without someone stopping him to talk about something he's written.

The team may be blase about this bowl and a lot of the NY media may be relatively uninterested. But it sure is nice to see the alumni and the fans not take this for granted. Now just imagine if those Knights could get us all somewhere warm...

Holding AD's hand

It was cold, it was snowing and the "heat" (I use that term loosely) in the University of Toronto bubble wasn't the kind to make a dent in someone's gas bill. But an hour after the Scarlet Knights' final practice of the season, every player was outside, schlepping to the CN Tower. Every player, every coach, just about every coach's kid and, when a guide directed me to what looked like the front of an elevator line, George Johnson moaned at me. "Hey, there's no cutting," the big defensive end said. "You can't cut!"

Of course, not everyone was so eager.

From 1975 until last September, the CN Tower was the world's tallest structure. For tourists, it has a main deck, which is at 1,135 feet and consists of seven stories, and a skypod, which is 1,465 feet high. The full-view elevator ride to the main deck goes at 15 mph, which DE Alex Silvestro somehow guessed correctly and which OL Desmond Stapleton refused to believe. Let's just say Darnell's much-bigger little brother was very, very pleased to have survived the ride up.

Most of the guys gamely looked out the stunning observation windows, quite a few took pictures and a few others - ahem, Anthony Davis - insisted on getting in everyone else's pictures. Well, since AD was being such a ham, I suggested a trip to the glass floor. The floor that looks straight out on the street, the one that's induced a cold sweat or two and the one Ray Rice stood on, looked through and announced, "This is the closest I've come to feeling like I'm dying."

Which started AD's list of excuses NOT to get on the glass floor. "I weigh 330 pounds," he said to me. "What if it breaks?" We watched end Jamal Westerman jump up and down on the glass, we watched Silvestro and fellow freshmen linemen Keith Newell and Richard Muldrow walk on the glass and we watched two of strength coach Jay Butler's little girls run on the glass. "They're little kids," AD protested. "They don't know any better."

I cajoled and I prodded, I told AD his fright was not befitting a big, bad freshman All-American and Ray Rice, hearing all this, somehow shoved AD onto his knees and tried rolling him onto the glass.

Totally not amused, AD got himself up. And yet, he still couldn't leave the glass floor area. He watched the entire secondary parade on and pose for pictures - like they were falling through the glass - and then tried bragging to me about how he'd spent two hours walking around Toronto, by himself, last night. I told him if he was afraid of a floor that could hold 44 hippos (those elevator guides are awfully knowledgable), nothing was going to make me think he was tough. Feeling sorry for me, Blair Bines then tried taking over the persuading.

Finally, with a cameraman and videographer summoned, AD agreed to get down on the glass. He told Keith Newell, "hold my foot, man," looked around for Silvestro b/c "he's freakishly strong," and then finally... got himself onto the glass.

Blair Bines tried pulling him a bit further...

And then AD asked me to make sure the pictures looked like he got his whole big body on...

Sure AD.

Passport's out

My flight leaves tomorrow morning and I haven't even pulled my suitcase out of the closet. But with that trickle of e-mails turning into a veritable inbox flooding... let's just say you're very good at making a beat writer feel guilty for taking a few holiday days.

Alright, so a couple hours ago, the team had its first on-site meeting. Why that could've been potentially interesting is because for the first time, Greg Schiano had no tangible control over whether his players were actually at the hotel.

This year, with Toronto being a legitimate driving distance away, Greg decided to let the Scarlet Knights choose their own mode of transportation. They could fly on the team charter, they could take a bus, they could drive themselves, heck, they could use a tele-transporter if they found one. The NCAA will allow a school to "reimburse" players for the cost of the trip (this one's been judged to cost $600) and Greg figured opening the travel choices "gives them a chance to get a few dollars in their pockets."

A lot of schools do do that, K-State did it for last year's Texas Bowl tilt against Rutgers, and Greg said he's not worried about someone not showing. "They're mature enough," he said. "I think it's a good learning experience to get your own way up there." The Star-Ledger's Tom Luicci then ran through a list of players who've been suspended this bowl season for late arrivals. Greg smiled, shrugged, and said, "We'll see, right? If they're all there at eight o'clock, it was a good decision. If not..."

I'm not there, so I don't know the answer to that. But I'm thinking that even the players who did make it on time, may be wondering if it was a good decision. Mike Teel, who'd decided on taking a bus, confidently said he had pillows and a sleeping bag put aside. And then, when I pointedly looked at the 6-foot-4 QB's long legs, he sheepishly admitted that yes, even the one-hour ride back from New York City Sunday night "wasn't the most comfortable. I may regret this." Good thing he has four days to loosen up.

Speaking of loosening up, it's only been in the last week that the Scarlet Knights have had a chance to "enjoy" bowl practice. Schiano called the month a "mini-training camp" and Eric Foster, a fifth-year senior on his way out, frankly said he was surprised at how hard the team was worked. The Knights did get a tour of NBC's studios and go to the ESPN Zone Sunday, though, and Eric said they had a heckuva time playing video games. Some of the guys went to see the Nets this weekend, and a few more rang in the New Year at Chris Rock's Madison Square Garden show last night. And then Thursday, up in Toronto, there's the scheduled trip to the CN Tower.

One last note: The Boston Globe reported a week ago that ESPN might be trying to engineer a Thursday night game between Boston College and Rutgers. There was a lot of acrimony when BC left the Big East three years ago and at the time, Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy wasn't shy about sharing what he thought of that school's honor. Well, Monday, Bob said he no longer had any hard feelings for Boston College and that, even if he did, "I wouldn't let my personal feelings affect scheduling." But having said that, he swore he has had no contact with BC. He also said he doesn't think Rutgers will have an open date next year. "We may have a game," Bob said. He then refused to divulge any details, and would only say, "We have to wait and see if that turns out to be true."

Time to pack. Happy New Year to all of you and... please don't take my groaning too seriously. I love the e-mails and the comments!