January 29, 2011
Prep's Huggins, Rutgers bound
St. Peter's Prep RB Savon Huggins chose Rutgers in a press conference.
Click Here for more photos of Savon Huggins' announcement
Click Here for more photos of St. Peter's Prep Football.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
JERSEY CITY – For the past four years at St. Peter’s Prep, Savon Huggins has made a habit of faking out defenders. At the press conference to announce his college decision, Huggins had one last trick in his sleeve.
He initially put on a North Carolina hat. But instead of going to play for the Tar Heels, Huggins removed the cap after about 10 seconds and revealed his choice with a Rutgers hat underneath in front of a full crowd at the St. Peter’s Prep library which included dozens of his Marauder teammates and some of his future Scarlet Knights teammates.
“I was going to do it somehow, some way,” said Huggins who came up with the idea back in October. “It was going to come down to two schools and that’s when I was going to do it. Rutgers was the one underneath.
“I had fun with that at the end of the day. The recruiting process you don’t want to take it too seriously. Just lighten up, have fun with it and I did.”
The last-second suspense capped off what had been a long recruiting process which started off when Huggins was just a sophomore. In the end he chose Rutgers over just about every major program in the country. North Carolina, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Auburn were among the 50+ scholarship offers Huggins received.
“I just thought long and hard about it and I could have gone anywhere, but I just chose to stay home for a reason,” said Huggins, who made the decision on Wednesday. “I believe with my work ethic, with my leadership, I can bring that to the Rutgers program and we can go with this national championship.”
Instead, he became arguably the biggest recruit in the history of Rutgers. The consensus top prospect in New Jersey, Huggins was ranked as the country’s No.7 running back and No. 58 player in the Class of 2011 by Rivals.com.
Last season, Huggins was nothing short of brilliant for St. Peter’s Prep. Selected as the Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey, Huggins rushed for 1,891 yards and 35 touchdowns on 173 carries to lead the Marauders to a 9-2 record. Over the past two seasons, he racked up a mind-numbing 57 touchdowns and 3,435 rushing yards.
With this type of resume, which included spot in the Under Armour All-American Game and the upcoming Team USA vs The World Game, Huggins is expected to be player who will have an instant impact when he arrives at Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights’ disappointing 4-8 season was a concern for Huggins. But a number of changes since then, most notably the hiring of new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti and a series of additions to the offensive line helped convince Huggins that Rutgers was a place he can win at.
“I think (Savon) had to be convinced that the plan was in place and that the players were in place and I think he is,” St. Peter’s Prep head coach Rich Hansen said. “If he didn’t think that he could win a Big East championship, believe me he would not be there because there’s no one who wants to win more than Savon Huggins.”
Huggins is considered the crown jewel of what has been a strong recruiting class for Rutgers. He is ranked as the top player in the Scarlet Knights’ class (currently ranked 27th in the country by Rivals.com) which includes St. Peter’s Prep teammate and best friend Keith Lumpkin as well as Union City’s Josue Matias.
Savon Huggins initially made it appear he was going to pick North Carolina instead.