Rutgers will play its 115th season of collegiate men's basketball in 2021-22. The Scarlet Knights enter the campaign under head coach Steve Pikiell. Named the 19th head coach in the history of Rutgers men's basketball on March 22, 2016, Pikiell came to "The Banks" from Stony Brook, where he made six postseason appearances in his last seven years. Pikiell has taken the Rutgers men’s basketball team to heights they haven’t seen in decades, most recently winning an NCAA Tournament game in 2020-21 against Clemson the first tournament win for RU since 1983.
Rutgers first took to the court for the first time in the 1906-07 season. On the losing end of three games that year and with a 3-12 record the next, play was suspended for the next five years.
The Scarlet Knights resumed action in 1913-14 and played in consecutive years through 1943-44 when World War II broke the string of 30-straight seasons of play.
Since that inauspicious start, Rutgers has had considerable success and enters the 2016-17 campaign with 1199 victories. Along the way, there have been 20 postseason tournaments. Six Rutgers teams have earned berths in the NCAA Tournament and 14 have been invited to the NIT.
The Scarlet Knights did have considerable success in the first full decade of play, winning 86 and losing 46 in the twenties. Frank Hill's 28-year tenure produced a 223-162 record between 1916 and 1943 and Ed Benzoni's 693 career points remained a Scarlet record for a period of 26 years. The next decade saw Rutgers win 56 percent of their outings and the forties also witnessed wins more than half of the time.
During the fifties, the Scarlet struggled, despite the emergence of such athletes as Bucky Hatchett, Larry Gordon and Swede Sundstrom, all still prominent on the all-time leaders lists.
| BOB LLOYD AND JIM VALVANO TAKE RUTGERS TO NEW HEIGHTS |
Things began to take an upward turn with the arrival of head coach Bill Foster in 1963-64. The school's ninth head coach had much to do with putting Scarlet basketball on the map. He went from a 12-12 slate in his second season to a 17-7 mark in 1965-66 as Bob Lloyd and Jim Valvano entered their sophomore seasons.
Lloyd, whose jersey number 14 was the first to be retired (Feb. 21, 1987), led the Scarlet out of obscurity, scoring 601 points and averaging 25 points a game as a sophomore, tossing in 26.5 points a game for 635 junior points and then scoring a record 809 points for a 27.9 average as a senior, when he became the first Rutgers basketball All-American.
The 1966-67 season put Rutgers and Lloyd in the national spotlight. Rutgers put together a 22-7 mark and earned its first-ever post-season berth; Lloyd and Valvano combined for 1,335 points while taking the Scarlet to a third place finish in the National Invitation Tournament in Madison Square Garden.
1966-67 Season blog by team manager John Zinn
Foster's teams would post a 120-75 record over the eight seasons, following the 22-win season with a 21-4 mark in 1968-69, the heydays of Bob Greacen and Dick Stewart.
The sixties showed a splendid 70-32 record. Foster was succeeded in 1971 by his top assistant, Dick Lloyd, who with his aide Dick Vitale, posted a two-year 29-22 record. They were responsible for the arrival of Phil Sellers on the Scarlet scene. Sellers, Mike Dabney, Jeff Kleinbaum, Mike Palko and Bruce Scherer were the 1972 recruits and the group would mature into the nucleus of the squad which would shock the nation four years later by winning 31 consecutive games and reaching the Final Four. Sellers became the second Scarlet Knight to have his jersey (12) retired on Jan. 16, 1988.
Jordan, who later became a Rutgers assistant and head coach, as well as a head coach in the NBA with the 76ers, Wizards and Kings, would join this cast in 1973 when Tom Young became the 11th Scarlet head coach. Hollis Copeland joined the group in 1974 and James Bailey and Abdel Anderson were 1975 additions.
| 1976 - RUTGERS UNBEATEN REGULAR SEASON, FINAL FOUR APPEARANCE |
With Sellers, Dabney, Jordan, Copeland, Bailey and Anderson as the sixth man, the Scarlet Knights raced to Rutgers' highest success with a perfect 26-0 regular season mark in 1975-76. The victory string built to 31-0 before losses to Michigan and UCLA in the Final Four at The Spectrum in Philadelphia ended, but did not shatter, the dream.
More: The Unforgettable Season
Young's first six teams enjoyed postseason play. The 1973-74 team went to the NIT and the next two units made NCAA appearances, including the 1976 Final Four. The 1976-77 squad (18-10) visited the NIT and the 1977-78 team (24-7) was an NCAA participant. The 22-9 team of 1978-79 went to the NCAA Tournament.
Rutgers returned to postseason action, posting a 20-10 slate in 1981-82 for an NIT berth under Young and his crack assistant, Joe Boylan, who became the athletic director at Loyola College in Baltimore. The 1982-83 squad went 23-8 and made the NCAA tourney.
