by Alex Schwartz

Yesterday night, new Rutgers Head Coach Mike Rice landed the first scholarship recruit of his tenure at the Big East school. Mike Poole '10, a 6'6 wing from St. Benedict's (NJ) committed to the Scarlet Knights on Monday. Just one day earlier, 6'6 forward Frank Mitchell of Hillsborough (NJ) decided to go to RU as a recruited walk-on.

"I felt it would be the best fit for me," said Poole of how he picked Rutgers. Poole, ranked #14 in Northstar Basketball's New Jersey Class of 2010 Fab 50, listed Seton Hall, Boston College, Rhode Island, Oregon, and Rice as his other finalists.

Poole said that the previous Rutgers staff was not recruiting him. "They got involved when Coach Rice took over," he said of Rutgers. Poole added that Coach Rice was not recruiting him while he was at Robert Morris.

How did Poole's relationship with the coaching staff develop quickly enough that he felt comfortable enough to commit? "Really, I just felt a great connection with them on my visit. It felt like family."

Poole is the third scholarship member of Rutgers' class of 2010, along with Austin Carroll of Brewster Academy (NH) and Gilvydas Biruta of St. Benedict's (NJ). Biruta is ranked #12 in Northstar Basketball's New Jersey Class of 2010 Fab 50, making it two top 15 players from the Garden State for Coach Rice. Walk-on Frank Mitchell is ranked #42 on the list.

"Really, it wasn't a factor. It should be cool to play with a familiar face because he knows how to work and he's hungry like me, coming from St. Benedict's," said Poole of what it will like to play with high school teammate Biruta in college.

Asked what he feels he brings to the table for RU, Poole replied, "New York toughness, a great skil set, and a lot of defense." As for what he has to work on the most, Poole remarked, "Strength, my body is ready for the A-10, but [for the] Big East I need to get a lot stronger."

Poole, who will sign his NLI tomorrow, discussed how it feels to be done with the recruting process. "It feels great. Now I can just finish school strong and be a complete student."

In other news, Drexel added the third member of its recruiting class today. In news that was broken by Northstar Basketball via our Twitter page, Delino Dear '10 of Progressive Christian (MD) committed to the Dragons. A 6'9 power forward, Dear picked the CAA school over Ole Miss and East Carolina.

Dear joins Dartaye Ruffin of New Hampton Prep (NH) and Frantz Massenat of Trenton Catholic (NJ) in Bruiser Flint's class of 2010 haul. Ruffin had signed with Drexel as a part of the 09 class, but spent a year in prep school. Massenat is ranked #11 in the New Jersey Class of 2010 Fab 50. Dear previously attended Mt. Carmel (IL), the same school that produced NFL star Donovan McNabb, before transferring to Progressive Christian.

Note- photo is of Mike Poole and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/