He’s going to be a star point guard who will help take Rutgers far. You should want to play with this kid.

I have two tickets for the 11/16 game against North Carolina Central which I can't use. They are in section 104 row B. If anyone is interested e-mail me at margeker51@gmail.com, GO RU!

Last we heard anything was 2021 ,the start of that year. Then we heard to wait untill after the Murphy relection.Now we hear about renovation plans for the RAC,but still ZERO about whats going on with the Inodor practice facility,funding, and plans?
So is Hobbs and Rutgers plan going forward is just have Schiano recruit without B10 level faclity and NIL $$?

Beat Columbia by 40 and only won today by 38.
Hopefully not a sign of a downward trend. :) :) :)

We're simply much better than Sacred Heart University. Sorry, someone had to do it...

I am a huge Rutgers fan and have been attending games since 1971 and have only missed a few home games since the RAC opened in 1977. My Alma Mater though is Bellarmine University a small Catholic Franciscan University in Louisville. Bellarmine is also the Knights and I feel very proud tonight. They just defeated Louisville from the ACC on their home court, the Yum Center 67-66. Bellarmine is a member of the the Atlantic Sun Conference and last year in only their second year of being Division I won their league tournament but were ineligible to go to the NCAA Tournament because they must be a member of the NCAA for four years because of an old outdated rule. My twin brother, Rich and I earned four varsity letters at Bellarmine in Cross Country and were co captains of the team for two years. We also kept the shooting charts, rebounds, assists steals and every other major statistics for the basketball team when we attended Bellarmine. Needless to say I am so very proud of them tonight. I live and die with Rutgers basketball but I still root for my Bellarmine Knights as well. To take down U of L from the big ACC is so huge.

BTN Plus shows no half time activity. Where’s Drums of Thunder when you need them?

Any new targets for the 2023 class or that’s over with and they’re just polishing up their current targets and possible flips?

@ 8th St Tavern (corner 8th and Wash)

- ALL TV/streaming games starting tonight (Sacred Heart)
- GAME SOUND when available (may not be for streaming)
- FULL KITCHEN
- darts (unless league play on Tues), shuffleboard, etc

SPREAD THE WORD!!!! [COLOR=%s]LET’S GO RU!! [/COLOR]

-The baton has been passed to Wimsatt. He’s given us reasons to be excited but also reasons to be concerned. Physically, he’s probably the most gifted quarterback we’ve ever had. He can sling it, and can also make plays with his legs. Makes throws effortlessly, and makes it look easy. 6 interceptions in 2 games is too many. Needs to get better reading defenses. On the first interception, he missed the underneath defender. 3rd interception was simply a bad read. 2nd interception he gets a pass on, because his pass bounced off Cruickshank’s hands. We may not win another game, but Wimsatt should be fun to watch.

-Defensive Line played especially well in the first half getting pressure on the quarterback, who did a nice job eluding it at times. Aaron Lewis had a strong game, finishing with 7 tackles. Rene Konga had a nice 3rd down pass battdown

-Linebackers and secondary were particularly active, and I thought Young, Izien, Melton, Longerbeam, Powell, Jennings and Jamier Wright-Collins stood out.

-Offensive Line has come a long way since the first game. I’d say the Center Ireland Brown is the most improved, as he seems to be the most consistent lineman. Don’t remember any penalties from him, which is an improvement over previous games. Willie Tyler and Hollin Pierce have gotten much better in pass protection. Run blocking wasn’t particularly good as Michigans defensive front is one of the best against the run

-Starting right guard struggles at times, and was substituted for, but he did have an especially tough matchup.
Michigan’s defensive front is one of the best in the country, so we had an especially tough time running the ball, which was expected.

-At this point, defense is reasonably good, offensive line is serviceable, there are impact players at quarterback and running back. Get an impact WR, aka WR#1, and an impact tight end, aka TE#1, and we will be good to go. Konopka might be TE#1 someday, but he’s been on the shelf sometime, so for now, I just have to assume that he’s lost for the season. He was undresssed for the Michigan game.
Jonny really wasn’t effective because he was well covered by Michigan’s talented safety

-Michigan coaches made halftime adjustments in their pass defense, which made things more difficult for Wimsatt in the 2nd half.

-Though the talent isn’t where it needs to be, the WRs did show promise. Sean Ryan used his superior size to snare a 50/50 ball as well used his body to shield a defender to get his TD reception.

