Sports

South Brunswick's Tyree Commits to Rutgers

Vikings cornerback will play college football right in his backyard.

Just as Rutgers University loses a star football player from South Brunswick, another one just walked through the door. , a two-way cornerback/running back for the record-setting South Brunswick High School Vikings, committed Wednesday morning to play college football for the Scarlet Knights.

"Obviously we're very proud of Jevon, he's a tremendous young man and we're proud of what he accomplished," said South Brunswick High School football coach Rick Mantz. "He was a huge part of our success, and selfishly for us it's going to be great with him being right down the road we can watch all his games. I have very strong ties to Rutgers having done my graduate and undergraduate work there, and I'm very proud Jevon is going to be a Scarlet Knight."

Tyree (5-foot-11, 170-pounds) is rated as the 49th-ranked player at his position according to Rivals. He follows in the footsteps of former Vikings star  a record-setting wide receiver for the Scarlet Knights who's projected to be

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"Obviously this is something we take a lot of pride in, but we can't take all the credit because these are not just talented athletes but great people," Mantz said. "This is something colleges are aware of, the fact that these are also great young men. It says a lot about the talent and the work that people like . We're doing things the right way and giving kids an opportunity to sign scholarships at places like Rutgers."

Tyree was labeled as “one of the top stars in Central Jersey,” by MaxPreps.com’s Tom Lemming, who called him active, tough and aggressive in his scouting report.

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“Everything I do is fast and disciplined, because that’s all it takes, getting after it every play," Tyree said late last year.

Tyree selected Rutgers over the University of Connecticut, Maryland and Georgia Tech.  it would be difficult to leave the area because his family would be unable to sit in the stands to watch him play.

“Without my family, I couldn’t do anything,” Tyree said. “If they weren’t at a game, I probably wouldn’t play that good. I’m going to have to get used to it, though, not seeing them on the sideline at every game.”

However, that will no longer be an issue for the Vikings star.

"It's just great he's going to be staying here to play college football," Mantz said.

The highly-touted recruiting class for Rutgers was thrown into turmoil last week after  of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But today's National Signing Day has brought a wave of good news for new Scarlet Knights head coach Kyle Flood, with commitments from Tyree, five-star defensive end Darius Hamilton (Ramsey, N.J.) and four-star linebacker Quanzell Lambert (Sicklerville, N.J).

In other South Brunswick football signings, Mantz said star running back Darrell Harper committed to play college football for the University of New Haven. Mantz said several other SBHS players are still weighing their college options.

"This is a great day for South Brunswick and the community should be very proud of these young men," he said.


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