Photo courtesy of Butler football, used with permission

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Juwan Mitchell won't play for Rutgers in 2019. He will instead return to Butler junior college for his sophomore season at the school. Rutgers began inquiring about Mitchell in October, around the time NJ.com released a list of top junior college players from New Jersey. And he's been a top prospect of interest ever since. The 6-1, 228-pounder took an official visit in November where he finally received his offer, and committed. He's a close friend and former teammate of Rutgers sophomore receiver Eddie Lewis, both at Mater Dei Prep (Middletown, N.J.) and at Milford Academy (New Milford, N.Y.).

Mitchell was recruited in-part by Rutgers defensive coordinator Jay Niemann, who has since been replaced. Although a qualifier -- meaning he is allowed to leave Butler before graduating -- academics, allegedly, played a small role in Mitchell not attending Rutgers.

According to a source with knowledge of the events, Mitchell was one class short. Although he carries a 3.2 grade point average, Rutgers doesn't accept community college math. So he would have had to taken an additional course to be admitted. He would have had to find a way to take an extra math and pay for it out of his own pocket, or return to Butler, where the expense of the course would be covered while he could still play this upcoming season. And he chose to go back and play.

When we caught up with Mitchell Monday morning, he said: "Nothing happened. I've just got to do what’s best for me."

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UCLA TE transfer and N.J. native Matt Alaimo recaps Friday's Rutgers visit

'I like how it's closer to home'

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The initial offer

During the exit interview of his November official visit, Mitchell received the news he had been waiting a few years to hear -- that he had snagged a Rutgers scholarship offer.

"They offered me today." Mitchell said. "Coach Ash, he's a real dude. He was just talking about their two senior linebackers who are actually pretty good right now. But they're leaving. They need somebody like me to just come in and go to work. And that's what I do."

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Mitchell committed on official visit

Mitchell got to catch up with old friends from New Jersey while at Rutgers for his official visit, which made his ultimate decision to accept the offer an easy one.

"It was lit. Really, just a family. It's a family. There is no sugarcoating anything. Everyone is real about everything. Every five steps I was taking at the game. Like, everyone. 'Oh word, JuJu, you coming back home? You don't get that everywhere, so I committed." Mitchell told NJ.com in November.

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Other offers at time of commitment

Old Dominion and New Mexico were the two teams which had offers out to Mitchell at the time of his pledge, however, other schools also showed interest.

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Will Rutgers lose the scholarship?

Per NCAA rules, each Div. 1 team is allotted 25 initial counters per year. As long as the players sign, they count against the 25, whether deemed academically eligible or not. So, being that Mitchell signed to Rutgers on Dec. 19, it would seem that he'd count against Rutgers' 25, despite the fact that he won't attend the school in 2019. But, with Mitchell returning to junior college, the program apparently gets the scholarship back. Rutgers will likely move on from linebacker and use the free "ship" to pursue players at other positions. Unfortunately for the staff, Newark (N.J.) Central's Mohammad Kamara was "the other" linebacker target Rutgers was most excited about when Mitchell pledged. However, he's no longer on the board after signing to Temple during the early signing period.

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Todderick Hunt may be reached at thunt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TodderickHunt. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.