Photo by: Ben Solomon
Pikiell Recaps Historic Season For Men's Basketball
Apr 07 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers men's basketball recently completed a historic campaign that will be remembered 'On the Banks' for years to come. Following the conclusion of the college basketball season, head coach Steve Pikiell connected with the voice of Rutgers basketball Jerry Recco to review it all.
Rutgers qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991. The Scarlet Knights earned their first NCAA Tournament win since 1983 by defeating Clemson in the First Round.
"It was tremendously exciting to hear our name called," Pikiell recalled. "The amount of joy from Rutgers fans was unbelievable to see. I was happy for them, for our players and everyone in the state of New Jersey. Our guys did it on and off the court and they made history."
The Scarlet Knights went 16-12 overall, posting a KenPom ranking of 38 and NET ranking of 40. The team spent 11 weeks nationally ranked or receiving votes in the AP Poll, peaking at No. 11 in the nation. In the regular season, RU earned wins over five teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament - No. 1 seed Illinois, No. 4 seed Purdue, No. 10 seed Maryland, No. 11 seed Michigan State and No. 11 seed Syracuse. The Scarlet Knights then defeated No. 7 seed Clemson in the opening round, the highest seeded team defeated in the NCAA Tournament since 1979, before falling to an eventual Final Four team in No. 2 seed Houston. Rutgers led the Big Ten in blocked shots, finishing ninth nationally with 5.1 blocks per game, and paced the league in total steals with 213, 31st nationally.
"I'm proud of our team and what they were able to do," Pikiell said. "This year was as trying as could be for all college sports. The sacrifices that were made by our players were unbelievable. There was a great sense of accomplishment for a team that hadn't been there for a long time and the job that they did. I'm really proud of the progress that has been made here and very excited about the future."
Looking ahead, the future remains bright for the Scarlet Knights. The experiences of this season position the program for even more success in years to come.
"Our program took a step, and hopefully now we can continue and take that next step," Pikiell concluded. "It's always about the journey that gets you to where you want to be. We just checked a big one off the list. We know what it takes to get to the NCAA Tournament. We know what it takes to win a game there. We know what it takes to compete in a game to get to the Sweet 16. Hopefully those experiences will help us moving forward. We feel really good about the guys that are in our program. We feel good about where we are headed. Rutgers is in such a good place. We've proven now we can play in the postseason, win in the postseason. We're going to get The RAC jumping again. I'm excited about having the next group of guys jump on board and continuing that journey. "
Rutgers qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991. The Scarlet Knights earned their first NCAA Tournament win since 1983 by defeating Clemson in the First Round.
"It was tremendously exciting to hear our name called," Pikiell recalled. "The amount of joy from Rutgers fans was unbelievable to see. I was happy for them, for our players and everyone in the state of New Jersey. Our guys did it on and off the court and they made history."
The Scarlet Knights went 16-12 overall, posting a KenPom ranking of 38 and NET ranking of 40. The team spent 11 weeks nationally ranked or receiving votes in the AP Poll, peaking at No. 11 in the nation. In the regular season, RU earned wins over five teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament - No. 1 seed Illinois, No. 4 seed Purdue, No. 10 seed Maryland, No. 11 seed Michigan State and No. 11 seed Syracuse. The Scarlet Knights then defeated No. 7 seed Clemson in the opening round, the highest seeded team defeated in the NCAA Tournament since 1979, before falling to an eventual Final Four team in No. 2 seed Houston. Rutgers led the Big Ten in blocked shots, finishing ninth nationally with 5.1 blocks per game, and paced the league in total steals with 213, 31st nationally.
"I'm proud of our team and what they were able to do," Pikiell said. "This year was as trying as could be for all college sports. The sacrifices that were made by our players were unbelievable. There was a great sense of accomplishment for a team that hadn't been there for a long time and the job that they did. I'm really proud of the progress that has been made here and very excited about the future."
Looking ahead, the future remains bright for the Scarlet Knights. The experiences of this season position the program for even more success in years to come.
"Our program took a step, and hopefully now we can continue and take that next step," Pikiell concluded. "It's always about the journey that gets you to where you want to be. We just checked a big one off the list. We know what it takes to get to the NCAA Tournament. We know what it takes to win a game there. We know what it takes to compete in a game to get to the Sweet 16. Hopefully those experiences will help us moving forward. We feel really good about the guys that are in our program. We feel good about where we are headed. Rutgers is in such a good place. We've proven now we can play in the postseason, win in the postseason. We're going to get The RAC jumping again. I'm excited about having the next group of guys jump on board and continuing that journey. "
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