From the day Ace committed until the 2024-2025 portal opened pike had 400+ days to build the NIL war chest

[KK1827]

And he failed miserably. Saw this post on social media by @RUfanEsq and he really nailed it.

If we are to believe NIL was the reason for not being able to surround dylan and ace with talent (im skeptical of this claim btw), then there is no one to blame but pike. All he had to do was in the course of 400 days raise around $1.5-2mm or so to surround them with a dynamite supporting cast.

Hopefully hes learned that a very big part of his job moving forward if hed like to be here more than a couple more years is fundraising. If hes not comfortable with that, too bad. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, that’s why you are paid as much money as you are.

 

[gregkoko]

View embedded media

And he failed miserably. Saw this post on social media by @RUfanEsq and he really nailed it.

If we are to believe NIL was the reason for not being able to surround dylan and ace with talent (im skeptical of this claim btw), then there is no one to blame but pike. All he had to do was in the course of 400 days raise around $1.5-2mm or so to surround them with a dynamite supporting cast.

Hopefully hes learned that a very big part of his job moving forward if hed like to be here more than a couple more years is fundraising. If hes not comfortable with that, too bad. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, that’s why you are paid as much money as you are.

I assume we had a small to medium amount of NIL but we likely would have had to grossly overpay or blow the whole budget to get a P5 player/starter to come in and play third fiddle to Ace/Dylan. Combo of overpayment and ego on anyone else's part. Cliff was happy to go to Bama and play like ten minutes a game since he's getting 2M or whatever insane number it is. I assume we were priced out of people like Amari Williams, Koby Brea, etc.

At the end of the day though, it's Pike's job to sell potential transfers on coming here and it didn't happen

 

[RutgersClassof2004]

🍸🍸🍸

 

[mjjoyce51]

I'm not sure how much more they really could have done with the transfer portal knowing that a massive amount of NIL was spent on Ace and Harper. There are a lot of other reasons for the disappointing season:

1. Awful recruiting in 2021, 2022, and 2023 provided no returning foundation that knew how to play in this system. This is the primary reason for the awful start to the season that dug them into this huge hole.
2. Harper flu and injury. This is the main reason they haven't been able to fully turn it around. The rest of the team has really started to click and a healthy Harper obviously brings them to another level. You saw it against UCLA and Nebraska and I think the rest of the team has only gotten better since then.
3. JWill going from what was thought to be a reliable third option on offense to being an almost unplayable option since conference play started.
4. Bailey injury delaying his development to the Ace Bailey we see now.
5. Acuff offseason foot injury.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Pike needs to get the white pages and start from the letter A and not stop until he gets $2,000,000.

Don't we have people that are supposed to be fundraising?

 

[darkcheck]

I'm not sure how much more they really could have done with the transfer portal knowing that a massive amount of NIL was spent on Ace and Harper. There are a lot of other reasons for the disappointing season:

1. Awful recruiting in 2021, 2022, and 2023 provided no returning foundation that knew how to play in this system. I think this is the primary reason for the awful start to the season that dug them into this huge hole.
2. Harper flu and injury. This is the main reason they haven't been able to fully turn it around. The rest of the team has really started to click and a healthy Harper obviously brings them to another level. You saw it against UCLA and Nebraska and I think the rest of the team has only gotten better since then.
3. JWill going from what was thought to be a reliable third option on offense to being an almost unplayable option since conference play started.
4. Bailey injury delaying his development to the Ace Bailey we see now.
5. Acuff offseason foot injury.

Most of Ace and Dylan’s money didn’t come from RU

 

[darkcheck]

I assume we had a small to medium amount of NIL but we likely would have had to grossly overpay or blow the whole budget to get a P5 player/starter to come in and play third fiddle to Ace/Dylan. Combo of overpayment and ego on anyone else's part. Cliff was happy to go to Bama and play like ten minutes a game since he's getting 2M or whatever insane number it is. I assume we were priced out of people like Amari Williams, Koby Brea, etc.

At the end of the day though, it's Pike's job to sell potential transfers on coming here and it didn't happen

Would only have taken a small amount more to get Malique Ewin but we said no out of pride

 

[mjjoyce51]

Most of Ace and Dylan’s money didn’t come from RU

What does that mean exactly? Sure they got endorsements but those were coming no matter where they went. The mods have confirmed multiple times that there have been first time donors that were convinced to make large NIL contributions to make sure they came to Rutgers. That's on top of the standard NIL contributions that I'm sure Bailey and Harper got a large portion of.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Pike needs to get the white pages and start from the letter A and not stop until he gets $2,000,000.

