Former Old Bridge and Rutgers quarterback Art Sitkowski (9) takes a snap in relief of injured Brandon Peters in a Big Ten game against Nebraska on Saturday, August 28, 2021 in Champaign, IL. (Photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)
The name Art Sitkowski has been well-known to local high school football fans in Central Jersey.
He first came on the scene in 2014, before he was even a freshman at Old Bridge, when he received his first college offer from Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood after making a big impression at a summer skills camp.
Sitkowski backed up senior Mike Gargano in the fall, then started for two seasons for the Knights, leading them to the Central Jersey Group 5 final his sophomore year, where they fell to fellow GMC Red Division foe South Brunswick at Rutgers.
He would end up back in Piscataway after playing his senior year at IMG Academy in Florida, and decommitting from Miami.
But after a tumultuous run with the Scarlet Knights, thrust into the starting job as a true freshman, and sitting out the bulk of the year after Chris Ash was fired by Rutgers, Sitkowski entered the transfer portal and ended up at Illinois, winning the No. 2 quarterback spot behind Brandon Peters.
Last Saturday, he was a key player again, as coach Bret Bielema pulled him off the bench following a shoulder injury Peters suffered in the first quarter. All Sitkowski did was rally the Illini to a 30-22 win over Nebraska.
Art joined Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko on “This Week in the Big Central” driven by Mark Montenero and his team at the word-famous Autoland to talk about the win, his preparation, how he got to Illinois, and about his younger brother Aleks, who will be the starting quarterback Friday night as a sophomore for Piscataway when the Chiefs open the season against Phillipsburg.
You can hear the “Big Central Game of the Week” driven by Autoland Friday night at 6 pm on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe calling all the action. Air-time for the pregame show is 6:45, and you can listen live and free by clicking here.
Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko’s complete interview with Art Sitkowski:
Classy kid.