Quite honestly, I'm very surprised he has Rutgers listed as one of his finalists. I have never, going back a few years, thought they had any real chance of landing him, and when Greg Schiano left for the NFL, it was a death kneel to any of the slim hopes I might have had. Peppers has often been portrayed as one of those New Jersey guys who looks down upon Rutgers, and with offers from virtually everywhere, he seemed dead set on leaving the state and as good as gone.
As a sophomore, Peppers had his eyes on LSU, and as a junior, Stanford emerged as his clear favorite. When he announced his top five over the winter, the list included the Tigers and Cardinal, as well as Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame, but not the Scarlet Knights. Not long after releasing his short list, Penn State emerged as one of his favorites after he visited the school and left with a very positive impression, and Michigan appeared to take over the pole position in this race after he visited Ann Arbor last month. Things looked as bleak as possible for the Scarlet Knights' hopes of landing Peppers, but in the last few weeks, the tide has seemingly turned.
It all started when NJ.com's Todderick Hunt spoke with Peppers about Rutgers at an event last month. Peppers told Hunt "I am always going show my state school some love. They [Rutgers] are definitely still in the mix. I don't know why everyone thinks I've counted them out. But they are definitely a school that I'm still considering." At the time, I just assumed he was just blowing smoke up our asses, but things did not stop there. Peppers released a revised top six a week ago, and somewhat reaffirmed his interest in Rutgers by naming them a finalist. Still, it just seemed to me like he was playing games with everyone and had no legitimate interest in the school. The fact that he lives in state and has not visited the school since attending a camp last summer, despite the fact that two of his friends and former teammates (Darius Hamilton and Leonte Carroo) play for the Knights, seemed to back up my belief. But things have kept getting weirder and weirder.
Peppers was scheduled to take a second visit to Happy Valley last Saturday, but it has been rumored that he did not make the trip. And in a recent interview with NorthJersey.com, Peppers stated he was going to take one last visit -- at some point this upcoming week -- that would "shock people." Considering his busy schedule this week with school, a track meet on Friday and Saturday and his decision on Sunday, it's pretty clear that he is making a local trip, and obviously that means it's almost certainly to Rutgers. With Kyle Flood calling off his trip to ESPN on Thursday at the last minute, it's not too hard to envision that he made this visit yesterday.
Hunt has reached out to his contacts "in the know", and they did not refute the rumors that Peppers is visiting Rutgers. Hunt also said a potential visit would be a win in and of its self and landing him is highly dependent on him stepping foot on campus. Based on how his previous visits have gone, Rutgers chances with Peppers probably soared if he ended up making his way to Piscataway. For what it's worth, his normally very active Twitter account was largely silent yesterday.
There are a few wild cards in play that can help Rutgers here. One is that Peppers may want to stay close to his dad, who is scheduled to be released from jail this summer after serving a 10 year sentence. He has missed a lot of Jabrill's life, but they have remained in contact with each other and may want to make up for lost time. A second factor is Peppers desire to pursue a career in rap, and staying close to New York is probably the best thing he can do for his music aspirations. The third thing, which I truly believe is an ace up Kyle Flood's sleeve that most people seem to be forgetting, is the relationship Peppers has with Rutgers' tight ends coach Anthony Campanile, who is recruiting him. Campanile was a coach at Don Bosco during Peppers' two seasons there, and they supposedly formed a very strong bond.
Paramus Catholic head coach Chris Partridge says that Peppers is still undecided, although other indications are that he is still leaning heavily towards Michigan. I am still like, 75% sure he is going to pick the Wolverines, but that figure is down from the 99.9% it was a week ago. Whether he has made up his mind or not, Michigan and Rutgers are the only two schools I could see him realistically commit to. He has never made a trip out west to Stanford, and if he was still interested in Penn State, why would he cancel his visit? I suppose he could choose Notre Dame or LSU, but there haven't been any rumors about him picking either of them of late. I do not think Rutgers will be able to seal the deal with Peppers, but the chances of it are much greater than I expected even a week ago. And if he doesn't choose Rutgers, there's still plenty of time to change his mind.
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