Steve Pikiell just wants to live in the moment and focus on the upcoming season and the Rutgers head coach certainly changed his roster building philosophy.
It wasn’t a total overhaul, but the Scarlet Knights’ coach adapted with the times. Landing top recruits Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey could give Rutgers a shot to make a run as a Top 25 team and in the NCAA Tournament.
But perhaps they’ll only be in New Jersey for one year and go to the NBA. But Pikiell was used to something like that due to the NCAA transfer portal.
“But with the portal, I think everyone’s one and done,” Pikiell said on Sirius XM’s Big Ten Radio. “And that’s how we’re approaching this whole thing … I don’t put up grades up next to players anymore. This is our team this year and the end of the year, hopefully some of these guys will want to stay and continue. But you can’t plan your program around that anymore.
“They get better deals somewhere … there’s a lot of people involved. You know, I still try to get kids that the mom and dad are a part of the equation but you know, it’s an ever changing world in college athletics.”
Both Harper and Bailey are five-star prospects and the No. 3 and 2 overall recruits in the Class of 2024, respectively. The only player ahead of them was Duke’s Cooper Flagg.
Pikiell, who’s been the head coach at Rutgers since the 2016-17 season, resurrected the Big Ten program. He led the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA Tournament two years in a row (2021 and ‘22) and likely would’ve made the canceled 2020 tournament.
But after an NIT first round loss in 2023 and a down ‘24 campaign, Pikiell could have his best team yet due to top recruits Harper and Bailey, as well as a bevy of transfers.
But the catch is, he’ll have to, likely, do it all again to reshape next year’s roster. And he won’t be the only coach to do so.
“You gotta appreciate the team that said yes to you this year, coach the heck out of them, have some fun with them,” Pikiell said. “And that’s what I’m looking to do. And I don’t think he’s just Ace and Dylan. I think everyone’s kind of one and done and that’s how you kind of have to approach it.”
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