Kiy Hester Transfers to Rutgers

Freshman safety Kiy Hester has transferred from Miami (FL) to Rutgers, the school announced yesterday. Hester, who attended DePaul Catholic in Wayne, NJ, originally committed to Rutgers last summer, but he chose to attend school elsewhere after his offer from the Knights was in jeopardy when he informed the coaching staff he intended to take official visits to other schools. He eventually picked Miami and was with the team all summer, but he felt he needed to move closer to home to help his mother who is dealing with some health issues.

Hester will sit out this season and have four years of eligibility beginning next season. The Hurricanes initially blocked Hester's release to Rutgers, since they play each other in 2018, but they eventually relented.

Hester is a huge addition for Rutgers. He was a blue chip 4 star recruit with offers from basically everywhere in the Big 10, and as you may have heard, defensive back is a pretty big problem for the Scarlet Knights both in the near and long term. Hester is a well built 6'0'' 205 and capable of playing either free or strong safety. He is a very physical player who delivered some bone rattling hits in high school, and he also posses tremendous range and ball skills in coverage (he played some receiver in high school, which helped him in this regard). I would expect him to compete for a starting job as soon as he is eligible next season. Here's some video.

Hester also is close with a number of top high school prospects in New Jersey, and that certainly won't hurt recruiting moving forward. He is supposedly good friends with Kareem Walker, the #1 2016 recruit in the country according to 247, who he played with at DePaul last year. So that's cool.

Adding Hester is a huge coup for Kyle Flood. He is a potential impact player at a position of need in the near and long term, and he will help with future recruiting classes. Hester wanted to be a Scarlet Knight anyway, and only wasn't on a matter of principal that he wasn't, but things worked out in the end. Hopefully his mom gets healthy.