As Rutgers head coach Chris Ash works to rebuild the program, there are several areas in which he and the staff have targeted in order to improve. The overall talent level and depth of the program are obvious ones. Size and strength are others. However, one area that Rutgers desperately needs on the field is speed. While Janarion Grant is one of the best breakaway players in all of college football, Rutgers needs more top speed athletes to compete in the Big Ten.

One of the key recruits in the class of 2017 is 4-star receiver Bo Melton from Cedar Creek high school. He is a true Rutgers legacy, as his father played for the football program, while his mother played at the RAC for the women’s basketball team, both in the late eighties through the early nineties. Melton emerged as a leader in the 2017 recruiting class, the highest ranked group that Rutgers has landed in five years. He was a two-time First Team All-State selection in football and his breakaway speed became his trademark on the field.

It should be no surprise that Melton’s speed translates on the track as well and he has been having a dominant senior campaign for Cedar Creek. He won both the 100m and 200m races at the Cape-Atlantic League Individual Track & Field Championships in mid-May. He ran the 100m in 10.7 seconds and the 200m in 21.71 seconds, winning both races on his 18th birthday!

Yesterday, Melton continued to shine on the track, winning the New Jersey Group II state championship in the 100m.

Group 2 State Champion In The 100 #Blessed — Bo Melton (@getbusy__bo) June 2, 2017

You can watch Melton win the title in this video. He is in the white shorts in lane 4.

Cedar Creek's Bo Melton lunges at the line to win the boys Group 2 100 meters in 10.87. pic.twitter.com/ZCvSEG4TBp — Joe Tansey (@JTansey90) June 2, 2017

With his high school days coming to an end, Rutgers fans should be foaming at the mouth in knowing he will be in scarlet and white for the next four years. Melton has a legitimate chance to play right away in the 2017 season and makes the receiving core an even more intriguing group. Along with senior Janarion Grant, grad transfer Damon Mitchell and sophomore Jawuan Harris, adding Melton to this group should give new offensive coordinator Jerry Kill lots of weapons in the passing game. If Michigan transfer and former 4-star recruit Ahmir Mitchell is healthy enough to play next season, it would be even more of a boon for Kill.

We have posted Melton’s football highlights before, but watching him burst by defenders on the football field never gets old.

Congratulations to Bo Melton on becoming a state champion in the 100m and Rutgers fans cannot wait until he officially arrives on the banks this summer! Seeing him the uniform on a regular basis on Saturdays will be a welcomed sight for sure.