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2019-20 Points of Pride

R YEAR IN REVIEW

TEAM NOTABLES

Rutgers Softball vs. Army
Maya Jacobs
PISCATAWAY, NJ - JANUARY 18: The Rutgers Scarlet Knights gymnastics team during a quad meet at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 18, 2020 in Piscataway, NJ. (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights volleyball team take on the Michigan Wolverines at the College Ave Gym on September 25, 2019.(Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
Rutgers cross country competes in Big 10 championship Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Rutgers cross country competes in Big 10 championship Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Jenna Douglas dives in the One Meter Diving Preliminaries during the Big Ten Women?s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Campus Welfare and Recreation Center in Iowa City, IA on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (David Harmantas/Freelance)

R HONORS & AWARDS

  • Wrestling’s Jordan Pagano and women’s soccer’s Amanda Visco were presented the prestigious Big Ten Medal of Honor. This year marks the 106th anniversary of the Big Ten Medal of Honor, awarded annually to one male and one female student-athlete from the graduating class of each member institution who have demonstrated excellence on and off the field throughout their college career. The conference's most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence.

 

  • Rowing’s Rebecca Chanin and men’s lacrosse’s Kieran Mullins were awarded the Scarlet Knights' Big Ten annual postgraduate scholarship. Two student-athletes from each of the 14 conference institutions planning to continue their education at a graduate degree program were each awarded a $7,500 scholarship. Students must have maintained at least a 3.2 grade-point-average, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intend to continue their academic work beyond their baccalaureate degree at a graduate degree program.

 

  • Women's soccer's Amanda Visco was nominated for the 2020 NCAA Women of the Year Award. The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

 

Jordan Pagano
Amanda Visco
Kieran Mullins vs QU
  • Big Ten Player of the Year
    • Men’s Golf – Christopher Gotterup

 

  • All Americans
    • Field Hockey -  Austyn Cuneo (Second Team), Gianna Glatz (Third Team)
    • Men’s Golf – Christopher Gotterup (Third Team – PING; Honorable Mention - Golfweek)
    • Men’s Track & Field – Taj Burgess (400m), Perry Christie (High Jump)
    • Women’s Basketball – Arella Guirantes (Honorable Mention – AP & USBWA)
    • Women’s Swimming & Diving – Terka Grusova
    • Women’s Track & Field – Courteney Campbell (High Jump)
    • Wrestling:  Nicolas Aguilar, Sammy Alvarez

 

  • All-Big Ten
    • Field Hockey - Gianna Glatz (First Team), Katie Larmour (First Team), Austyn Cuneo (Second Team)
    • Football – Adam Korsak (Second Team)
    • Men’s Basketball – Geo Baker (Third Team – Coaches/Honorable Mention – Media), Ron Harper Jr. (Honorable Mention – Coaches & Media)
    • Men’s Golf - Christopher Gotterup (First Team)
    • Men’s Soccer -  Pablo Avila (Second Team), Hugo Le Guennec (Freshman), Jackson Temple (Freshman)
    • Women’s Basketball – Arella Guirantes (First Team – Media & Coaches), Tekia Mack (All-Defensive)
    • Women’s Soccer – Amirah Ali (First Team), Nneka Moneme (Second Team), Meagan McClelland (Second Team), Amanda Visco (Second Team),Taylor Aylmer (Third Team), Chantelle Swaby (Third Team)
    • Women’s Swimming & Diving – Terka Grusova

 

  • All-Region
    • Field Hockey - Austyn Cuneo (First Team), Katie Larmour (First Team), Gianna Glatz (First Team)
    • Men’s Golf – Tony Jiang, Christopher Gotterup
    • Women’s Basketball – Arella Guirantes
    • Women’s Soccer – Amirah Ali (First Team), Amanda Visco (First Team), Taylor Alymer (Second Team), Nneka Moneme (Second Team), Meagan McClelland (Second Team)

 

