Rutgers dismisses former 4-star LB following arrest

© Tom Horak | For/nj.com/TNS Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano addresses the media during the press conference to announce Kirk Ciarrocca as the new Offensive Coordinator at Rutgers University on 1/16/23.

Rutgers linebacker Anthony Johnson was arrested Monday on charges of simple assault and theft relating to an incident last week, according to court records obtained by NJ Advance Media, and head coach Greg Schiano announced that Johnson has been dismissed from the program for “a violation of team rules.”

Schiano did not elaborate on the reasons for the dismissal, but Rutgers police logs say the incident occurred on Jan. 23 on the university’s Livingston Campus in Piscataway.

The biography for Johnson, a former four-star recruit, immediately was scrubbed from the team website.

A Philadelphia native who was a standout at Neumann Goretti High School, Johnson was the third-highest ranked recruit in the Scarlet Knights’ 2021 class. He participated in four games during the 2022 season, using his redshirt. Most of his action came on special teams.

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He becomes the second Scarlet Knights player arrested in the past nine months. Wide receiver Tahjay Moore was arrested on simple assault in April and also was dismissed from the program.

Johnson is the second former four-star linebacker that Rutgers has lost this offseason after Newark native Khayri Banton entered the transfer portal in December. Despite the players’ high recruiting rankings, the Scarlet Knights have enough depth at linebacker to withstand the losses.

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Moses Walker, another former four-star linebacker, is expected to return from a torn ACL that kept him out of the entire 2022 season. Veteran Mohamed Toure, who suffered the same injury in the spring game, will return, along with Tyreem Powell, who had a standout sophomore season (six tackles for loss, three sacks, four passes defended), and senior Deion Jennings, who will use his final season of collegiate eligibility.

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Brian Fonseca may be reached at bfonseca@njadvancemedia.com.

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