-Last year, we came out and ran the ball in the 2nd half. This kept the defense fresh, and minimized opportunities for turnovers.

-This year, Michigan’s defenders seemed to be penetrating into the backfield on nearly every running play, stopping running plays in their tracks, before they had an opportunity to get started.

-Beat MSU, and we’ll be in good shape. We’re not that far, from being a successful team, but there is still work to do.

Getting this in while it's still warm enough. Last night was dominated by the Columbia fans, who rolled 40-50 strong by 5-530.
Multiple coolers, grill, flag

I was a one-man Wolfpack but they were kind enough to engage in friendly banter and we all had fun
I'll be there again on Thursday, around 3:30-4:00

Probably the last one for awhile as I detest cold weather and do not want to tailgate if it's below 50 degrees
Any and all are welcome to join!

Lenhardt's recruiting is wide open, no official visits have been set, but he is looking at/talking to Rutgers. Update on Rivals:

- Sacred Heart is 1-0 defeating Hartford 77-70 at Hartford. Hartford, our old nemesis, is now a Div 3 school and its HC of 12 years resigned right prior to the game.

- Its leading scorer against Hartford was Joey Reilly who scored 23 points. He's a senior guard.

- There were 3 other players who scored in double digits: Aidan Carpenter; Nico Galette and Raheem Solomon.

- They shot a lot of 3 pointers vs Hartford going 10 for 32. Joey Reilly went 5 for 7 from downtown so it appears if you stop him - they don't have other options.

- They shot 7 for 11 from the charity line.

- Tallest player is 6'8" - so Cliff and Hyatt etc should have big games inside.

- HC is Anthony Latina who has been their HC now for 10 years

Just curious, who are you? Thank you seem to have a lot of inside info. Thanks

Only the beginning
Only just the start
Oh oh oh oh oh oh woah oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh woah oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh woah oh oh oh

The Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr era ended with a heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame in Dayton 8 months ago yet every new beginning comes from some others beginnings end. How appropriate it was that Ron and Geo sat on the sidelines as fans as a new group led by some familiar faces along with some heady newcomers. Paul and Cliff are the main cogs as will Caleb but make no doubt about it, the is an entirely new Rutgers vehicle that is being constructed and refined and processed ready to be shipped back to the NCAA tournament in March. This Rutgers vehicle may take some time get all its parts together but what we saw tonight was a little of preview of what could be to come

Always good to beat a cupcake up like a drum. Always good to win by 40. Always good to hold your opponent under 40. Always good to get almost everyone involved in some sort of positive moment in the game. And considering what happened last year in a few of the early season OOC games it was really nice to see Pikiell and staff motivate his charges to come out playing like their hair was on fire the first 5 minutes. Starting with a sudden scintillating alley oop from Paul to Big Cliff that got the crowds attention right away. RU looked smooth as they convinced us that they were playing for something. The defense was on point, the passing, the vision for those first 5 minutes were all outstanding and Columbia was just so overwhelmed going down 15-0. Great to see the players hard work in practice pay immediate dividends on the court. Could not ask for a better beginning.

Then the first subs started and here is where RU got sloppy and lost their focus. Suddenly the well oiled machine was sputtering big time. A pretty poor stretch of ball, not only in executing but in decision making led Columbia on a 16-4 run over about 9 minutes of the first half. Did I think RU was in danger of losing? Nope...did I think RU was getting outplayed..sure did and I said so in the game thread. Seemed like RU got a bit ahead of themselves and forced some issues instead of letting the game come to them. A ton of blown layups and ill advised decisions so at 25-21 with just 1:48 left RU got back to some basics. What was so impressive in the early going was their speed and transition game. Well RU got back to what they needed to do on D. Getting a dunk from Cliff and then Cam Spencer forcing two turnovers both of which led to Mag buckets and RU went into the lockerroom 31-21

I know Pike usually wins halftime and he did once again. It was almost good that RU had that poor 9 minute stretch because Im almost certain that Pike was able to get his players to refocus and continue to be confident in their games. No one took that more to heart than Cam Spencer who began his story tonight. Sometimes with new guys they dont get their breakout game right away but when they do it always gets appreciated by the crowd. Cam's came in the 2nd half and he had his moment in front of the student section. That all important bond built. A new cog in the arsenal was built. Cam had a sensational one minute stretch scoring 8 including a 3 and then followed that up later with a steal, rebound, and layup in the next couple minutes but Cam was hardly done....another steal and another drained 3 and suddenly RU was up 46-23 and Cam had scored 12 of RU's first 15 points in the first 5 and half minutes of the 2nd half. Cam was king of the RAC...beginnings.