  • Other
    • Football: All-ECAC – Tyshon Fogg
    • Men’s Basketball: All-Met - Geo Baker (First Team), Ron Harper Jr. (Second Team);Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship – Akwasi Yeboah
    • Men’s Cross Country: All-East – Cole Pschunder, Patrick Walsh
    • Men’s Lacrosse: Tewaaraton Award Watch List – Kieran Mullins, Adam Charalambides
    • Women’s Basketball: All-Met - Arella Guirantes, Tekia Mack; Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship – KK Sanders
    • Women’s Soccer: MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist - Amirah Ali
    • Wrestling: AWN All-Rookie – Nicolas Aguilar, Sammy Alvarez

Baseball

  • Steve Owens (Head Coach) – Baseball America “Most Underrated Coach”

 

Men’s Basketball

  • Steve Pikiell (Head Coach) - Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award; Naismith Coach of the Year Late 2020 Season Watch List; Peter A. Carlesimo Men’s Coach of the Year by the Met Basketball Writers Association
  • Brandin Knight (Assistant Coach) – Pittsburgh Athletics Hall of Fame
  • Ben Asher (Director of Operations and Recruiting) – NABC 30-Under-30

 

Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field

  • Mike Mulqueen (Head X/C & Associate T/F Head Coach) – Manhattan Athletics Hall of Fame

 

Men’s Golf

  • Rob Shutte (Head Coach) – Golfweek Division I Northeast Coach of the Year

 

Men’s Lacrosse

  • Dan Cocchi (Assistant Coach) – Towson Athletics Hall of Fame

 

Men’s Soccer

  • Jim McElderry (Head Coach)– NYC Soccer Gala Honoree

 

Women’s Basketball

  • C. Vivian Stringer (Head Coach) – John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” honoree, NJ General Assembly Black History Month honoree, NJ Hall of Fame nominee,
  • Nadine Domond (Assistant Coach) – Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame

 

Women’s Soccer

  • Mike O’Neill (Head Coach) - NJYS Hall of Fame

Field Hockey

Gianna Glatz - US U-21 Women's National Team

 

Football

Willington Previlon – Signed contract with Green Bay Packers

Kamaal Seymour – Signed contract with Las Vegas Raiders 

 

Women’s Basketball

Erica Wheeler – WNBA All-Star MVP

 

Men’s Golf

Tony Jiang - PGA Tour China Qualifying Status

 

Men’s Lacrosse

Christian Mazzone - Drafted into the Premier Lacrosse League by the Archers

 

Women’s Rowing

Ella Toa - Gold medal at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships with Great Britain

 

Women’s Soccer

Chantelle Swaby - Selected 29th overall by Sky Blue FC in NWSL College Draft - the seventh Scarlet Knight in the last five years to be drafted to the league

Meagan McClelland - Called up to the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team Pre-Qualifying Camp

 

Wrestling

Anthony Ashnault – Olympic Trials qualifier 

Chris Gotterup
Rutgers track and field at the Big Ten Championships at Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio on February 29, 2020.
Terka Grusova
Courteney Campbell
Sammy Alvarez
guirantes
Austyn Cuneo
Pablo Avilia
Adam Korsak

R SMART

  • One hundred thirty-five student-athletes earned degrees from Rutgers University in 2020.
  • For the fifth-straight school year, set a department record with 126 Scarlet Knights representing 22 programs earning Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades, topping the previous mark of 87 honorees in 2018-19. Twenty-four student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in 2019-20, in addition to 41 repeat selections, including 29 two-time selections and 12 three-time honorees. Since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15, 491 Scarlet Knights have been recognized as Distinguished Scholars.
  • A school-record 319 student-athletes of at least sophomore standing earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, comprised of 171 in the spring, 48 in the winter and 100 in the fall.
  • Fifty-five Scarlet Knights from 19 different programs were inducted into the Delta Chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society, the most inductees into the prestigious society since the inaugural 2005 class.
  • Set a school-record with an overall Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 89 with seven programs producing perfect rates of 100 and 17 of 20 teams earning marks of 80 or above. 
  • Achieved a multiyear APR score of 990, seven points above the NCAA average of 983. It was the fourth-straight year the Scarlet Knights achieved a multiyear score of 990 or better with twelve of 22 programs posting multiyear APR scores of 990 or better and 10 programs achieving a score of 995 or higher.
  • Nine Rutgers programs either tied (women's cross country 1000, men's golf 1000, women's golf 1000, gymnastics 1000, women's lacrosse 1000, tennis 1000, volleyball 1000, women's track & field 994) or set (softball 997) program records for multiyear APR rate.
  • Third in the 14-member Big Ten Conference in number of programs to earn NCAA APR recognition with seven programs - women's cross country, men's and women's golf, gymnastics, women's lacrosse, tennis and volleyball – earning acknowledgement.
Graduation
FB - Grad
Graduation

