PISCATAWAY, N.J. (September 4, 2012) – Rutgers head football coach Kyle Flood announced Tuesday that former St. Peter’s Prep standout Sheldon Royster (Woodbridge, N.J.) has transferred to Rutgers. Royster will have to sit out the 2012 season per NCAA transfer regulations and will have three years of eligibility starting in 2013.

Royster joins two of his high school teammates “On the Banks” in running back Savon Huggins and offensive lineman Keith Lumpkin.

Royster, who left South Carolina after preseason camp, redshirted for the Gamecocks in 2011.

Royster played both running back and safety for headcoach Rich Hansen at St. Peter’s Prep.

A four-star recruit, Royster was rated the No. 6 player in the Garden State by Rivals.com and the nation’s 12^th-best safety prospect coming out of high school. Rutgers has four of the top six New Jersey Rivals.com recruits on its roster from the 2011 recruiting class.

Scout.com rated Royster the seventh-best safety prospect in the nation and a four-star prospect.

Sheldon Royster
5-11, 185
Defensive Back
Woodbridge, N.J./St. Peter’s Prep (South Carolina)

Two-way standout at defensive back and running back for head coach Rich Hansen at St. Peter’s Prep … joins former Prep teammates Savon Huggins and Keith Lumpkin at RU … 20 tackles and two interceptions in an injury-shortened senior season … Star-Ledger Second Team All-State selection as a junior … totaled 64 tackles, three interceptions and five pass breakups as a junior … also rushed for 393 yards and three touchdowns and caught 14 passes for 252 yards and another two scores during his junior campaign … consensus four-star recruit … rated the No. 6 player in the Garden State by Rivals.com and the nation’s 12^th-best safety prospect coming out of high school … Rutgers has four of the top six New Jersey Rivals.com recruits on its roster from the 2011 recruiting class … Scout.com’s seventh-best safety prospect in the nation and a four-star prospect.