Agreed I'm just saying you can't say Oats is a good coach mostly because he has tons of talent - he recruited and retained that talent.
You are speaking about rutgers based on our reputation today that pikiell has built. What good ADs are looking at is Pikiell's full body of work. Pikiell in 7 years built what rutgers is.
If Mag, paul and Caleb play all year than we have 5-6 more wins. Them getting hurt was pure luck for your prediction.
Kyk your being silly. How many coaches in college basketball today took the worst program in the power 5 to a 2nd round NCAA game in 5 years(potentially 4)? I cant think of any.
Name 5 coach's in last 30 years who has done a better job than steve pikiell?
The key to steve pikiel's success and what makes him great is he can win with inferior talent. He gets everyone to buy in, stay happy and think they are better than they are. We will see our program take off now that better talent is coming in the door. it will be very fun to watch. Pikiell has very free offencse. Huys pretty much have a green light. Our this year is not geared for that. With better players, pikiell will have the best defensive team in the country complimented by guys on offense who make shots.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Nah. Its sports, injuries happen. I specifically cited one of my concerns being lack of depth. It wasnt if someone got hurt it was who and when.
It would be nice if you could fill up the FB boards with your awful posting and leave bball alone.
@Caliknight can you take care of this?
Kyk’s whole argument basically revolves around the assumption that this is Pike’s ceiling and Ru will never getting better. We had an okay season during a rebuild year.
We have no idea what Pike’s ceiling is.
But the fact is Pike has this team in a position where we have a legit chance at landing multiple top 10 players in the same class.
If you can’t see how miraculous that is, then you’re just being biased.
Yes, Pike may have screwed up some end of game coaching situations. Guess what, a lot of coaches do that.
The culture has changed and RU is no longer seen as a dumpster fire when it comes to bball. We’re in a great position to take the next step
We have no idea what Pike’s ceiling is.
But the fact is Pike has this team in a position where we have a legit chance at landing multiple top 10 players in the same class.
If you can’t see how miraculous that is, then you’re just being biased.
Yes, Pike may have screwed up some end of game coaching situations. Guess what, a lot of coaches do that.
The culture has changed and RU is no longer seen as a dumpster fire when it comes to bball. We’re in a great position to take the next step
Plus RAC renovation plans will be much more clear in 3 months.
That is BS. Lack of depth doesn't account for losing a payer for the year. You know that is not what you meant.
Also still waiting fort 5 coaches who have done what pikiell has done.
Me too. But then I thought, maybe Notre Dame keeps all their money at Silicon Valley Bank. Maybe Kyk's on to something (as opposed to just on something, which is what we usually think)?
I like to keep an open mind, you see. 😀
And I like to see which of these insights is going to end up on Message Board Geniuses and then mocked by the entire RU community.
I made it once (that I know of). Al's getting ahead of me w/his lawsuit proposal. I might have to get creative. LOL
Saw that… but to those who know you, taking you literally is a dangerous game.
We all know kyk is/was serious about courting Elon Musk as a booster.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
we're not in po$ition to land top 10 player$ because of his coaching prowe$$, that'$ all I'll $ay. And I'm not mad about it either haha
I actually don’t find kyks football posts to be that bad.
The thing is, he’s not very crucial or as outspoken about our struggles in Football. For some reason, Schiano seems to get off easy.
Meanwhile he’s extremely critical of Pikiell and is very outspoken when we lose.
I bet if Pikiell played Jacob Young 40 mins a game kyk would have loved him haha.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
I'll keep it local with NJ/NY ties over the past few years
1) I think what Nate Oats (NY at buffalo) did at bama is FAR more impressive than what pike did here. Taking a program that won 1 tourney game since 2006 to being a perennial national title contender. It's harder to go from bubble team to natty contender than it is to go from very bad program to bubbble team as pike did
2) I think what Kevin Willard did at Seton Hall is at bare minimum equally as impressive. With less resources and a nearly impossible job he turn SHU into a perennial big east title contender
3) Sha Holloway at St Peters. Talk about no resources. That is an IMPOSSIBLE job. What he did there was tremendous
It's very nice that pike got us to be respectable. I do question if he can take us to the second weekend ever though unless he changes how he coaches offensive basketball.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Pike was hands off for me first 3-4 years after taking over a dumpster fire. I was super high on pike and then I saw the program hit a wall. I think we peaked in 2019-2020 which is a shame because they didn't get to play in the tourney.
