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BB Recruiting Rutgers lands Merrimack transfer G Jordan Derkack

I don’t know if this is fair.

Kiss excelled at a much lower level . Was it Bryant? It’s entirely possible that his game translated well at the low major level but just didn’t cut it at the high major level. To automatically assume it was some failure of pike to “use kiss’ skillset” frankly is laughable.

Honestly it’s the same reason why it’s REASONABLE to question whether the Merrimack kid will succeed at the higher level. I’m not saying he won’t but it’s reasonable to wonder whether he will.

Anyone who has played basketball competitively can understand how soneones game may not translate once the level of competition/ talent is raised. Something you can do with ease at one level (eg, drive to the basket at will) gets drastically reduced or taken away entirely when the athletes on the other side are much better. How is that possibly the coaches fault?!?!
The difference between Kiss and Dercack (on paper) is Kiss was soft and not a defensive player..Dercack on paper appears to be opposite. I'd think Dercack has a much better chance of being a good fit. Same goes for Martini.
 
The difference between Kiss and Dercack (on paper) is Kiss was soft and not a defensive player..Dercack on paper appears to be opposite. I'd think Dercack has a much better chance of being a good fit. Same goes for Martini.
It should also be pointed out that Kiss’ offensive output from 2021-22 is not close to what we would’ve wanted from Gavin or Dercack. He may have scored 25+ ppg but that was at Bryant on 29.6% shooting from 3.
 
Jesus, 10%?

Do you mean they both would have to improve to 39% shooters for that to be "noticeable"?
MHOLINKO, I like the sound of that. If you are wagering your season tix, I'm curious what you believe constitutes "noticeably better". 10% improvement or better?
I think 4/5% improvement is noticeable … I’ll notice if a guy makes 10-12 more 3s on 200 attempts
 
Oh damn fractured foot and several torn ligaments? That sounds pretty bad. Surprised that wasn't talked about more. It didn't sound like that was stopping other high majors from going after him though so hopefully the prognosis is good
Iirc it was reported PSU and SHU considered adding him for a bit. Seen it that they may have backed off but I haven’t seen anyone explicitly state why. We could assume but it would just be an assumption.
 
Iirc it was reported PSU and SHU considered adding him for a bit. Seen it that they may have backed off but I haven’t seen anyone explicitly state why. We could assume but it would just be an assumption.
Where did you hear they backed off?? Another made up Bs? He visited both and portal guys usually take visits where they can sign.
 
Where did you hear they backed off?? Another made up Bs? He visited both and portal guys usually take visits where they can sign.
There was a lot of back and forth on they wanted him as depth and he wanted a starting role and they said it’s not a fit. They were prioritize perimeter offense from their starting guard spots. My take was it seems like there was never a consensus he had a starting role option, just an assumption made by some of the people looking in based on current roster construction and number of potential starting spots available. (PSU).

With shu they were interested in derkack when they still thought kadary and Dre were possible to keep. When that continued to look less likely the narrative took off on derkack as a stated just because they had a lot of total minutes coming available.

Neither was a strong consensus either direction,
 
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Penn State and SHU both wanted Derkack....there's no indication that they wouldn't take him, Seton Hall has lost 6 players to the portal.

And for context, this also helps down the road. The younger Derkack is in the ESPN Top 60 rankings at #56 for 2026 recruiting.

 
There was a lot of back and forth on they wanted him as depth and he wanted a starting role and they said it’s not a fit. They were prioritize perimeter offense from their starting guard spots. My take was it seems like there was never a consensus he had a starting role option, just an assumption made by some of the people looking in based on current roster construction and number of potential starting spots available. (PSU).

With shu they were interested in derkack when they still thought kadary and Dre were possible to keep. When that continued to look less likely the narrative took off on derkack as a stated just because they had a lot of total minutes coming available.

Neither was a strong consensus either direction,
⬆️ no sources.
 
There was a lot of back and forth on they wanted him as depth and he wanted a starting role and they said it’s not a fit. They were prioritize perimeter offense from their starting guard spots. My take was it seems like there was never a consensus he had a starting role option, just an assumption made by some of the people looking in based on current roster construction and number of potential starting spots available. (PSU).

With shu they were interested in derkack when they still thought kadary and Dre were possible to keep. When that continued to look less likely the narrative took off on derkack as a stated just because they had a lot of total minutes coming available.

Neither was a strong consensus either direction,
This isn’t true
 
There was a lot of back and forth on they wanted him as depth and he wanted a starting role and they said it’s not a fit. They were prioritize perimeter offense from their starting guard spots. My take was it seems like there was never a consensus he had a starting role option, just an assumption made by some of the people looking in based on current roster construction and number of potential starting spots available. (PSU).

With shu they were interested in derkack when they still thought kadary and Dre were possible to keep. When that continued to look less likely the narrative took off on derkack as a stated just because they had a lot of total minutes coming available.

