Favorite Rutgers Bball coaches and why

[rucook08]

Wondering what everyone’s favorite coach was throughout the years and the reason

Pike is amazing and we’re lucky to have him

I would say my favorite has to be Gary Waters

Something about his style and seasons on the bank in which I had so much fun watching those games .

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

I became an RU fan in the Wenzel era. He was a good coach, and I never understood why flamed out on the recruiting trail

 

[dpwhite]

I started watching during the Bannon era. No one has made me enjoy hoops, feel more connected to the program and had more success with a smile on his face than Steve Pikiell.

 

[RutgersChow]

Young had over a .700 winning percentage, went undefeated, had multiple NCAA appearances and got to the final four. He's definitely my favorite and as a coach, no one is in his league.

 

[RedTeam1994]

pike as he had brought far more respect and success than any other coach in my lifetime. Also seems like a good dude so he’s easy to root for as are his teams since they are hardworking

I liked waters too but he never got over the hump

 

[Loyal_2RU]

pike as he had brought far more respect and success than any other coach in my lifetime. Also seems like a good dude so he’s easy to root for as are his teams since they are hardworking

I liked waters too but he never got over the hump

Agree and have to vote for Bill Foster as #1. Tom Young was a mixed blessing but had some amazing success.

 

[LeapinLou]

Young and Wenzel were the coaches when I was in school. But I would say Pikiell is my favorite. Good coach. Good guy. Made us relevant. Did the work to get an amazing recruiting class next season.

 

[BillyC80]

In my time as an RU fan, since 1975, only 3 coaches have gotten us to the NCAA tournament — Young, Wenzel, and Pikiell — so I have to start with those three (Waters would be a distant 4th).

With that in mind, I wonder how many ranked teams each of those three have beaten?

I’m pretty sure Pikiell has beaten 15 ranked teams, including twice beating #1 (once at home, once on the road, quite a feat).

I don’t know if we played as tough a schedule during the Young and Wenzel years for them to have amassed as many wins over ranked teams. Does anybody know the answer to this?

In conclusion I’d have to say Pikiell not only resurrected our program, but gave me more thrills by being more competitive against and beating many ranked teams.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Wondering what everyone’s favorite coach was throughout the years and the reason

Pike is amazing and we’re lucky to have him

I would say my favorite has to be Gary Waters

Something about his style and seasons on the bank in which I had so much fun watching those games .

Not an answer to your ? but a little bit about Gary. My wife and I were at a Rutgers football game and we just decided to sit (almost) all by ourselves at the top of one section. There was one guy near us by himself. I don't remember if I said hi to him or him to me but he say's "I'm Gary Waters the new basketball coach" Then we spoke for a bit. Such a first class guy.

Years later after his Cleveland St. team won to get into the NCAA I sent him an email via the school's sports page just to congratulate him from the guy he met that day. He was prepping for the tourney yet took the time to respond and thank me and he even remembered that day!

 

[superfan01]

Since I started in 2001.

1) Pike - Got us over the hump.
2) Waters- Fun times but never got us over hump
3) Mike Rice - Scandal aside loved how fired up he was and was a good coach.
4) Freddie Hill
5) Eddie Jordan - Depressing being a fan during this era.

 

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

Mike Rice. Srs

Loved his energy on game day, scandal aside

 

[hinson32]

Young had over a .700 winning percentage, went undefeated, had multiple NCAA appearances and got to the final four. He's definitely my favorite and as a coach, no one is in his league.

Young had over a .700 winning percentage, went undefeated, had multiple NCAA appearances and got to the final four. He's definitely my favorite and as a coach, no one is in his league.

Young made the NCAA in 75, 76, 79 and 83.
Pike made it in 2020 (he did), 2021 and 2022.

Pike has two wins over #1 ranked teams, Young has none. Pike has way more wins over ranked teams. They are not too far apart.

 

[Plum Street]

Young, pike and wenzel . Winning is more fun than losing z. Getting to the ncaa tournament isn’t everything - it’s the only thing

 

[Scangg]

There's really only 1 choice for anyone under 40

 

[bethlehemfan]

Young was a good coach and class person. He couldn’t hold the recruiting together and he got screwed by the eastern 8 pipe dream. Pikes is my favorite by far. I did like Rice though. Had high hope for him and bannon only to be let down! I liked waters but he didnt have enough juice

 

[rutger80]

Pike, Young and Wenzel.
No, we haven't been to the Final Four, yet, under Pike, but his recruiting has gone to a level TY could only dream of.

 

[Scarlet1984]

Not an answer to your ? but a little bit about Gary. My wife and I were at a Rutgers football game and we just decided to sit (almost) all by ourselves at the top of one section. There was one guy near us by himself. I don't remember if I said hi to him or him to me but he say's "I Gary Waters the new basketball coach" Then we spoke for a bit. Such a first class guy.