Cam's play just seemed to spark everyone else from there. We saw Mag really pick up his play defensively. Hyatt converted a beautiful dunk that got Geo and Ron on their feet. Derek Simpson shook of his cold first half shooting and Dean gave us his patented Threeiber. Before we knew it the run was 43-6 and Columbia was left looking for smelling salts.

Truth to be told, Columbia was as bad as their 4-22 record from last year adverstised. Yet give them some credit after getting punched in the face at 15-0, Ingels still had his team hanging in to outscore RU 21-10 and they were playing a scrappy D. You do not want to go overboard with praise for RU since the competition was so bad but one thing about this game was the 2nd half was played at a pretty high level for RU even when the subs came in. This was great to see. There wasnt any dip like we saw in the first half. The guys were on a mission and they completed it. Its about as good a test as you will get. Strong start, bad stinky stretch and then working to overcome it and finishing strong and pummeling the opposition.

This game was hardly about Paul or Cliff. We know what they provide. They got their moments tonight. They could have got more but that was not part of the blueprint for tonights game. It was about trying to get Mag and Hyatt up to speed as starters and while both had a bit of struggle early with that role, they finished strong. I see Hyatt with a team leading 29 minutes with a double double, is that right...12 points and 10 boards. Much better in the 2nd half with his shot. Mag was impressive defensively and to me with him he has so much energy its about refining that and just tuning it down a bit. Liked what I saw tonight.

More on Cam. I mean this kid can play. IF this can translate to the tougher competition in the Big 10, we could have a very special season here. His headiness, vision, and confidence was on display. What a stat line, 29 minutes, 7-13 shooting , 3-5 from 3, 17 points, 6 steals, 5 assists and only one turnover. The confidence he had not deferring to others and taking over the game like he has every right to was what makes tonight performance so impressive.

Derek Simpson quick and athletic, you see the talent there, unfortunately maybe tried to do too much in that first half stretch. 0-7 shooting but Pike put him in that spot and certainly Pike giving him 22 minutes, 6th on the team means that Pike has alot of belief in the kid. Derek shook that off in the 2nd half with some nice assists and a sweet jumper that reminded me of Geo. Dont want to push those expectations on him. Let him develop, he looks like he has the goods to get there. I like that Woolfolk got 12 minutes and got on the board. Already he is a better big man backup then we are used to having here. Would have liked to see more minutes of Reiber but I almost think Pike is going to pick and choose his minutes with Reiber this year but I think Threebier can be an excellent role player for us. Looks like Miller is down on the depth charges behind Simpson, obviously because Derek brings an offensive game that Jalen does not possess. Oskar also seems further down the rotation but good to see him at least get on the board.

I can guarantee the next game Sacred Heart will be totally different than this game. They are picked to finish 2nd in the Northeast Conference even as they struggled to finish 10-20 last year. New challenges and new blueprint for a victory. There is a certain excitement in watching a new era begin and that is going to keep these usual ho hum non conference games more interesting than they usually might be. Another thing with new beginnings is that you can sometimes taste the hunger from a new group as opposed to a previous group that might have become somewhat complacent. Not to knock the previous group but it might explain some of their wildly up and down performances. Its only the beginning, only just the start...oh oh ah

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Ed Manetta,once St. John's AD and now a consultant spoke with me in June about getting that game done at the new UBS Arena in December,2023. I met with Steve and he was enthusiastic. I met with Danny and Tom Moore last week and they told me that UConn has one Power 5 opening and is also interested. Manetta feels that the game would draw upwards of 12000. He is speaking with Moore this week and we might get it. I want it and both fanbases should as well.Many great ties between the teams and coaching staffs.

....is it ever going to end? The entire team. Hyatt missed one from under the basket in the 1st half, with nobody on him and not moving, by about 2-feet SMDH ughhhhh! Just one example but it's got to frustrate the daylights out of Pikes! I was ecstatic about almost everything else last night but this, sorry, this just STRESSES ME THE F OUT lol!