Young won over 68 percent of his games at Rutgers, winning 239 and losing 117 over his 12 campaigns. The long list of his standouts includes, among others, Roy Hinson, number 10 on the all-time scoring list; Kelvin Troy, the 13th-best scorer in Rutgers history; Kevin Black, number 19 on the career scoring list; and John Battle, RU's 15th best scorer all-time who went on to enjoy a 10-year NBA career.
The seasons, stretching from Sellers to Battle, were times against which past and future Rutgers basketball successes are, and will be, tested. The seventies alone produced a glorious 194-87 mark and a winning percentage of .690. The 1980's were a mixed bag. Tom Young led Rutgers to the 1982-83 NCAA Tournament before leaving to head the Old Dominion program in 1985. Craig Littlepage (23-63) was the head coach for three seasons, from 1985-88, before giving way to RU graduate Bob Wenzel, who led Rutgers to four postseason berths in his nine-year tenure at Rutgers.
The "Dream Big Dreams" season of 1988-89, orchestrated by Wenzel, is indelibly etched in Rutgers hoop annals. That year, the Scarlet Knights won the Atlantic 10 title with a win over Penn State, reaching their first NCAA appearance in six seasons. To top things off, Wenzel earned conference Coach of the Year honors. Followed by an NIT season (18-17) in 1990 and a regular season A-10 title in 1991 (19-10) as well as an NCAA berth, the Scarlet Knights, with a young squad, advanced to another NIT (16-15) berth in 1991. Three of the top four season attendance marks in RU history came under Wenzel.
| RUTGERS JOINS THE BIG EAST |
It was Wenzel who ushered in the Big East era at Rutgers, as the Scarlet Knights became a member of the conference in 1995. Kevin Bannon directed Rutgers to a record of 59-60 and a pair of NIT berths in his four years as the head coach at Rutgers (1997-2001).
Gary Waters, hired in April 2001, compiled an 18-13 record his first season and was 79-75 in his five seasons at the helm. The 15 wins at the RAC in 2001-02 were the most by a Rutgers team since 1982. The Scarlet Knights recorded a school-record four victories over ranked opponents in Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami and eventual Elite Eight participant Connecticut. The win over UConn was Rutgers' first over the Huskies since beginning BIG EAST play in 1995. In a thrilling game that was televised to a national audience on ESPN, Rutgers knocked off another eventual NCAA Tournament participant in Notre Dame.
Led by All-BIG EAST performers Rashod Kent and Jerome Coleman (Honorable Mention), Rutgers matched its longest-ever BIG EAST winning streak of three when the Knights posted victories over West Virginia, Syracuse and Connecticut. In addition, the 25-point victory at La Salle was Rutgers' largest winning margin in a road game in more than 20 years. Rutgers pulled off another first, beating two ranked teams in the same week (No. 17 Connecticut and No. 10 Syracuse) for the first time in school history. Furthermore, the win over No. 10 Syracuse was the highest-ranked team that Rutgers has defeated in more than 20 years.
In 2003-04, Waters guided Rutgers to a 20-13 record and an appearance in the championship game of the 2004 NIT. After defeating Iowa State in a thrilling overtime contest that featured a 35-point performance from Douby, RU bowed to Michigan in the championship tilt. Both the semifinals and championship game were witnessed by a slew of Scarlet-clad RU fans, many of whom filled the trains from New Brunswick to New York's Penn Station.
In 2005-06, Rutgers produced its third NBA first round draft pick when guard Quincy Douby was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 19th pick overall. It marked the first time a Rutgers player was selected in the NBA's first round since Roy Hinson was chosen by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1983. Rutgers' other first round pick was James Bailey, who was chosen by the Seattle Supersonics in 1979. Douby led the BIG EAST and was sixth nationally in scoring as a junior, averaging 25.4 points per game in 2005-06. He set Scarlet Knight single-season records for scoring (839 points) and three-point field goals made (116) along with the single game mark of nine three-pointers. A First-Team All-BIG EAST selection, Douby led the BIG EAST in scoring with 27.0 points in league play, also the fourth-best scoring average in BIG EAST history. He earned All-America (HM) recognition from the Associated Press, was named to the CollegeInsider.com All-American team and was named District II Player of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association. Douby, who departed Rutgers as the sixth leading scorer in school history (1,690 points), became just the second Scarlet Knight, and the first in 30 years, to win the prestigious Haggerty Award, given annually to the top player in the Metropolitan area.
Fred Hill was named head coach on March 27, 2006. In his first season at the helm, he led Scarlet Knights to hard-fought, double overtime win against Seton Hall and a pair of victories against Cincinnati. The 2007-08 campaign saw the Scarlet Knights earn back-to-back wins over nationally-ranked foes (#18 Villanova, #13 Pittsburgh). In 2008-09, RU became the first school in history to play the nation's top three teams consecutively, meeting No. 1 and eventual National Champion North Carolina, No. 3 Pittsburgh and No. 2 Connecticut in a calendar week.