Years later after his Cleveland St. team won to get into the NCAA I sent him an email via the school's sports page just to congratulate him from the guy he met that day. He was prepping for the tourney yet took the time to respond and thank me and he even remembered that day!

I used to love that they had a basketball player tailgate in the Yellow Lot and you could just go over and say hello.

I took my kids over one time when they were probably 11 and 9. We had season tickets for both sports. They got to meet Quincy Douby and Axani. They were in awe and the guys couldn’t have been nicer.

Waters was definitely a good guy. A .500 coach but the teams were fun to watch and they had some great wins.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Young made the NCAA in 75, 76, 79 and 83.
Pike made it in 2020 (he did), 2021 and 2022.

Pike has two wins over #1 ranked teams, Young has none. Pike has way more wins over ranked teams. They are not too far apart.

Young went to the Final Four. End of story IMHO.

 

[jerzeyguy]

Freddie Hill

 

[SHUSource]

I was a big fan of the Eddie Jordan hire and he didn’t disappoint. I was sorry to see him go!

Seriously, the one I felt most threatened by was Kevin Bannon. He really was thisclose to turning the corner there before he just self-destructed.

Freddie is a great guy, and I was surprised how badly that turned out.

Pikiell is undoubtedly your best coach in the last 30 years, which is about the span of time I’ve paid attention.

 

[Duff366]

Pike.. because of games like tonight

 

[shields]

Young said that Pikiell played a harder schedule.

 

[RU85inFla]

I became an RU fan in the Wenzel era. He was a good coach, and I never understood why flamed out on the recruiting trail

I see Bobby weekly at the golf course. He was in an impossible situation trying to get kids into school at that time. It wasn’t until a number of years later where athletes had lower qualification standards than regular students at Rutgers.

 

[mikeyo]

Pike, Young and Wenzel.
No, we haven't been to the Final Four, yet, under Pike, but his recruiting has gone to a level TY could only dream of.

Multiple NBA players recruited by Tom Young, including 3 (Jordan, Bailey, Battle) who had long careers in the league and one (Hinson) who was on his way to a perennial all-star career that was cut short by a serious knee injury. Pike has a way to go to match that record

 

[BillyC80]

I see Bobby weekly at the golf course. He was in an impossible situation trying to get kids into school at that time. It wasn’t until a number of years later where athletes had lower qualification standards than regular students at Rutgers.

In PVB? I lived there for 6 months (next to the 10th hole at Sawgrass) in 2011. The guy I worked for at the time told me Bobby was his neighbor.

 

[koleszar]

I see Bobby weekly at the golf course. He was in an impossible situation trying to get kids into school at that time. It wasn’t until a number of years later where athletes had lower qualification standards than regular students at Rutgers

Was always a Rutgers fan. But my fandom really took off in the late 80’s. I thought Wenzel and Doug Graber were both going to get it done. But they both suffered from Rutgers stringent academic requirements at the time and the lack of support they got from the school.

 

[RutgersChow]

Young made the NCAA in 75, 76, 79 and 83.
Pike made it in 2020 (he did), 2021 and 2022.

Pike has two wins over #1 ranked teams, Young has none. Pike has way more wins over ranked teams. They are not too far apart.

That's absurd - a .700 winning percentage, eight or nine guys n the NBA, an undefeated season, and a final four. They are miles and miles apart. The only no. 1 team he ever got a chance to play was Indiana in 1976, a loss, but to a team many acknowledge as the best college team if all time. Comparing them is barely worth a response. It's even silly.

 

[rutger80]

That's absurd - a .700 winning percentage, eight or nine guys n the NBA, an undefeated season, and a final four. They are miles and miles apart. The only no. 1 team he ever got a chance to play was Indiana in 1976, a loss, but to a team many acknowledge as the best college team if all time. Comparing them is barely worth a response. It's even silly.

We did not play Indiana in 1976. A semi-final loss to Michigan prevented that.

 

[RutgersChow]

We did not play Indiana in 1976. A semi-final loss to Michigan prevented that.

Sorry for the mistake.

 

[jaydogsmooth1]

Gary was classy
Fred was whiny
Rice was crazy
Jordan was lazy
Pike is my favorite

 

[hinson32]

That's absurd - a .700 winning percentage, eight or nine guys n the NBA, an undefeated season, and a final four. They are miles and miles apart. The only no. 1 team he ever got a chance to play was Indiana in 1976, a loss, but to a team many acknowledge as the best college team if all time. Comparing them is barely worth a response. It's even silly.

Compare the schedules and the amount of ranked teams Rutgers played then vs. now. Who has a better winning % against ranked teams?

Do you know RU played just one ranked team in the regular season? (#15 Princeton). Then #16 St. John's in the ECAC final. Then they didn't even best a ranked team in the NCAA. They didn't see one until the FF and they got smoked by both Michigan and UCLA.