R BIG BUILDING

  • Celebrated the completion of the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center on Sept. 12 with a ribbon-cutting grand opening grand. The 307,000-square-foot, four-story sports facility and parking deck serves as headquarters for a world-class sports medicine program and provides state-of-the-art practice facilities, training areas, locker room and office space for men's and women's basketball, wrestling and gymnastics. The RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center represents a partnership between Rutgers and RWJBarnabas Health to create a comprehensive sports medicine program to serve Rutgers athletes, students and communities throughout New Jersey. RWJBarnabas Health is the exclusive health care provider for Rutgers University Athletics.
  • Hosted a topping off celebration for the Gary and Barbara Rodkin Academic Success Center symbolizing the placement of the final piece of structural steel. The 80,000-square foot building will serve all Rutgers student-athletes and provide a range of resources, including academic advising, learning specialists, peer-to-peer learning lounge, one-on-one and group tutoring, workshops and seminars, and meeting space to host career networking nights with players and alumni. The “Rodkin” will also include a sports medicine suite, strength and conditioning suite, hydrotherapy area with two plunge pools, a 56-seat tiered film room and a nutrition center. The state-of-the-art facility is slated for completion in December 2020.
  • Secured a multi-year partnership with SHI International Corp., making the IT solutions provider the Official Naming Rights Partner of Rutgers Stadium, home to Rutgers football and men's and women's lacrosse.
  • Selected AECOM to conduct a comprehensive analysis of all venues. AECOM, a global leader in sports facility design, will provide Master Planning services to assess existing athletic facilities and develop scenarios for their renovation as well as establish the scope and siting of new facilities. 
  • Opened the Brown Family Football Locker Room in the Hale Center featuring over 120 fully custom, illuminated lockers with ventilated storage compartments along with built-in iPad charging ports, lockable storage, custom etched graphics and an embossed Scarlet Knight logo. The team meeting area is framed by 24 high definition video screens with the locker room featuring a state-of-the-art sound system powered by 26 speakers throughout the space.
  • Both Baseball’s Bainton Field and Softball’s Rutgers Softball complex received home field upgrades. Bainton Field’s makeover included replacing the existing turf, new dimensions and fencing, while the Rutgers Softball Complex saw the installation of a brand new all-weather turf field along with new padding, fencing and backstop netting.
  • Broke ground on the new softball, field hockey and women’s cross country/track and field locker rooms at the RAC in addition to construction beginning on the new golf facility benefitting both the men’s and women’s programs. 
  • Culminated a year-long celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first college football game, with the Ringing of the Bells at Old Queens and the unveiling of a new plaque at the site where RU won the historic first game over Princeton, 6-4, on Nov. 6, 1869.
The RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center in Piscataway NJ on Thursday September 12, 2019. (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights celebrate the 150th Anniversary of College Football in New Brunswick, NJ on November 6, 2019. (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights take on the UMass Minutemen at HSI Stadium in Piscataway, NJ on Friday August 31, 2019. (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