Don't we have people that are supposed to be fundraising?

Double that …not kidding

 

[Simce91]

I will be the 1st to admit I don't understand all the details of NIL

However, does not having a President and AD hamper NIL fund raising ?

 

[RocktheRac]

It's known Harper is making well over $2 million and that's not from RU.

 

[rpiseman]

It's known Harper is making well over $2 million and that's not from RU.

Does he give some of that back as he’s only going to play like 6 games?

 

[darkcheck]

What does that mean exactly? Sure they got endorsements but those were coming no matter where they went. The mods have confirmed multiple times that there have been first time donors that were convinced to make large NIL contributions to make sure they came to Rutgers. That's on top of the standard NIL contributions that I'm sure Bailey and Harper got a large portion of.

It seems your post says they couldn’t have done much about the portal with the money they (RU) gave Ace and Dylan. It’s a little deceptive. It’s not like they could have chosen to spend that money elsewhere. Here’s where I think we agree, it seems a specific donor earmarked money for Ace and Dylan that they weren’t getting from fanatics etc. I too believe he was a first time donor. Sadly I don’t think he’ll be a second time donor because I think there were stipulations on how good of a year we had to have for more money.

 

[toby83]

Does he give some of that back as he’s only going to play like 6 games?

Yeah what kind of bullshit is that. Should be paid after each game played, whatever that comes out to. That's a lot of money lit on fire.

 

[bethlehemfan]

Before the season I was worried about the roster. It certainly wasn’t elite. That said the freshman and transfers have gotten a lot better. It’s a shame ogbole got hurt as he was making some nice strides. If Dylan was healthy I definitely think we’d have a few more wins at this point and be in the hunt.

 

[TRU2RU]

Yeah what kind of bullshit is that. Should be paid after each game played, whatever that comes out to. That's a lot of money lit on fire.

None it came from you so why do you care?

 

[FIJI'83]

Coach Pikell in the way he failed to build an effective roster of supporting players around Ace and Dylan personifies the RU 🔩

 

[NickRU714]

Yeah what kind of bullshit is that. Should be paid after each game played, whatever that comes out to. That's a lot of money lit on fire.

Great point. All these guys are weak now. Taking time off for an "injury".
Bullshit.

Has anyone made sure DL Coach Watson gave back money when he missed games last year?
Just more "money lit on fire".

Rutgers’ Greg Schiano shares update on DL coach Marquise Watson’s condition after health scare

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano shared an update on his defensive line coach, who suffered a health scare prior to their season-opening win over Northwestern on Sunday.

www.nj.com

 

[S_Janowski]

Yeah what kind of bullshit is that. Should be paid after each game played, whatever that comes out to. That's a lot of money lit on fire.

It’s well known most of his money is coming from outside sources (Fanatics, NIKE).

News flash - they aren’t that worried about how many games Harper is playing at Rutgers. The real money will be made down the line assuming Harper turns into a stud NBA player and NIKE/Fanatics have that relationship already established.

 

[seansherm]

It’s well known most of his money is coming from outside sources (Fanatics, NIKE).

News flash - they aren’t that worried about how many games Harper is playing at Rutgers. The real money will be made down the line assuming Harper turns into a stud NBA player and NIKE/Fanatics have that relationship already established.

Nothing is really known at all. In the beginning there was talk a bunch of money came from Wall St to get them on board, then they got Nike / Fanatics deals. Or maybe we approached Fanatics with the idea they get on board?

 

[Roy_Faulker]

View embedded media

And he failed miserably. Saw this post on social media by @RUfanEsq and he really nailed it.

If we are to believe NIL was the reason for not being able to surround dylan and ace with talent (im skeptical of this claim btw), then there is no one to blame but pike. All he had to do was in the course of 400 days raise around $1.5-2mm or so to surround them with a dynamite supporting cast.

Hopefully hes learned that a very big part of his job moving forward if hed like to be here more than a couple more years is fundraising. If hes not comfortable with that, too bad. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, that’s why you are paid as much money as you are.

So he needs to be “comfortable in chaos…” 🧐

Yeah what kind of bullshit is that. Should be paid after each game played, whatever that comes out to. That's a lot of money lit on fire.

A good recommendation for future contracting for sure.

