“It’s been five years and it feels like 100.”
The words of Rutgers men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell, who, in his fifth season at the helm of the Scarlet Knights, will lead them into their first NCAA Tournament game in 30 years on Friday night.
It has been 15 years even since Rutgers’ last postseason, a trip to the 2006 NIT, and even longer than 30 years since their last NCAA Tourney win – a first-round win over Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette) in 1983. It has taken a lot of patience for Rutgers nation to get to this point – one they were likely to reach before last year’s dance was canceled – but that’s something Pikiell preaches.
“You really think about this five year journey. You start by thanking your staff. We were picked last in the Big 10 when I started, but these guys jumped on board for the challenge to try to rise up through the best conference in the country,” Pikiell told Moose & Maggie on Monday. “There’s no patience anymore in athletics, but in a league like this, you don’t start jumping over teams who have Hall of Fame coaches. We built a new facility and that helped, but there’s just so many good people at Rutgers.”
No one is left, of course, from the team Pikiell inherited in 2016, and only four are left from Pikiell’s first recruiting class. So, it’s a team that has Pikiell’s fingerprints all over it, and he shouted out a number of players who have helped get Rutgers to this point, even after three subpar seasons before their 2019-20 breakout – including senior Geo Baker and redshirt junior Myles Johnson, the cornerstones of that first group.”
“Year 1, we were picked last and no one was at the RAC, then we got more competitive, and then we got a new opponent in COVID, having to take that on and do what you have to do to not have pauses, so we’ve been through battle tested through the journey,” Pikiell said. “Geo and Myles have been here since Day 1, and Myles – he came from California, and picked us because of our engineering program. I learn more from him than he does from me, but he’s gotten into great shape physically to the point where he is probably one of the premiere post defenders in the country.”
Those two may be the cornerstones, but there’s one other player whom Pikiell credits with helping move the culture forward: junior swingman Ron Harper Jr., who was a four-star recruit out of Don Bosco Prep when he signed in 2018…and just happens to be the son of 15-year NBA vet and five-time NBA Champion Ron Harper.
“He’s a great young man from a great family, and I’m glad he picked us early,” Pikiell said. “I like to recruit those guys where I see all the upside. He’s battled from Day 1 and I think you can see the improvement; he’s a hard guy for teams to defend with all he can do, and he’s a Dean’s List student. I’m excited about his future, but he also showed people in New Jersey that you can stay home and play for national championships.”
Rutgers is seven wins away from that goal, and it starts with a date with Clemson on Friday.
“Clemson is a very good defensive team with a lot of good wins; they beat Purdue and Maryland in our league, and beat a two-seed in Alabama,” Pikiell said. “They have really good guards, they’re elite with ball pressure, and can really shoot the ball. They play in a really good league with high-level competition, and Brad (Brownell, the Tigers’ head coach) has won everywhere he’s been, so we’re going to have to play really good basketball.”
Even with the COVID landscape of 2020-21 completely changing teams’ schedules at times, Pikiell and his staff will be just as vigilant in their prep for Clemson as they have been all year. The team is in quarantine and hopes to pass protocols later Monday, but as soon as they do, it’s time to work.
“Some rest is good too because guys are banged up, but we had a great practice with great energy yesterday before we knew our opponent,” Pikiell said. “As soon as we come out of quarantine, we’ll be on the court and be able to watch film.”
Perhaps, Pikiell notes, the COVID landscape of this season helped his team, too.
“You want your tea to be a team all the time, but COVID makes you separate, watch film separately, and isolate,” Pikiell said. “They had no distractions from basketball – it was the phone, practice, and online classes. Not really what they signed up for, and I told our freshmen it’s too bad they can’t see campus when it’s vibrant. That can take a toll, but our guys did a real good job managing that.”
And now, the Scarlet Knights have a chance that no one in their shoes has had since a decade before they were even born.
“They know how hard it is to get to – it’s been 30 years for us, and there’s only so many at-large slots for a lot of great programs. Our league had 12 of 14 teams ranked at some point, so you have a lot of competition,” Pikiell said. “I want them to enjoy the experience, because when we’re playing with fun, we’re fun to watch. I think they’re excited for the opportunity, but every team in the tourney is good, and you have to play good basketball, and play well to keep playing.”
Win or lose, it’s just one more notch in the belt of what Pikiell thinks is a rising athletic program.
“I’m happy for Rutgers nation. It’s a great school with great people, and there are a lot of exciting things going on,” the coach said. “Our women’s team, with Hall of Fame coach Vivian Stringer, will get a bid tonight, our lacrosse team is No. 4 in the country, women’s soccer is ranked 19th…a lot of good things going on!”
Check out Pikiell’s entire appearance on Moose & Maggie below!
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