It all began with a game.
Cedar Creek (Egg Harbor City, N.J.) wide receiver JoJo Bermudez (Jovanni) had one for the ages Saturday against a talented St. Joseph Academy (Hammonton, N.J.) squad, which led to a Rutgers offer from South Jersey recruiter Fran Brown on Wednesday night. Brown was likely watching film of class of 2021 edge Keshon Griffin, a Rutgers commit, when he noticed Bermudez, whose team would ultimately lose a 49-19 blowout.
But Bermudez, almost singlehandedly, gave it a chance.
And now he’s a Scarlet Knight.
A really fast one.
“I run a 4.4,” Bermudez, a 5-10, 160-pound three-star junior told NJ Advance Media. “At Penn State, I ran a 4.45 and a 4.46 (hand-timed 40-yard dash). And I’m only going to get faster.”
But how did Rutgers come into play?
“I posted my film from Saturday and Coach Fran saw it,” Bermudez said. “It was a breakout game and he liked what he saw, so he reached out and asked me to call him. Then the next day, they offered.”
Cedar Creek’s QB Louie Barrios hands off to Jojo Bermudez in the Central Jersey Group 2 final football game between Camden and Cedar Creek. Egg Harbor City, NJ. Saturday, November 30, 2019.David Gard | For NJ Advance Media
His first Power 5 offer was a long time coming after almost a decade crafting his skills.
“It felt good, I’ve been waiting for it,” he said.
But Bermudez didn’t grow up dreaming of attending Rutgers; he was a baby when Schiano first steered Rutgers into a respectable program earlier this century. However, the staff managed to separate itself in short time.
Syracuse, UConn, Central Michigan, UMass and Princeton offered first but were swiftly out-recruited by Fran Brown and Greg Schiano.
“I like other schools, too,” Bermudez said, “but the way Rutgers recruits compared to the other schools, it’s way different. Other schools, they offer me but don’t really talk to me. But Rutgers, they got me on a Zoom call right away — my sister and I. They were asking us a bunch of questions and teaching me about Rutgers. No other school did that.
“They were just real,” he said. “They didn’t sugarcoat anything. They didn’t tell me any lies.”
Plus, Bermudez wants to be surrounded by “ballers.”
“They are recruiting straight ballers,” he said. “They aren’t rushing anything. They want to pick wisely. And they like my speed, my toughness and how I approach every game.”
And how’s that?
“I’m a playmaker so however I touch the ball, I’m goin to try to score every single time,” he said.
Bermudez can fly, is a great route runner, and has really good hands, ball skills, ability after the catch and any time he’s in the open-field. And in case you were wondering, he can play defense, too.
“Fran said I might be able to play (defense too),” he said. “He said I’m a baller so I can do it all at Rutgers.”
In landing Bermudez, Rutgers adds to a long list of skill players it’s snagged from Cedar Creek — both Bo and Malachi Melton as well as Damon and Ahmir Mitchell, who transferred in. Former Rutgers offensive lineman Owen Bowles also hails from the school.
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