 

[mjjoyce51]

It seems your post says they couldn’t have done much about the portal with the money they (RU) gave Ace and Dylan. It’s a little deceptive. It’s not like they could have chosen to spend that money elsewhere.

I'm saying they had a total roster budget for NIL that included standard NIL contributions and these "one time donor(s)" wiling to invest in Ace and Dylan. I can't imagine these specific donor(s) covered the entire Rutgers NIL requirement for those two. So how much of the standard NIL budget was also used on Ace and Dylan? I'm betting it was a large portion.

Here’s where I think we agree, it seems a specific donor earmarked money for Ace and Dylan that they weren’t getting from fanatics etc. I too believe he was a first time donor. Sadly I don’t think he’ll be a second time donor because I think there were stipulations on how good of a year we had to have for more money.

Sadly I agree. Although, even as someone who's a fan of Pikiell, we've seen that big coaching changes at other schools (St. Johns, Arkansas, and Louisville) can motivate these donors to get back into the game.

 

[red sail]

Pike needs a GM to be the money guy in the program. It probably would help Schiano too. A person between the AD and the coach so Pike doesn't have to worry about these type of things

 

[TRU2RU]

Pike needs a GM to be the money guy in the program. It probably would help Schiano too. A person between the AD and the coach so Pike doesn't have to worry about these type of things

Pike needed a n Athletic Director who would do his job & support raising NIL money, something that Pat Hobbs refused to do

 

[RexMantlepiece]

Pike needed a n Athletic Director who would do his job & support raising NIL money, something that Pat Hobbs refused to do

Bingo Hobbs and NIL were not peanut butter and jelly and definitely peanut butter + jelly + gold ( I see ya Snoop). This has been said multiple times from folks who know on the board and yet like so many other things it hasn’t sunk in yet for many. Our AD just when NIL was getting going and needed to be embraced did not embrace it. Put us in a further hole when combined with a non giving fan base.

 

[RUJMM78]

Factors impacting Rutgers disappointing season:
1.Harper flu illness and ankle injury
2.Failure to recruit a experienced center that could score and defend
3.Coaching staff failure to install a half court offense based on player and ball movement instead of iso offense
4.Williams lack of consistent scoring as the third scoring option
5.Initially poor rebounding and foul shooting
6.Abysmal 3 point shooting after 3 transfers brought in specifically for that need
7.Bench scoring was lacking until recent games.
8.Losing games to Kennesaw State and Princeton
9.Home court advantage at the RAC and MSG hasn't resulted in enough league wins
10.NIL and transfer portal a non success
11.Absence of AD and University president assistance to ensure this season with high media attention would be a success

 

[fluoxetine]

Yeah what kind of bullshit is that. Should be paid after each game played, whatever that comes out to. That's a lot of money lit on fire.

What, why, the kid is hurt. It’s not like he walked away from the program.

 

[darkcheck]

Factors impacting Rutgers disappointing season:
1.Harper flu illness and ankle injury
2.Failure to recruit a experienced center that could score and defend
3.Coaching staff failure to install a half court offense based on player and ball movement instead of iso offense
4.Williams lack of consistent scoring as the third scoring option
5.Initially poor rebounding and foul shooting
6.Abysmal 3 point shooting after 3 transfers brought in specifically for that need
7.Bench scoring was lacking until recent games.
8.Losing games to Kennesaw State and Princeton
9.Home court advantage at the RAC and MSG hasn't resulted in enough league wins
10.NIL and transfer portal a non success
11.Absence of AD and University president assistance to ensure this season with high media attention would be a success

I love this list. Id add poor recruiting 2021 on and the inability to Retain anyone from prior rosters

 

[darkcheck]

I'm saying they had a total roster budget for NIL that included standard NIL contributions and these "one time donor(s)" wiling to invest in Ace and Dylan. I can't imagine these specific donor(s) covered the entire Rutgers NIL requirement for those two. So how much of the standard NIL budget was also used on Ace and Dylan? I'm betting it was a large portion.



Sadly I agree. Although, even as someone who's a fan of Pikiell, we've seen that big coaching changes at other schools (St. Johns, Arkansas, and Louisville) can motivate these donors to get back into the game.

I understood that the outside donor and sponsors covered most of Ace and Dylan

 

[Simce91]

Before the season I was worried about the roster. It certainly wasn’t elite. That said the freshman and transfers have gotten a lot better. It’s a shame ogbole got hurt as he was making some nice strides. If Dylan was healthy I definitely think we’d have a few more wins at this point and be in the hunt.

