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Rutgers loses one player to transfer, adds 6-foot-6 high school senior

Eddie Jordan

AP

AP

With Kadeem Jack and Myles Mack out of eligibility, Rutgers was bound to undergo some changes this offseason. Thursday afternoon it was reported by multiple outlets that guard Kerwin Okoro will be leaving the program, in a decision that has been labeled as a “mutual decision.” Okoro, who began his college career at Iowa State, is the second player in the last week to transfer from Rutgers.

Sophomore forward Junior Etou made that decision last week, and Okoro’s departure means that each of the players who joined Eddie Jordan’s program when he took the reins in 2013 have moved on before the expiration of their eligibility. Two players (Craig Brown and D’Von Campbell) transferred after the 2013-14 season and J.J. Moore, who joined the program after graduating from Pittsburgh, was out of eligibility.

Okoro played in 17 games last season, averaging 2.0 points in 7.3 minutes of action per contest.

Also of note Thursday was Rutgers landing a verbal commitment from 6-foot-6 small forward Jonathan Laurent according to Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press. Laurent attends Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, and he joins point guard Corey Sanders as Florida natives in Rutgers’ 2015 recruiting haul, which also includes guard Justin Goode and forward Kejuan Johnson.

Rutgers has struggled for quite some time, with their last NCAA tournament appearance coming in 1991. The task of rebuilding the program while also getting used to a new conference hasn’t been an easy one for Jordan and his staff, as evidenced by their going winless for the remainder of the season following their upset of Wisconsin in mid-January.