One day after meeting new Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell and visiting the Big Ten school, Roselle Catholic guard Matt Bullock committed to the program on Saturday.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Bullock was offered by previous Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan, but met with Pikiell for the first time Friday. He is Pikiell’s first commit since being introduced as the school’s new head coach on Tuesday, and the first New Jersey player to commit to Rutgers since Myles Mack in 2011.
“I made a verbal commitment to Coach Pikiell and I’m excited to stay in Jersey,” Bullock, who runs with the Sports U AAU program, told SNY.tv.
“Coach Pikiell told me he wants workers, guys that are going to buy in to his program. He needs winners on his team. He said he’s going to push me to the limit. He wants overachievers on his team.”
Bullock also held offers from Wagner, St. Peter’s and Fairfield, he told SNY.tv.
His commitment was first reported by NJ.com.
“He committted to Rutgers [Saturday] morning,” RC coach Dave Boff told SNY.tv. “I think Matt is a guy who’s what Coach Pikiell is looking for according to our conversations. He’s lookiing for a guy who’s ready to come in and roll up his sleeves and help him build something special at Rutgers. According to Matt, after their meeting [Friday], he said it sounded a lot like what he heard about what we were trying to do at Roselle Catholic and he felt that that was something he wanted to try to do at Rutgers.”
A powerful guard who can both hit from long range, and drive aggressively to the bucket for dunks, Bullock won four State sectional titles, three Group state championship and two Tournament of Champions titles at Roselle Catholic.
.@_MattBullock forces OT for @rc_basketball! All tied @ 36 #UCTfinal pic.twitter.com/CBhhe8RVmE
– #Jersey (@NJHoopRecruit) February 28, 2016
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Matt Bullock throws down a monster dunk. #njhoops pic.twitter.com/C5dffU72ti
– NJ Sports Scene (@NJSportsScene) January 8, 2016
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“[Pikiell] certainly has to look at Matt because Matt is a winner,” St. Anthony’s coach Bob Hurley said this week. “And he can make plays. Now what posiiton does he play? I don’t really see him as a guard, I see him as an undersized three who can make plays.”
Rutgers has two scholarships remaining for 2016.
Pikiell previously recruited former Roselle Catholic forward Jameel Warney to Stony Brook. Warney led Stony Brook to its first NCAA Tournament this year and is now preparing for the NBA Draft.
“He’s one of the hungriest coaches I’ve ever been around,” Warney said Tuesday. “I know he’s a great coach because I’ve been a product of him for the last four years. As kids you just have to talk to them one-on-one and just see the dream and you’ll believe it. He’s charismatic. He’s just a great coach.”
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