Recruiting Roundup: Jonathan Kongbo Commits to Tennessee

In Canadian football recruiting news, Jonathan Kongbo has committed to Tennessee, Patrice Rene visited Wisconsin, Nathan Rourke won state in Alabama, and Canada Prep continues to help players north of the border gain exposure.

The No. 1 ranked JUCO player, Jonathan Kongbo, has committed to Tennessee.

The four-star defensive end from Arizona Western College, and a Surrey, BC native, said Tennessee “felt right” and that he liked the vision coach Butch Jones has for the Vols.

Although he is committed to Tennessee, Kongbo still plans on making visits to other schools. He will visit Seattle on December 12, and plans to make an official visit to Washington in January. Kongbo might also visit Alabama, but he said he is unsure.

Washington is close to home for Kongbo, which is something he’s said to like. Either way, he will be an interesting story to follow throughout the recruiting season.

Patrice Rene visits Wisconsin

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• Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith

Anytime a program replaces their head coach, it creates a domino effect on the recruiting trail. Whether it helps or hurts the program going forward is largely dependant upon who the next head coach is.

For Rutgers, replacing head coach Kyle Flood shouldn’t be too hard, at least according to the fans of Chop Nation. But with Rutgers widely considered to be one of the more difficult coaching jobs in the Big Ten, keeping current commits on board might be difficult.

One of their recruits, Elias Reynolds, has already announced his decommitment from Rutgers, while Canadian Patrice Rene is exploring his options.

Rene most recently took an official visit to Wisconsin, where he said “it was a great experience”. Rene remains committed to Rutgers, but he does plan to make an official visit to North Carolina on December 12, and an official visit to Rutgers on January 22.

Ohio State, Penn State and Virginia Tech are also interested in Rene and regularly communicate with him. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Rene made a visit to one of those three schools as well.

Nathan Rourke wins state

Nathan Rourke’s journey from Holy Trinity high school in Oakville, ON, to Edgewood Academy in Elmore, AL came to a triumphant close, as Canada’s No. 1 ranked quarterback led Edgewood to their sixth straight AISA championship.

With the victory, Edgewood has now won 71 consecutive games.

As for Rourke, he put together a record-breaking season, completing more than 75 percent of his passes for 3,789 yards and an AISA-record 59 touchdowns. He also ran for seven touchdowns and threw only three interceptions all year.

Although he remains uncommitted to a school, teams are interested in the Oakville native. The most recent team to take interest in Rourke is Florida Atlantic. The Owls will visit Rourke on Friday, according to Scout.com.

Florida, UCLA, New Mexico State, Missouri, Kent State, Troy and Yale all remain interested in Rourke as well.

Canada Prep continues to be a hot-spot for recruiters

Canada Prep head coach Geoff McArthur is changing the perception recruiters have of players north of the border.

The most recent example of this is offensive lineman Sage Doxtater. The 6-foot-6, 297 pound tackle has received two more offers from Stony Brook and New Mexico State.

Another Canada Prep player who picked up an offer was Treshaun Abrahams-Webster. The 6-foot, 180 pound cornerback has received an offer from Simon Fraser.