After a rough couple of months, this past week has been a good (and much-needed) one for the Rutgers basketball program.
Three days after guard Jerome Seagears decided to return to the school for his junior season after originally transferring to Auburn, Rutgers landed its first commitment in the 2014 class when 6-9 forward D.J. Foreman announced his decision to join the program.
Foreman, a native of Spring Valley, N.Y., committed to Rutgers while on a visit to the school according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Foreman, who attends Massanutten Military Academy in Virginia, also considered Minnesota, USC, Providence and Pittsburgh according to the report.
Foreman has the ability to play both forward positions, and his versatility will be an asset for the Scarlet Knights as they make the move to the Big Ten in 2014. Rutgers loses Wally Judge after the 2013-14 season (this would be true of Pitt transfer J.J. Moore as well if he’s allowed to play immediately), and both Kadeem Jack and Greg Lewis will be seniors when the 2014-15 rolls around.
Adding Foreman to the fold provides Rutgers with a needed boost in the depth department, as Iowa State transfer Kerwin Okoro and incoming freshman Junior Etou are the lone underclassmen in the front court.
As important as the news of Foreman’s commitment is from a depth standpoint, there’s also the growing sense that a program thrown into turmoil this past spring is now stable. And that’s a credit to new head coach Eddie Jordan and his coaching staff, which features two holdovers in David Cox and Van Macon.
Raphielle can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.