Dick Weiss on College Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J.– Fans of Rutgers basketball packed Jersey Mike’s Arena again Sunday for the Scarlet Knight’s’ game against second-ranked Purdue.
They are loyal, loud and hopeful that the future will bring similar success to the 1976 Final Four team with the late Phil Sellers, Mike Dabney, James Bailey, Hollis Copeland and Eddie Jordan,
won 31 consecutive games before losing to Michigan in the national semi-finals.
The school honored three of those players– Dabney, Copeland and Jordan– at halftime, retiring their jerseys and inducting them as Knights of honor.
It was a trip down memory lane for a state university of New Jersey with a strong academic reputation looking to become national relevant in athletics again.
There is a growing sense that we might be on the verge of that happening next season, based on a blockbuster recruiting class that is ranked three in the country and includes two of the top three prospects in the country– versatile 6-8 Magic Johnson clone and small forward Ace Bailey of McEachern, Ga. High School. and 6-5-point guard Dylan Harper of Don Bosco NJ High, the No. 2 and 3 prospects in the class. Steve Pikiell has already signed Lathan Sommerville, a 6-9, 225-pound center from Peoria, Ill Richwoods High, a Top 100 recruit; 6-7 forward Dylan Grant from Michigan Collegiate Academy, the best prospect in the talent rich state of Michigan and 6-8 forward Bryce Dortch of Chestnut Hill, Mass., a Caleb McConnell defensive type who can guard all five positions.
Bailey put on a show for Rutgers’ fan when he scored 40 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in the Battle for New Jersey Showcase at Jersey Mike’s the day after Christmas. Both he and Harper– the younger brother of former Rutgers’ star Ron Harper Jr.– were selected to play in the McDonald’s All America game and the Nike Hoop Summit.
This is Rutgers’ best recruiting class ever, and that includes the heralded 1972 Class with Sellers and Dabney.
And there is no telling how high the ceiling is if Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell unshackles them at the beginning of the season and lets them run like the 1976 team that averaged 87 points without the use of the three-point field goal.
For now, every game is still an adventure for a10-9 team without dependable shooters or consistent offense.
The Knights, who is 2-6 in the B1G, only scored 20 points in the first half against Purdue but rallied to make a 68-60 loss in the B1G look respectable, shooting 5- percent and cutting a 12-point deficit to 55-53 when freshman Gavin Griffith came off the bench and nailed a jumper with 5:19 to play. But the Knights couldn’t finish. Rutgers had no field goals in the final 2:02 and only two of the final 5:19 in losing at home for the second time in 11 games this season.
Like so many other teams, they had no real answers for 7-5 reigning national Player of the Year Zach Edey, who cruised to 26 points on 9 of 12 shooting along with 12 rebounds. He got to the line 13 times, as many as Rutgers had as a team, even though he was in a physical battle by 6-11 senior center Cliff Omoruyi, one of the three or four best low post defenders in the country.
“They’re a tough time to prepare for,” Pikiell said. “Not many teams have a 7-4 player who catches everything, makes free throws and does what he does.”
Purdue coach Matt Painter has done a great job with individual development here. Edey, the 440th ranked prospect when he arrived in West Lafayette from Toronto, became only the sixth player in B1G history to surpass 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Edey was highly motivated for this game. Rutgers had won five of the last seven games against the Boilermakers, including three straight at home.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a matchup I was looking forward to,” Edey said. “It was definitely a game that I wanted a lot.”
This was the last conference venue where Edey had never won. He had to live with the scars of Ron Harper Jr. making a buzzer-beating, halfcourt shot in this building to send the Knights to an upset win over the then top-ranked Boilermakers in 2021.
“We’re close,” Pikiell, whose glass is always half full, said. Give Rutgers credit for making Purdue work hard for this victory, outrebounding the Boilermakers, 36-32, including 15-6 on the offensive glass.
“They’re tough,” Painter said. “They’re great for the Big Ten. They’re physical; they’re hardnosed. It’s just a tough challenge. You know what you’re going to get. You got to tighten your chinstrap.”
