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Dude....you have no idea what your talking about....the same tired message means nothing, no matter how many times you post it. There are plenty of kids capable of playing the role Hawkins was recruited for, it doesn't matter if he goes in conference or somewhere else.
There are 30 kids that started the year or earned offers in the last year....RU is looking for 2 or 3 kids out of those 30.
That means in 28 out of the 30 instances, in your mindset, RU has "lost a recruiting battle"....RU can't take 30 kids, they can only take 2 or 3.
Step off the ledge and stop complaining about things you cant control. There are plenty of kids who are talented enough to be here. If we have to read the same repeated comments for every name you read about that doesn't pick RU, doing that 28 out of 30 times every recruiting cycle, doesn't make you correct.
Enjoy the improving program and stop the whining about what didn't happen or what hasn't happened in RUs history.....I certainly don't care about what happened 5 or 10 years ago, when I can enjoy about what's going to happen going forward.
What I know as a season ticket holder for decades watching a Rutgers basketball program there has been very little success which you want to ignore.I'm interested in watching a winning team .Filling scholarships isn't a great accomplishment because there are so many players to choose from.Getting difference makers is what has been lacking at Rutgers.I have said time and again that I am a big supporter of Pikiell but its time to show success on the playing court .Your rants against fans that don't share your viewpoints have become the norm and aren't appreciated.
Bill Self once said that if a lot of recruits aren’t saying no to you, you’re not recruiting the right people.
Man we must have an unbelievable history of recruiting all the right people!
What did he say about paying players? Cuz he's about to get hammered. But joking aside I completely agree.
And as Hawk said above you've got to be in it to win it. I don't get the bitching and the belly aching from people. What has Pike done for people to not have confidence that he will continue to get the right guys in here?
To the other guy...Filling scholarships? Are you f*cking kidding me? He's made two mistakes. That's it. With many more hits than whiffs.
Let's face it certain Rutgers fans just like to complain about the sky being blue.
Even though he is a former Illinois coach,it wouldn’t bother me in the least to see Kansas get hammered.
The act is old....no one can reverse history....talking about it, isn't changing anything.
Brad Underwood is doing a heckuva job at Illinois. The man can recruit. Given how much Illinois improved last year and adding Cockburn and now Hawkins this will be a real tough squad
No worries here... Pike Knight and Hobbs will rebound with a solid recruit... I have no doubt!
No question Illinois is also on the rise. I thought Underwood had them playing an aggressive brand of basketball last year. If he can continue to upgrade the talent on the roster they will be a handful.
Maybe all that ever growing bitterness and resentment means its time tongive up your season tix.
I agree that both programs are on the rise.
Hoping to get an Adam Miller commit soon. Heck of a player.
Not happening because I like watching college basketball.Winning should matter to all Rutgers fans but clearly there is a segment that don't see the urgency after over a decade of consecutive losing seasons.Its quite puzzling understanding such a viewpoint.
He’s a good player just like the others we are recruiting. He’s a 3-star, not a game changer. Next.
Well then RU has been recruiting the right people for decades.
Agree. He’s a piece. High upside but will need time to develop. Needs strength. The skills are there.
Being able to develop for a year or two behind Giorgi, Kofi and Bosnan-Verdonk is huge for Illinois.
But he was not a must-get for either team.
Just wondering, what did he say about saying no TO the local kid who goes and stars for the other team you play (see the Illinois frosh center from last year).
That was a miss.
But...moving forward...Pike seems to be doing fine. I just hate being Phil Mc. And always being 2nd. Then again, its a dirty game out there.
Not sure Giorgi is a good example. He came from a very tough background. Separated from his mom growing up in Georgia (the country). Came to the US for his last year. Had some trouble adjusting. Averaged 8 points and 2 rebounds. Not heavily recruited. Underwood saw him once and loved his footwork and passing and offered. Illinois got very lucky.
Did Rutgers even recruit him?
I saw him play for the Patrick School vs Linden in an overtime game. He played outstanding. It is a shame we didn't go after him earlier.
At some point we told him we didn't have a scholarship for him.
By that time, I don’t think it would have made a difference. I talked to Giorgi last season at an event, and he told me that he was all in on Illinois as soon as Underwood offered.
Not a knock on Rutgers. Being from Europe and only being in the States for that season, he had no emotional/regional ties to Rutgers. It would have been too little too late.
This is exactly how I feel....negative energy and whining about 20 years ago, when things are being put into place to improve the program, isn't wanted. There are plenty of other things like football to complain about and you can expend energy on.
Complaining about Pike as if he owes particular fans anything, is ridiculous. Pike and the staff are building a program that is sustainable vs building a roster than only has a 1 year window of success.
College basketball is much more competitive than football....more teams, more talent needed and model of success is winning 2 out of 3 of your games to have a shot at being 68 of 325+ programs.
In football, more than half the programs bowl at .500, with no committee determining whether you are good enough or not. It's amazing that there are fans not enthusiastic about things, given how far away and neglected things have been for decades with the program.
Agreed. The one that hurts is Bezhanishvili. He prepped in NJ and I think RU could have had him had they made a push. The kid had a stud-like freshman year for a big man at a position that we could definitely use.
Get lawst. Are you aware of the talent level on the roster when Pi took over? You say you have had season tix for decades but seem to lack awarnence of where we were at as a program when Jordan left. We had guys getting minuets that left that didn't even land at division one programs as recent as 2 years ago.
Anyone with a brain sees the trajectory this squad is on with Pikiell. We see the talent level, the coaching, and the culture changing. Successes at RU goes much deeper than W/L because of how much fan sentiment and energy around the program needed to be changed.
Yes, as we go on with Pikiell success will be judged differently and we are beginning to get to that point. But up until this point it he has been successful every season. In the meantime, why don't you just enjoy the build instead of hastily judging success by "having a winning record." Patience is a virtue.
Well as a guy about 6'9" going up against guys who were probably around 6'3" tops he should have dominated.