Freshman guard Mike Rosario was named a freshman All-American, BIG EAST All-Rookie and the MET Rookie of the Year in 2008-09. He set the Rutgers freshman all-time scoring mark with 517 points, surpassing Sellers, who posted 506 points as a freshman in 1972-73. Freshman forward Gregory Echenique set the Rutgers freshman all-time rebounding mark with 268 boards, tying for the 15th most rebounds in a season in RU history.
In Hill's final season as head coach, the Scarlet Knights posted a 15-17 record, the squad's fourth consecutive losing season. The team had several noteworthy accomplishments, however. Senior center Hamady Ndiaye was named the 2009-10 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, to become the program's second BIG EAST major award winner and the first selected exclusively for basketball. Dane Miller, who earned a school record three consecutive BIG?EAST?Rookie of the Week award, was a unanimous selection to the league's All-Rookie Team. During the season, the Scarlet Knights earned four conference home victories, including a win over No. 7-ranked, Georgetown which marked the second-highest ranked team RU had ever defeated in program history.
Ndiaye was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 26th pick of the second round (56th selection overall) in the 2010 NBA Draft. His rights were then sent to the Washington Wizards as part of a draft-night trade. Ndiaye set the Scarlet Knights' career blocks mark with 358 rejections and was a two-time team captain.
Rutgers began the 2010-11 season with a 9-2 record. Included were wins over ACC foe Miami and SEC-member Auburn. It signaled the first time Rutgers had defeated teams from multiple "Big Six/BCS" leagues in the regular season since Nov. 1999. The nonconference success extended to the always rugged BIG EAST conference campaign. Rutgers downed No. 9-ranked Villanova at home in one of college basketball's most thrilling finishes and won two of three against rival Seton Hall. An overtime victory against the Pirates at Madison Square Garden marked RU's first BIG EAST tournament win since 2006.
Rutgers was the nation's fifth-youngest team in 2011-12. Of the five youngest teams in the country, the Scarlet Knights had the highest winning percentage. Twenty of Rutgers' 31 regular season games (65 percent) were played against teams that received postseason bids. Rutgers earned six BIG EAST Conference victories in 2011-12, its most since capturing seven league wins in 2005-06. RU defeated a pair of top 10 teams at the RAC, downing No. 10 Florida 85-83 in double overtime on Dec. 29 and defeating No. 8 Connecticut 67-60 on Jan. 7.
In 2012-13, the Scarlet Knights posted a 15-16 overall record and sophomore guard Myles Mack earned Second Team All-MET honors. During the regular season, RU downed No. 24/22-ranked Pittsburgh at the RAC before defeating DePaul 76-57 in the Big East Championship. It marked the biggest margin of victory ever for the Scarlet Knights in the league tournament. It also marked the final Big East Championship for Rutgers, which competed in the American Athletic Conference in 2013-14.
Rutgers had many numerous positives to build upon entering the Big Ten Conference from 2013-14 under head coach Eddie Jordan. The Scarlet Knights were picked 10th in the AAC preseason coaches poll and finished seventh in the league standings. The three position differential between projected and actual finish tied for the best in the league with Cincinnati (4th/t-1st) and SMU (6th/t-3rd). RU defeated USF in the opening round of the AAC Championship, its third win over the Bulls during the season. It marked the first time the Scarlet Knights had defeated a foe three times in a season since 1988-89, when it completed the trifecta versus St. Bonaventure when Jordan was an assistant under Bob Wenzel.
Junior Kadeem Jack and Myles Mack were both named All-MET in 2013-14. Rutgers players also earned seven conference honors during the course of the season. Jack received the league's inaugural Player of the Week honor on Nov. 11 and was named to the weekly Honor Roll Jan. 6, Feb. 10 and March 3. Mack was named to the Honor Roll Dec. 16 and Jan. 20 and senior J.J. Moore was cited on the Honor Roll on Feb. 3.
| MOVE TO THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE |
Playing its inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference in 2014-15, Rutgers had many notable achievements playing sixteen games against programs that earned NCAA (12) or NIT (4) postseason berths. The Scarlet Knights' schedule was ranked among the top 10 in the country in terms of difficulty for much of the season. Most notably, RU defeated No. 4-ranked Wisconsin, 67-62, Jan. 11 at the RAC. It was the highest ranked victory in program history. The previous best was No. 6 West Virginia in 1982. It was the 10th victory all-time for Rutgers over a top 10-ranked team. RU has also defeated teams from the ACC (Clemson) and SEC (Vanderbilt), as well as earning a win at Madison Square Garden versus Manhattan this season.