Good post,

To this point, it's critical that Pike gets JMike, Grant, Dortch, Ogbole and Sommerville back On The Banks next year.

His system works, but he must have "experienced" cogs in place from day 1

 

[rpiseman]

Good post,

To this point, it's critical that Pike gets JMike, Grant, Dortch, Ogbole and Sommerville back On The Banks next year.

His system works, but he must have "experienced" cogs in place from day 1

What are we describing as the system working? 1 tournament bid and a play-in game in 9 years?

For the sake of argument you could call the tourney bid and play-in game years the luck of getting a few players to perform above expectations.

Now before you get crazy the other side is he got unlucky with a bunch of highly rated kids too Jaden, Gavin etc.

 

[toby83]

What, why, the kid is hurt. It’s not like he walked away from the program.

Agree! Just saying tough way to blow $2M when he can't stay on the court. Nobody said he quit. Whoever the company is will certainly rethink their next offer.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

The original post is 100% accurate.

We knew we would have a once in a generation opportunity.
We knew Cliff was gonna walk (and probably let him with minimal attempt to change that).
We knew the entire NCAA is on average far older in age than it was in years past.

We needed a dominant , experienced , defensive presence at Center. That was known and the absolute biggest malpractice of the offseason.

It seems when Pike couldn’t get that piece Then Pike decided to go all in on the “surround the talent with shooters” strategy. Unfortunately NONE of those transfers lived up anywhere close to that.

People saying Dylan’s injuries have been part of the reason for this season disappointing are far off. This season’s ship was already sinking and on life support before then.

In summary it was a disaster to not get a top level experience center for this run. And the rest of the transfers unfortunately didn’t live up to their billings.

 

[bethlehemfan]

People saying Dylan’s injuries have been part of the reason for this season disappointing are far off.

This is not a very logical statement.

 

[fluoxetine]

Agree! Just saying tough way to blow $2M when he can't stay on the court. Nobody said he quit. Whoever the company is will certainly rethink their next offer.

Meh, I think that’s just the reality of athletic contracts.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

This is not a very logical statement.

It is not the key culprit of why this season is disappointing like many are claiming. The team was flawed and losing with him. And you could see , from basketball eyes, we weren’t going to magically morph into a top 5 big ten team .

 

[bethlehemfan]

It is not the key culprit of why this season is disappointing like many are claiming. The team was flawed and losing with him. And you could see , from basketball eyes, we weren’t going to magically morph into a top 5 big ten team .

That’s speculation imo. He’s probably a top ten point guard in college basketball. That’s a monumental loss. Early in the season freshman are going to struggle. We went toe to toe with two very good teams and had two bad losses and were 1-1 in the big. Not a great resume but certainly not something that was insurmountable.

 

[365Poster24Seven]

If you took a poll of everyone that post on this site which are supposed to be die hard Rutgers alums and fans. I will include the other site as well. I would say 95% of the posters chose to not donate. These are the die hards. I don’t understand what Pike was supposed to do. He mentioned it plenty of times of how important NIL going forward is. NIL is hated here and with the history of this fanbase and donations to Rutgers it’s so very easy to blame Pike when most of you gave zero.

 

[G- RUnit]

Odd yelling at the diehards who already pay all the points fees, donated and and supported RU through thick and thin and 30 years of ineptitude.

While perhaps season ticket holder contributions are a minor problem, the bigger problem is there are not enough big whales/sharks.

Imagine if we were able to keep Eugene, Jacob, Cam, Paul, Cliff, Mags, for extra years.

Hard to blame Pike if no real NiL.

 

[RUChoppin]

If you took a poll of everyone that post on this site which are supposed to be die hard Rutgers alums and fans. I will include the other site as well. I would say 95% of the posters chose to not donate. These are the die hards. I don’t understand what Pike was supposed to do. He mentioned it plenty of times of how important NIL going forward is. NIL is hated here and with the history of this fanbase and donations to Rutgers it’s so very easy to blame Pike when most of you gave zero.

You go after sponsors, not fans. If you can't get a sugar daddy, you need businesses to put money toward endorsements/etc. You know, actually finding entities to license the players' names, images, and likenesses, what NIL was intended to be.

Instead, it's like we're talking about passing around a basket among the faithful at church.