SUPPORTING R SCARLET KNIGHTS

  • Started the new fiscal year with an updated and refreshed R Fund logo  and launched "The Bells Must Ring" campaign with a focus on showcasing how Rutgers Nation directly impacts student-athlete success "On the Banks" through strength in numbers. 
  • Used the campaign to increase donor participation in support of athletic scholarships, the Big Ten Champions Fund, the Department of Leadership Development and Strategic Partnerships and Rutgers’ 27 athletic teams with a record-breaking year in raising over one million dollars.  
  • Totaled 9,842 R Fund donors, the highest count since 2016. Additionally, Athletics was the only Chancellor led unit at Rutgers to have an increase in donors in 2020.
  • R Fund supporters contributed to a record-breaking Rutgers Giving Day in June with over 1,100 contributors.
  • Announced a $4 million gift from the Bender Trust to support the David T Bender Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund will create eight sport specific endowments in the amount of $500,000 each to support men's golf, men's lacrosse, women's tennis, women's gymnastics, men's wrestling, women's field hockey, men's soccer, and men's track & field.
  • Secured a $1.5 million dollar leadership gift from Ron and Pat Bainton and the support of other R Fund donors for Rutgers Baseball and Rutgers Softball to receive essential upgrades to their playing facilities.
  • Celebrated the grand opening of the Brown Family Football Locker Room thanks to a $4 million dollar gift from Greg and Anna Brown at the annual 50 Yard Line Dinner.
  • Partnered with Gourmet Catering, the R Fund provides the opportunity for fans to make donations at Rutgers concessions.
  • Hosted the first ever R Fund Appreciation Day to celebrate donors at all membership levels and their support for Scarlet Knight student-athletes.
Rutgers 50 Yard Line Dinner, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, in Piscataway, N.J. (Photo/Mel Evans)

GROWING R FUTURE LEADERS

  • Made an impact on the national level, including Ryan Cassidy of football as the Big Ten’s representative on the National SAAC and Zippy Broughton on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee.
  • Launched the R Scarlet Knight Network, a mentoring program which currently includes over 180 professionals in over 45 industries who are eager to connect Scarlet Knights with professionals in and outside their desired academic fields.   
  • Kicked off an Inclusive Excellence Speaker Series featuring speakers from athletics staff, campus partners, alumni, and donors touching upon their stories of success and how their various identities they hold may intersect with sport. Recent speakers included gymnastics head coach Umme Salim-Beasley on being a female in coaching and cross country and track & field assistant coach Marina Muncan on her experience as an international student-athlete.

IN R COMMUNITY 

  • Scarlet Knights teams participated in over 1560 hours of community service across nearly 90 events. 
  • Four teams were nationally ranked among Division I’s top participants in volunteer service activities in their respective sport including men’s lacrosse at No. 3, gymnastics and women’s tennis at No. 6 and women’s lacrosse at No. 7.
  • The mascot along with cheer & dance teams combined for 123 appearances. All four spirit squads travelled to Orlando, Florida for Nationals with all teams qualifying for finals.  
  • Hosted "Knock Out Opioid Abuse" town hall sponsored by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and the Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey focusing upon the athletic connection to opioid use and fostered an opportunity for students and athletes to voice thoughts and perspectives about how this epidemic impacts their lives.  The event featured remarks from New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and panelists included Rutgers University Senior Vice President and General Counsel John J. Hoffman, Rutgers radio analyst and former NFL quarterback Ray Lucas and Rutgers Men's Basketball Director of Player Development Greg Vetrone.
  • Became a member of the first Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases formed by the Big Ten Conference with representatives from each conference institution to provide guidance and sound medical advice to ensure the health, safety and wellness of the Big Ten’s students, coaches, administrators and fans.
  • Joined the Big Ten-Ivy League Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Research Collaboration, comprised of the nation’s most elite athletic and academic universities, and is participating in its Big Ten-Ivy League Epidemiology of Concussions study. The multi-institutional effort broadens the sports concussion data registry to all documented concussions sustained by athletes in varsity sports at 18 participating Ivy League and Big Ten schools.
  • Ten Scarlet Knight student-athletes and staff members were named to the Big Ten Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition, helping to seek tangible ways to actively and constructively combat racism and hate around the world while also empowering student-athletes to express their rights to free speech and peaceful protest.

