Neshaminy's Paul Carrezola picks Rutgers

Last Wednesday, Neshaminy's Paul Carrezola toured the Rutgers campus and met with Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano for approximately three hours.

"He came back to school that night, and he had this look in his eyes," Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt said. "He was really excited, really fired up. He said to me, 'Coach, I just felt really comfortable there.' "

Yesterday afternoon, in a news conference in the Neshaminy weight room, Carrezola confirmed what had been expected: He will play college ball at Rutgers.

"I think it's a great situation there," the 6-foot-3, 252-pound tight end said. "There's a sense of the team being like a family."

Carrezola, a junior, chose the Scarlet Knights over Pittsburgh and two other finalists, North Carolina State and Iowa. In all, he had 15-plus scholarship offers.

Last season, the Scarlet Knights went 8-5 and defeated Ball State, 52-30, in the International Bowl. In 2006, they were 11-2 and won their first bowl game.

"Their No. 1 goal is to win a national championship," Carrezola said. "I think it's about to explode there."

Carrezola became the second high-level area recruit to decide to play for Rutgers. Last month, Cardinal O'Hara quarterback Tom Savage, ranked among the top 25 players in the Class of 2009 by Rivals.com, committed to the Scarlet Knights.

Among tight ends in the Class of 2009, Carrezola is ranked No. 16 by Scout.com.

Last season, Carrezola caught 18 passes for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was an Inquirer second-team all-Southeastern Pennsylvania selection.