Schiano is equally hands off for me first 3-4 years considering he took over a dumpster fire and big ten football/football in general is a lot harder job/better conference than big ten basketball/basketball in general. Big ten basketball is trash man. It's the equivalence to if our football program got to play in the acc.
Why would the first 3-4 years be hands off?
Football under Schiano 2.0 has a lot more question marks, struggles and red flags in compared to the first 3-4 years under Pikiell.
After 2 years of Pikiell I was so pumped at the trajectory of the program I bought season tickets, despite being 60 miles away. I came really close to letting go of my Football tickets this year lol.
And I’m not interested in comparing the two rebuilds or which one was easier (neither one was easy) so please don’t go there.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Football and bball is apples and hand grenades build wise. Alot easier in bball.
This year schiano deserves some heat if the offense doesnt look competent.
I knew you would go down this road haha which I was I stated this first this to get out in front of this pivot:
“And I’m not interested in comparing the two rebuilds or which one was easier (neither one was easy) so please don’t go there”
Let’s put the football/basketball rebuild difficulty comparison aside for a second.
The facts are that both basketball and football were complete dumpster fires when Pikiell and Schiano took over. After watching the first 3 years of Pikiell’s rebuild vs. Schiano’s first 3…I would say Pikiell did a better job.
Again, let’s not compare the difficulty between the two. Schiano (who had already coached here and had way more experienced) has effed up some pretty basic stuff during his 2nd stint (QB, offensive, personnel) and also made some bad coaching picks (Gleeson) or couldn’t keep his staff intact/have good relations with a few of them. Also - you want to talk about a poorly run offense? Let’s devote some energy to football haha.
Not sure why you have to wait 3-4 years to be critical of Schiano 2.0 or the football program. There’s been plenty of red flags to be critical about. You are barely critical of Schiano and football.
I’m not giving up hope on Schiano but I have way more confidence in Pikiell and think he deserves every penny he’s made so far…and yes the expectations will and should increase once more talent arrives.
Everything else aside, why do people continue to ignore a $100M practice facility unsurpassed by any program in the conference or Northeast?
First - all the mistakes Schiano has made in his first years of 2.0 have nothing to do with a practice facility. They’re all mistakes on him.
Also - because a a new football facility isn’t holding the program back. They also have their own practice facility (indoors and outdoors). Are you forgetting how basketball literally had to share their courts with like 6 other sports and they physically could only practice at certain points in the day? They also practiced on their home court.
Football has plenty of support to be successful. In this day of NIL - a new facility can be argued as waste of money haha.
You’ve been pushing this narrative for the past year. If Schiano needs a new shiny practice facility to be successful then we need to show him the door now. The stadium is fine and he’s got a $5 million outdoor practice facility that is beautiful.
Not sure why kyk thinks we overperformed with subpar talent but will unperform once 5 star talent comes. Seems illogical to me
I very much enjoy reading your many comments . You are always interesting , very often insightful, and not afraid to counter the prevailing sentiment. That being said I disagree greatly with this O.P> Pike is a very fine coach --not just good. And he hasn't just elevated the Rutgers program to " average" as you've said. It takes time to elevate the historically bad mess left by Eddie Jordan to where the prgram is today in one of the most competitive basketball conferences in America. And you don't do it initially through recruiting --that doesn't happen until the program achieves a certain level of respectability. And now the recruits are coming with a 4star next year and potential of not one but two 5 stars the year after. If that isn't progress I don't know what is. And as others have said , Pike's a very fine coach and an even better person. For all your kudos to Nate Oats , I wouldn't want leading our program anyone who has no qualms playing someone "allegedly" implicated as an accessory in a capital murder case. I look forward to someday having Rutgers in Final Four again but not this way. Pikiell is a total class act and makes me proud to say he's our coach.
Last edited:
It’s not a narrative and your post is either extremely ignorant or extremely short-sighted.