R FANS

  • Men’s Basketball sold-out a record 10 games at the RAC, including the final nine of the regular season. The Scarlet Knights welcomed 8,329 fans in the Garden State Hardwood Classic victory over Seton Hall, its largest crowd in 18 seasons.
  • Wrestling surpassed its season tickets sold record for the fifth-consecutive year with 3,022 season tickets and finished in the top five in national home attendance for the fifth-straight season competing in front of 5,000+ fans seven times since 2018.
  • The RAC played host to a sold-out 2020 Big Ten Wrestling Championships at the RAC, as the two-day, four session tournament brought close to 20,000 fans to campus.
  • Football increased total number of football season tickets selling 1873 new season tickets to-date, the highest total since 2015. Ninety percent of season ticket holders renewed for the 2020 campaign, the highest renewal percentage since 2014-15.
PISCATAWAY, NJ - JANUARY 19: The Rutgers Scarlet Knights men’s basketball team take on the Minnesota Gophers at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 19, 2020 in Piscataway, NJ. (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

R GAME DAY INNOVATION

  • Rolled out mobile-only ticketing, enabling contactless entry into all venues beginning with the 2020 football season, offering greater convenience and safety. Mobile tickets provide a greater ease of use for fans who will be able to access parking lots and enter venues with the use of their phone. 
  • Formed a partnership with Park Hub to enable digital parking entry on game day, digital transfer of parking and cashless entry. 
  • Integrated My Account 2.0 heading into the 2020 season enabling simple ticket management for fans including Text Delivery Transfers, Stub Hub Resale and more. 
  • Debuted new Scarlet Knights mobile app that saw over 7,900 users during the 2019-20 season.
  • Enhanced WiFi capabilities at the RAC increasing mobile usage by fans including an added pregame light show.
  • Won a Silver Medal in the NACMA "Best Of" Awards for Fan Giveaway promotion of "Does Central Jersey exist?"
  • Celebrated 150 years of college football with “Birthplace of College Football” billboards around the country. 
App

R NEWS

  • From August 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020, ScarletKnights.com generated over 8,200,000 page views, including nearly one million clicks over the almost 200 stories published between March 15 and June 15 during the Coronavirus pandemic.  In total, over 1,300 previews, recaps, press releases or features were posted to the official Athletics web site. 
  • Featured on BTN 56 times during the course of the 2019-20 season reaching 60 million households across the United States. Ratings for men’s basketball increased over 35 percent while viewership for football improved by over 12 percent.
  • During the 2019-20 athletics season, RVision was scheduled to produce 105 live games for the BTN Plus streaming service and edited nearly 100 video features for its YouTube channel. Featured videos included game highlights/recaps along with 28 weekly Top Plays and nearly 90 press conferences/media availabilities. In addition, RVision also oversaw over 60 in-venue productions for games and events at the RAC and SHI Stadium.
  • Launched a new web show, "Knightlife" to tell the Rutgers Athletics Story. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning sports journalist Bruce Beck, condensed episodes of the show, "Slice of Knightlife," streamed weekly during the 2019-20 season, with one full, featured episode streaming each month that included a conversation with Director of Athletics Pat Hobbs.
  • Began the “Inside Rutgers Athletics” Podcast powered by Learfield/IMG College providing audio from Rutgers Athletics radio shows, radio network post-game recaps, exclusive 1-on-1 interviews with Rutgers head coaches and administrators and home to The Steve Pikiell Podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and iTunes with nearly 21,800 downloads in inaugural year.
  • Showcased great moments in Rutgers Athletics on BTN on May 9, June 9 and July 23 with a 24-hour schedule featuring classic games as well as the debut of the 1982 AIAW Championship victory.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights Women's basketball team media day at the Athletic Performance Center in Piscataway, NJ on October 24, 2019. (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
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