It has been a busy week around Rutgers Athletics, specifically the basketball programs. Despite changes being made on the Women’s side, athletic director Keli Zinn confirmed that the Men’s team will run it back next year.
Zinn shared that Steve Pikiell will return as head coach next season during an interview with NJ.com.
“I believe he deserved that chance,” Zinn said. “Certainly, when you look at the win/loss column, it’s not where we want to be. He doesn’t want to be there, but I think they’ve got
really good plans in place. I was thrilled as I’ve been able to take a closer look at it as to what they’re looking at and what they’re expecting. I do think in a number of instances, we’re pretty close.”
Pikiell is in his 10th season as head coach of the Scarlet Knights after being hired in 2016, replacing Eddie Jordan. Pikiell is 159-157 overall during his tenure and 76-118 in Big Ten play. This includes a 12-17 mark this season with a 5-13 record in conference play.
Pikiell and the Scarlet Knights underachieved last season with a historic recruiting class led by Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. This raised major questions about Pikiell’s future following another disappointing campaign. Zinn shared that she is not surprised by the struggles given the program’s current NIL standing.
“I went into the season saying to myself that one or two things will happen: We’ll catch lightning in the bottle and have the best investment that exists from a talent level, or we’re gonna struggle,” Zinn said. “Unfortunately, it’s been the latter, but I can’t say I was surprised by that.”
Pikiell led a three-year stretch where the Scarlet Knights were a legitimate threat in the Big Ten. This included bringing Rutgers back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991 and winning the first game in the big dance since 1983. Rutgers made back-to-back appearances in the tournament in 2020-21 and 2021-22 — which would have been three in a row had the event not been cancelled in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
Zinn recently made the decision to fire Coquese Washington as head coach of the Women’s Basketball team. It would be a difficult decision to do the same to Pikiell, and for now, he will be returning for his 11th season. Pikiell and the Scarlet Knights need to make major improvements next year to avoid this topic resurfacing.
“I think Steve would say that he has a lot to prove next year,” Pikiell said. “Certainly, we’re expecting to see progress there, and we’re both excited for it.”