But so much for putting everything else aside. Sort of hypocritical to ask that of a post you just made then not abide by the same request in the next one you respond to.
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Well factually speaking they were almost identical win % wise vs B1G opponents. Schiano 22% win %, pike 23%. And yes, its alot easier in basketball than football. Pike benefitted first two years by only play 18 b1g games too, so likely wouldve been below the 22%
Without question Pike is considered a better coach in basketball circles than Schiano is in the football community. If Pike was seen as potentially being available and didn’t have the onerous buyout, multiple top 25 programs would have interest in hiring him. There are probably fewer than 5 Power 5 programs who who even consider hiring Schiano at this point if he were potentially available, and the true number is probably closer to zero.
I see we’re doing the thing again where we just ignore that yes, in fact, inheriting a program with 25+ years or futility and coming off being the #9000 team in Kenpom does, in fact, make the job harder.
Nothing in my post was inaccurate and you didn’t address any of what I actually stated so nice job there.
Lol if you think a practice facility is what’s holding Schiano back!
wasnt a matter of inaccuracy. the only reason i go back and forth with you is you make good points.
Sorry but I don't think you fully understand the situation. We need a new football facility to boost recruiting. Right now we're struggling to build a Big Ten Program with mostly 2 and 3 star kids, which is exceptionally difficult. The new facility will improve our chances of landing the 4 and 5 star kid, a few of which are needed each year for us to be Big Ten Competitive..
This is why Schiano had it written into his contract and why it's so integral to our success. Michigan has TWO Indoor Football facilities. We have a bubble, which makes us look like a pauper program. Ohio State, Penn State, and Maryland's facility blows ours away, which is why they've left us in the dust. We either build the facility or content ourselves with mediocrity.
You may want to attend a game there to see why we struggle to recruit on Michigans level. Most kids are not getting NIL, which is why it's important to have a state of the art facility to attract the best kids we are capable of getting. And those that are getting NIL are only getting a nominal amount, certainly nothing approaching what Ohio State kids are gettng.
First, we’re not even close to being mediocre right now. We just went 1-8 in the conference and could barely hang with the mediocre teams. We barely beat Temple.
A new practice facility isn’t stopping us from competing with the likes of Maryland, Northwestern, Nebraska etc. Forget about PSU, Mich, and OSU…we may never compete consistently with them.
A new practice facility has nothing to do with the handling of the QB room, transfer portal, bad personnel decisions or poor coaching hires.
We don’t need 4 and 5 star recruits to be a mediocre program. We don’t need a $100 million practice facility to be a mediocre program. If that’s what Schiano needs to bring us to mediocrity then we don’t have the right coach.
And I’ve been to over 15 away games…I have a good idea of what facilities look like across a number of programs.
Seriously what is the agenda here? That we’re wasting money or that we’re going to need to fire Pike down the road?
A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Frankly that if he stays stuck in neutral weve made it impossible to move on from him.
Lets give a situation as im curious to hear your response. Lets say in March 2026 were sitting here and in the past 3 years (2024, 2025, 2026) weve missed the tourney in 2024, made it in 2025 and 2026 and won 1 total tourney game 2025 and 2026. Pike wouldve finished year 10 and remained in neutral. Are you okay with that?
I know most here are. Most are fine with a program who sneaks into the tourney and does nothing more and are satisfied we have a nice guy as a coach. I get it. Just curious your thoughts
All of this. I want to be proud of the program on and OFF the court. And I couldn’t be prouder of what Pike is building.
A friend who went to Nova and I were talking and he said bb is so different from football because you get to know the players and there’s no helmet to hide behind, everyone recognizes them when they’re out and they have less margin for error. Pike has really brought in guys who are a credit to the university. Doing it the right way matters to us folks who love our alma mater.
To clarify what I think your thoughts are, if the scenario above were to take place, you think Pike should be fired?
What if he had a lottery pick each year and 2-3 other NBA first-rounders? What if the games were all sold out and alumni giving and student applications were at an all time highs each year?
If we only won 1 tourney game in the next 3 years with the players we have coming in then a large majority of people will be unhappy with Pike at that point. Year 11 would be a very hot seat.
