This Week in Rutgers Athletics: Dec. 9
Dec 09 | General
1. Greg Schiano, who led Rutgers to new heights from 2001-11, returned as the head football coach "On the Banks." He guided the Scarlet Knights to six bowl appearances (5 wins) in his first stint at RU and was named the 2006 National Coach of the Year.
2. Amirah Ali, a 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, was named First team All-American, receiving the All-America status for the second straight season.
3. The official Inside Rutgers Athletics podcast featured an exclusive 1-on-1 with Greg Schiano and episode 3 of the Pikiell Podcast this past week.
4. LDSP hosted the annual Knight of Networking event inside SHI Stadium at the Brown Recruiting Pavilion. The event featured the opportunity for over 100 student-athletes to meet with 75 unique employers representing 20 different professional fields.
5. Episode 10 of Slice of Knightlife focused upon the return of head football coach Greg Schiano. A full episode of Knightlife will be released this week.Football
• Welcomed secondary coach Fran Brown, who previously served as co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach at Temple in 2019. Prior to that, he was assistant head coach and defensive backs coach at Baylor from 20017-18.
• Head coach Greg Schiano introductory press conference.
• Greg Schiano YouTube video playlist.
• Welcome Home Coach Schiano coverage.
Men's Basketball (6-3, 0-1)
• Welcomes Wisconsin to the RAC on Wednesday (7 p.m., BTN) and No. 22 Seton Hall on Saturday (4 p.m., BTN) for the annual Garden State Hardwood Classic.
• Announced the signing of 6-7 forward Mawot Mag, who joins Dean Reiber and Oskar Palmquist in the 2020 recruiting class.
• Battled to within one point in the second half, but dropped a hard-fought 77-65 decision at No. 11/12 Michigan State Sunday evening. (Recap)
• Myles Johnson and Ron Harper Jr. both had double-doubles in a 71-60 loss at Pittsburgh Tuesday evening in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. (Recap)
Women's Basketball (8-1)
• Wraps up non-conference play this week at home against Southern on Thursday (7 p.m., BTN+) and Marshall on Sunday (2 p.m., BTN+).
• Helped the Big Ten win its first B1G/ACC Challenge with a coast-to-coast victory over Virginia, 73-63, on Thursday at the RAC behind Arella Guirantes' 20 points and Tekia Mack's double-double of 15 points and 10 boards.
• Won its fourth straight game by taming Towson, 67-53, on Sunday at the RAC, paced by Mael Gilles' career-high 17 points.
• Have held all nine opponents under 37% shooting this season while ranking third in the nation in field goal percentage defense.
• Rutgers matches its best start to a season since 2014-15, which ended in a 22-win campaign and a trip to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Two victories this week would award RU its best start since 2005-06, a Sweet Sixteen season.
Wrestling (6-0, 1-0)
• Has a few weeks off before it competes at the Southern Scuffle from Jan. 1-2 in Chatanooga, Tennessee.
• Downed Maryland, 28-11, on Saturday in its Big Ten Opener in front of 5,405 fans at the RAC. (Recap | Post Match Press Conference)
• No. 12 Nicolas Aguilar (125) and No. 24 Gerard Angelo (149) picked up pins, Joseph Grello (174) worked a win over a ranked foe as RU collected seven out of 10 bouts against the Terps.
• 2019 GMU Patriots Open Results
Women's Soccer
• Five Scarlet Knights - Amirah Ali, Amanda Visco, Taylor Alymer, Meagan McClelland and Nneka Moneme - were named All-Region, marking the most selections in program history.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Meagan McClelland earned a call up to the U-20 USWNT for the 2019 NIKE International Friendlies from Dec. 9-13 in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
Swimming & Diving
• Terka Grusova represented the Czech Republic at the 2019 European Short Course Championships competing in the 50, 100 and 200 back.
• Set three Rutgers Aquatic Center records, came in first in nine events, collected five runner-up performances and registered seven third place finishes at the 2019 Rutgers Invitational.
• Held long course trials on Sunday which saw a trio of Scarlet Knights qualify for Olympic trials or capture national cuts for their respective countries.
Senior Clare Lawlor qualified for Ireland's trials in three of four events she swam including the 50 back, 50 fly and 50 free. Simone Lusby of New Zealand registered times to be eligible for her country's trials in the 50 back and 100 back and freshman Sofia Chichaikina logged Russian national cuts in both the 50 and 100 free.
Volleyball
• Announced change in leadership.
• Jasmine Stackhouse was named the Rutgers recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
