Saying he felt he "committed prematurely," Immaculata High School center Mark Brazinski -- rated the nation's 151st-best player by ESPN.com, announced Tuesday he had re-opened the recruiting process but that Rutgers was still in the mix.

The 6-3, 297-pounder from Basking Ridge gave Rutgers a non-binding oral commitment on June 10, choosing the Knights over Boston College, Penn and Florida State.

Brazinski said by phone that Rutgers, Penn and Boston College were still on his radar. He said he expected to take official visits to all three schools in December and would make a decision then.

ESPNU just announced its list of the top 150 recruits in the nation for the class of 2009 and Rutgers' quarterback recruit Tom Savage (Cardinal O'Hara H.S.; Philadelphia) is ranked 98th.

Savage is the only player from Rutgers' incoming 2009 recruiting class on the list.

Rutgers' recruiting class keeps getting deeper -- and better.

Abdul Smith, a 190-pound cornerback from Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, Pa., became the 19th player to commit to the Scarlet Knights, saying today he will sign a national letter of intent with Rutgers in February.

"It feels good to be part of this great class," Smith said "The talent is there to win a national championship. I really believe we can do it. Besides Ohio State, Rutgers has the best recruiting class right now."

Abdul Smith, a three-star recruit and Trenton native, will end his recruitment and make an announcement at 1:30 p.m. today.

The 190-pound cornerback from Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, PA, listed Rutgers in his top-five schools, according to Scout.com. Other schools in his top-five include: Boston College, Maryland Penn State, and Big East rival Pittsburgh.

His announcement today at Trenton City Hall will end a 20-plus school pursuit of the Jersey standout.

Smith recorded 60 tackles and intercepted four passes as a junior. On offense, he rushed for 930 yards and scored 10 touchdowns in 130 attempts.

Star-Ledger File PhotoQB Tom Savage, one of the big stars who have verbally committed to Rutgers for the '09 season.

Quantity has something to do with that, of course, since the Knights already have 17 verbal commitments -- the third-most in the country. But the quality of the class is what has caught the attention of most recruiting experts.

All of them -- from Lemming to SuperPrep's Allen Wallace to Mike Farrell of Rivals.com to the folks at Scout.com -- predict this will be the best class in Rutgers history and one that should land in the Top 25.

How did it happen? Head coach Greg Schiano seemed to signal that he was staying for good by turning down Michigan. And two schools that once dominated the area -- Penn State and Syracuse -- aren't the recruiting factors they once were.

Three straight bowl appearances have also made Rutgers a recruiting force locally and in the surrounding states. Here's a look at how the splashiest recruiting class in school history breaks down so far -- with Rutgers still in the running for more top-level players:

Rutgers' football recruiting class for 2009 grew to 10 players when linebacker Steve Beauharnais of Saddle Brook gave head coach Greg Schiano a verbal commitment tonight, according to rivals.com.

The 6-2, 205-pound Beauharnais, a superior athlete who has run a 4.34 in the 40, also had interest from Penn State and Boston College

Rutgers landed its third four-star recruit for the class of 2009 when offensive lineman Mark Brazinski of Immaculata High School in Somerville gave the Scarlet Knights a verbal commitment during an announcement this afternoon at school.

Brazinski, a 6-3, 297-pounder from Basking Ridge, has primarily played center in high school.

He joins QB Tom Savage of Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Pa. and running back Desmond Scott of Durham, N.C. as the four-star recruits (according to rivals.com) in a class that currently numbers nine players. The commitments aren't binding until the players sign a letter of intent the first Wednesday in February.

Photo By Jeyhoun Allebaugh / The Herald-Sun

Scott, a 5-9, 185-pound back at Hillside High School, is considered a Ray Rice-type back, according to Rivals.com recruiting expert Mike Farrell.

The bigger worry for Rutgers fans after signing day shouldn't be the Scarlet Knights class - a good-but-not-great group if you believe the recruiting services - but the progression of the Big East conference.

Only one team in the conference had an average star rating of at least 3.0, according to Rivals, and it was Pittsburgh of all teams. Rutgers had an average rating of 2.68. For comparison, here's how the rest of the conferences measured up in terms of teams boasting an average rating of 3.0 or higher:

Big 12: Nine teams
SEC: Seven teams
Big Ten: Five teams
Pac-10: Four teams
ACC: Four teams

Yikes.

Nobody - including Rutgers coach Greg Schiano - believes recruiting is an exact science.

The star ratings on Rivals.com and Scout.com that decide a player's fate are good argument starters, but there have been enough highly-touted busts and under-the-radar stars that the smartest thing anyone can do is wait until these players hit the field before judging them.

Unfortunately, it's February. Kickoff is a few months away so let the criticism begin.

Rutgers has received commitments from 20 recruits on today's national letter of intent signing day, with the chance of one or two late additions. Most of those players have already signed today, with three others -- Art Forst, Steve Shimko and Keith Stroud -- having already enrolled in school.

Here's a look at the Scarlet Knights' expected incoming recruiting class, with coach Greg Schiano's comment, position, size, weight, hometown and high school:

Greetings from the recruiting trail - which happens to be River Road on Signing Day - as myself and esteemed Rutgers beat writer Tom Luicci are on the way to campus for the Scarlet Knights' official announcement of their 2008 recruiting class.

After coach Greg Schiano's press conference we'll have an updated recruit list for you here on the Rutgers football blog, complete with coach's comments on each player.

First impressions of the afternoon? Bad day for the Big East: ESPN's Tom Luginbill has only Pittsburgh (No. 21) in his top 25 classes while Rivals.com has on teams from the conference in the top 25. Pittsburgh is the closest at No. 29 while West Virginia follows at No. 44.

Rutgers has received verbal commitments from 18 recruits heading into national letter of intent signing day today -- with the chance of one or two late additions. Fifteen of those are expected to sign today, with the three others -- Art Forst, Steve Shimko and Keith Stroud -- having already enrolled in school.

A look at the Scarlet Knights' expected incoming recruiting class, with position, size, weight, hometown and high school:

Star-Ledger File PhotoQB Tom Savage, one of the big stars who have verbally committed to Rutgers for the '09 season.

As Rutgers heads into the 2008 season, there are now two recruiting classes everyone is buzzing about - The players joining the team this fall and Schiano's 17, the highly touted class of 2009.

Here's the breakdown on both classes and stories about incoming players:

The skinny on players joining the team this fall

All of the Star-Ledger's recruiting updates