On Tuesday afternoon, Rutgers Football was able to flip the commitment of running back Aiden Gibson away from Penn State, as he took to social media to announce his decision.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound running back from Woodruff, South Carolina would have been the highest ranked recruit for the Scarlet Knights in the 2027 class, however he will instead reclassify and join the program immediately and be with the team for training camp next month, sources tell The Knight Report.
Gibson’s ranking will change a little bit with the reclassification, but as for his current ranking, he’s No. 142 overall recruit and also the No. 8 running back in the country.
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Aiden Gibson’s recruitment
Rutgers was long considered a favorite for Gibson during his recruitment, as he’s been to campus to four times over the past couple of months and three times this calendar year alone.
“Rutgers has done a great job recruiting me,” said Gibson. “They have been recruiting me hard and they see I am a family guy. They are big on culture and have really been building relationships with me. Coach (Damiere) Shaw has been there for six years. Also he has produced some real good backs. We have a great relationship, and it is not just him, but the whole staff recruits me.”
Gibson actually had a commitment date set for May 1st originally and all signs pointed towards the Scarlet Knights winning this one, but a late push from Penn State made him push back the date and that’s when he ended up a Nittany Lion.
“When I got up there for my unofficial [visit], Penn State knew that they were a little late with the process,” said Gibson, who was offered by the Nittany Lions in late January. “But ever since they offered me, they worked their butt off. They recruited me so hard, and so I had to take that visit. That visit then ended up being the best visit I took.”
However in the end, the relationships that Gibson had with the Scarlet Knights coaching staff would end up winning out, as he not only flipped, but will enroll within the next week or so to officially become a Rutgers student-athlete.
“I love coach Shaw, and they’ve been recruiting me hard for a while,” Gibson said. “Honestly, I got to know him deeper than probably any coach I’ve met. I also had a feeling for a while now that I wasn’t going to stay close to home.”
Gibson’s Future Outlook
Gibson will join a Rutgers running back room that saw their last two starters (Isiah Pacheco, Kyle Monangai) both get drafted, with current starter Antwan Raymond more than likely going to be added to that list soon.
Now Raymond technically has two (maybe three) more years remaining, but he will likely leave for the NFL sooner rather than later, with most projecting this 2026 season to be his last. However with Gibson enrolling early, this would give him a chance to learn behind a very talented running back in Raymond.
As for what does Gibson bring to the table? Rivals National Scouting Director Charles Power broke down his game recently.
“For a big back, he has some skills you don’t typically see from guys his size, especially when it comes to his footwork, his ability to pick his way through the line and then change directions. I really like the skill set. He’s a guy we bumped up to a four-star prospect after having him as a high three-star during his junior season. We feel like he’s shown real promise, and this offseason, all we’ve seen from him is that he continues to improve. His style of play projects well in the Big Ten. I like Aiden Gibson’s position-specific skills a lot when it comes to his vision and instincts.”
All in all, sounds like Rutgers was able to get a really talented running back prospect here and not just that, they were also able to flip him from a fellow Big Ten Conference member, and they also get him to campus a year earlier than expected.