2026 QB Gavin Sidwar explains decommitment from Rutgers

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Class of 2026 three-star pro-style quarterback Gavin Sidwar is reopening his recruitment. He announced his decommitment from Rutgers on Sunday night.

Sidwar had been committed to the Scarlet Knights since July 1, but has now let head coach Greg Schiano, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kirk Ciarrocca and the rest of the staff know that he has decided to back off of his pledge.

“After careful consideration, I decided to decommit from Rutgers,” Sidwar posted on X. “I appreciate all the coaches and staff that recruited me — there are great people in that building. I think it’s best that I reopen my recruitment at this time.”

As a 2026 prospect, there is still plenty of time remaining before the La Salle College High School (Wyndmoor, Pa.) product needs to make a decision, and Sidwar wants to explore his options as his recruitment progresses.

Sidwar wants to visit other programs and make sure that he goes through the whole process. Out of respect to Rutgers, he does not want to do that while still pledged to the Scarlett Knights.

“Rutgers was great to me from the time they started recruiting me, but I felt like I needed to take more visits and I didn’t want to do it as a ‘committed’ prospect,” Sidwar told Rivals about his decision to decommit.

There are no favorites or schools sticking the most right now for Sidwar. He wants to take his time and find the best school for him.

With La Salle on a bye week this coming weekend, Sidwar plans to make a visit somewhere, though he is not quite sure which school that will be yet.

Other schools have been showing interest in Sidwar for quite some time, but while he was committed to Rutgers, the quarterback did not engage in conversations with those programs. However, that did not stop college coaches from reaching out to La Salle head coach Brett Gordon.

“I’m going to let the dust settle,” Sidwar said when asked about any upcoming trips. “My coach said schools are inquiring, but they were being respectful to my situation. I’m sure I’ll attend a game next Saturday. I have a bye. Just not sure where yet.”

In addition to Rutgers, Sidwar has scholarship offers from Duke, Indiana, Maryland, Pittsburgh, South Florida, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

The 6-foot-3, 187-pound Sidwar ranks as the No. 17 recruit in the state of Pennsylvania and the No. 33 pro-style quarterback in the 2026 cycle.

In 2023, Sidwar set several sophomore passing records at La Salle by completing 186 of 285 passes (65.2%) for 2,439 yards and 29 touchdowns.

As a junior in 2024, Sidwar has helped lead the Explorers to a perfect 10-0 record thus far.

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