Neither was a strong consensus either direction,
Complete bullcrap. You're hearing stuff in your head-- see a doctor or you're just making shyt up to suit your narrative.
 
I’m sure Penn State had Derkack visit on Sunday then told him no thanks two days later
Derkack visited Penn St, his reported leader at the time, got offered a cut and dry starting role, and two days later commits to Rutgers to come off the bench.

Ok.
 
Derkack visited Penn St, his reported leader at the time, got offered a cut and dry starting role, and two days later commits to Rutgers to come off the bench.

Ok.

Ummm who the F wants to play basketball at Penn State.

You never take the L when you should…but if there ever was a time to admit you are wrong here it is.
 
Derkack visited Penn St, his reported leader at the time, got offered a cut and dry starting role, and two days later commits to Rutgers to come off the bench.

Ok.
Maybe he preferred the "home town" school 20 minutes from his house, where his family can watch him play.

Maybe he preferred playing on a team with two 5-star future Lottery picks.

Maybe he didn't like the 4-hour drive out to the Middle of Nowhere, PA.

Maybe he liked Pike better than whoever the Penn State coach is.

Maybe Geo's tutelage helped Rutgers' cause.

Maybe all of the above, and your speculation is just plain wrong.
 
I predict that Derkack and Martini become fan favorites.
aside from production, has there ever been a Rutgers basketball player who wasn't a fan favorite ? or do you mean, these two will be favorites because they will be major impact players ?
 
Maybe he preferred the "home town" school 20 minutes from his house, where his family can watch him play.

Maybe he preferred playing on a team with two 5-star future Lottery picks.

Maybe he didn't like the 4-hour drive out to the Middle of Nowhere, PA.

Maybe he liked Pike better than whoever the Penn State coach is.

Maybe Geo's tutelage helped Rutgers' cause.

Maybe all of the above, and your speculation is just plain wrong.
Certainly plausible. Not how his recruitment was couched in reporting, other than being close to home as a potential factor.
 
Unless I missed a post, you still haven't provided any sources showing anyone saying that it went down according to your version (RU got PSU's seconds).
Iirc PSU 247 and another non-Trilly CBB discord. Some PsU friends also weren’t convinced he was gonna be a starter. I believe they got that vibe from 247, could be wrong.z

Most was postulation similar to analyzing the roster and seeing if there was a fit to player connection, like how RUs “top targets” are reported. As I mentioned, the takeaway being there was not a consensus either way but the a narrative that he was a starter the was more loudly broadcast because of the dot connecting.
 
Seton Hall is probably 35 minutes from Woodbridge, with traffic and there's starting minutes clearly available there. To say both PSU and SHU passed on a Top 75 ranked portal kid (out of potentially 2000+ kids) is tough to believe.

It's pretty clear that someone outside of this message board community, gave an independent ranking of all the portal entries. Someone or a group of evaluation people believe Derkack has enough overall talent to be ranked in that range. In an old RU mindset, RU fans would be giddy to land not just 1, but 2 Top 100 portal kids (Acuff and Derkack).

This whole exercise with the fanbase isn't really about actually getting results, it is about what players are mentioned the most or are most familiar to the RU fanbase. If you have someone post enough times about Matt Allocco, fans will believe he is a better choice, because his name circulated the most times.

Because the staff is keeping recruiting information under wraps and we aren't getting bad information from other sources in recent weeks, things are moving along in the right fashion. We should not be overhyping any portal entry, all that does is drive up the perceived value....not because that player isn't good, it comes down to this for some fans.....did the team you are rooting for, get the players they think are best or most popular in the fans viewpoint??

Some fans aren't concerned with actually winning.... it's more about the winning the perception battle that "we beat out this other school in recruiting OR can, should or want to be able to offer as much NIL as possible "......even though any successful business model is designed to limit expenses at all costs, while continuing to be thrive.

RU is doing more than fine and landing Derkack is a great pickup....and who knows how good or potentially good the younger Derkack brother may turn into. It certainly didn't hurt that RU took a flyer on Ron Harper Jr and beat out Seton Hall for him a few years ago, before he had a bunch of other high major offers......landing RHJ, triggered a run (that included Montez Mathis etc)......which got things started and got parlayed into landing 4* Cliff and then rolled into Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey and the 2024 class.

There are kids worth the pickup and Derkack, even without his younger brother as a Top 60 kid in 2026, is one of those pickups. There's literally no downside to landing a Top 75 portal kid.
 
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Iirc PSU 247 and another non-Trilly CBB discord. Some PsU friends also weren’t convinced he was gonna be a starter. I believe they got that vibe from 247, could be wrong.z

Most was postulation similar to analyzing the roster and seeing if there was a fit to player connection, like how RUs “top targets” are reported. As I mentioned, the takeaway being there was not a consensus either way but the a narrative that he was a starter the was more loudly broadcast because of the dot connecting.
I didn't follow that. He's not guaranteed to be a starter at RU and the vibe has been he'd be a rotational player next year here as well.
 
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