Greg Schiano was already making his presence felt on the recruiting trail during the 2021 cycle, but Rutgers received a big-time commit on Thursday evening.

Four-star outside linebacker Khayri Banton committed to Rutgers, becoming the eighth player in the 2021 class to verbally pledge to the Scarlet Knights. He’s the highest-rated player to commit to Rutgers in this cycle and is currently the only four-star recruit for Schiano and company.

“This process and decision was not easy but, I stayed home and represented my city through high school football,” Banton wrote on Twitter. “Now I’ve decided to stay home and represent my home state. I have committed to Rutgers University!”

Banton is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound native of Newark, New Jersey. He is ranked as one of the top 300 players in the 2021 class per 247Sports’ Composite rankings, coming in at No. 289. He’s also listed as the No. 23 outside linebacker and the seventh-best prospect out of New Jersey.

During his recruitment, Banton has received offers from 12 schools, including Miami, Purdue, Tennessee, Syracuse, Boston College and others. But he’ll be staying within the state boundaries and joining the Scarlet Knights.

Schiano has made it a point to recruit the state of New Jersey well, and he’s done an outstanding job already. Of Rutgers’ eight commitments, six are in-state products.

With Banton’s commitment, Rutgers now owns the No. 5 class in the B1G and No. 12 nationally.