Rutgers football has lost a commitment from its 2027 class, according to Chad Simmons of On3 who first reported that EDGE Josiah Sturdivant has decided to reopen his recruitment. He committed to Rutgers on May 30.
Sturdivant is a 6-foot-3, 225 pound EDGE from Wake Forest High School in South Carolina who is rated as a high three star by both 247 Sports and On3. While not stating an official reason for his decommitment, his decommitment comes after Rutgers started the 2026 season 0-2 after embarrassing
losses to both UMass and Boston College. Simmons confirmed that Sturdivant has been in communication with South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
During his junior season in 2025, he recorded 51 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 8 sacks. He is rated as the No.14 player in South Carolina by On3.
This has the potential to be the start of a recruiting disaster for the Scarlet Knights. With over two months left until most prospects sign their letter of intent, Rutgers has been making national headlines for all the wrong reasons. These losses can start to sow discord in the minds of those already committed to the team, especially if their fellow commits start to decommit en masse. On top of that, the team’s recruiting could take another major blow for this year if the department decides to move on from Schiano at any point, although that is a growing pain that most new coaches have to deal with. It will be interesting to see if other schools start to make significant pushes on current Rutgers commits following these developments.