Senior guard Myles Mack and senior forward Kadeem Jack were named to the All-Met Men's Basketball Second and Third Teams, respectively. A three-time All-Met selection, Mack also earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors from the conference media. He led Rutgers and was among the Big Ten leaders in scoring (13.4, 17th in Big Ten), assists (4.2, 8th), free throw percentage (.846, 3rd), steals (1.8, 4th), 3-point FGs made (1.9, 10th), minutes played (35.4, 3rd) and assist/turnover ratio (1.7, 9th).
2015-16 saw the emergence of freshman guard Corey Sanders. He was named an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection after leading all Big Ten freshmen in scoring (15.9 ppg), steals (1.8 spg), and assists (4.3 apg).
| THE STEVE PIKIELL EMERGENCE |
Under first-year head coach Steve Pikiell in 2016-17, Rutgers more than doubled its overall win total and tripled its conference victory total from 2015-16. The Scarlet Knights achieved a plus-117 rank improvement in RPI, as well as major NCAA ranking improvements in rebound margin (+299), scoring defense (+272), three point FG defense (+247), offensive rebounds (+244), rebounds (+232), field goal percentage defense (+226) and blocks (+114). RU ranked among the top 100 in 10 NCAA statistical categories, including among the top 50 in seven, after ranking among the top 150 in just two statistical categories in 2015-16.
In addition to earning the program’s first Big Ten Conference road and tournament victories, Rutgers' 9-1 start marked the best head-coaching debut in Rutgers men’s basketball history.
Rutgers continued to make its mark in 2017-18 in Pikiell's second season. The Scarlet Knights once again concluded their season with positive momentum, advancing to the Big Ten Conference quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden via victories over Minnesota and five-time national champion Indiana. It marked the first time RU won two conference tournament games since 1998. Rutgers ranked 17th nationally in both scoring defense (64.8) and offensive rebounding (13.15), while placing 27th in 3-point FG% defense (27.0) and ranked among the top three in the Big Ten in eight statistical categories, including leading the league in offensive rebounding and 3-point FG% defense while playing the second toughest conference schedule in the Big Ten according to Ken Pom analysis.
The team continued its ascent in 2018-19, realizing numerous achievements. Throughout Pikiell's career he has been instrumental in turnarounds that have resulted in conference championships and post-season berths and that trend is also taking shape "On the Banks." Per KenPom.com, Rutgers was the nation's most improved Power 6 conference program, improving 71 positions since the season's initial rating on Nov. 6, 2018. Projected to finish 14th in the preseason, Rutgers tied for 10th in the Big Ten standings. Rutgers' seven league victories was its most in conference play in 13 years, since also winning seven in Big East competition in 2005-06. Rutgers experienced five sell-outs, its most since 2004-05.
Pikiell was a Recipient of the 2019-20 Jim Phelan Award, presented annually to the nation's top Division I coach, and Peter A. Carlesimo Award, presented by the Met Basketball Writers Association to the top coach in the Metropolitan Area.
Rutgers joined the rankings for the first time in 41 years, since the final 1978-79 AP Poll (No. 18). The Scarlet Knights were No. 24/25 & No. 25/25 in the Jan. 20 & 27 polls, respectively. RU was ranked or receiving votes for eight weeks. RU captured its first 20-win regular season in 37 years, since 1982-83, and first 20-win season overall since 2003-04 and had first winning season in 14 years, since 2005-06 (19-14).
Pikiell led the Scarlet Knights to most conference victories (11) in 29 years, since 1990-91 (14-4; A-10), while also posting its first winning league record in 29 years. The team secured the most home regular season wins in the nation (18) and set a program record for home wins in a season.
Pikiell earned RU's first opening round bye in a conference tournament in 25 years, since the 1995 Atlantic 10 Championship.
In 2020 the basketball team opened the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center to help further the mission of bringing winning back to Piscataway. The 307,000-square-foot, four-story sports facility and parking deck held its grand opening on Sept. 12, 2019, and provides state-of-the-art practice facilities, training areas, locker room and office space for men's basketball.
During the 2020-21 season Pikiell led the program to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991. The head coach guided the Scarlet Knights to an opening round victory over No. 7 seed Clemson that marked RU's first NCAA Tournament win since 1983.
The Scarlet Knights' win over No. 7 seed Clemson in the opening round marked the highest seeded team defeated in the NCAA Tournament since 1979, before falling to an eventual Final Four team in No. 2 seed Houston.
While facing a strength of schedule ranked as the second toughest in the nation by ESPN.com, Rutgers went 16-12 overall, ensuring back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 29 years. Under Pikiell's leadership, Rutgers won 10 Big Ten Conference games, and has earned 21 Big Ten wins over the past two seasons. RU finished tied for sixth in the nation's top-rated conference. 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.
