Any idea of when we will hear status of our own guys? Judging from last year and the late defections of cam Spencer and mulcahy 2 years ago; i would think pike had these conversations last week? Besides Peter noble, I haven’t seen anything else
Internal portal decisions?
- Thread starter Sbailey123
- Start date
According to Richie in another thread, "very soon", but not today. There is a pod up, haven't listened yet, but maybe they discuss this.
Cam & Paul we’re grad transfers & they can transfer whenever they want
The pod is great listen and further proves we have to get out from under Pike asap. 2/3 guys are thought to stay. Pikes first interest are Dercack and Acuff’s teammates from Merrimack and Eastern Michigan! Smh. The other transfers currently being targeted are below mid major talent .
I just listened. Basketball sounds pretty dismal. I agree with you on Pike. The football discussion was upbeat.
I don't think that it's a specific "Pike" issue but - no more NJ or "had 1 great game against Rutgers" transfers.
Derkack, Noah, Martini, Austin Williams
Derkack, Noah, Martini, Austin Williams
If this is the sad reality. Hire Andy Toole as assistant (Robert morris coach). Pike’s son plays at CBA and that’s where Peter noble came from and where Andy Toole played. I’m sure they have crossed paths at some point so decent chance they know each other already.
pay toole good assistant coach money and let him come back to New Jersey. I don’t know how many watched Robert Morris vs Alabama on Friday but they put a scare in bama and basically are under recruited kids. You could make a very good argument that Dickerson on Robert morris was the best player on the floor which is remarkable considering Alabama’s NIL budget and their highly ranked kids on the team already.
I listened to pod and Richie echoed that it’s a pipe dream for high major transfer to come here (normally transferring for a NIL bag of $ or transferring down a level). If that is the game, let’s add Toole to coaching staff who has already demonstrated ability to overachieve with lesser talent.
Why would Toole take an assistant job when next year there will be a great chance he’d be a top candidate to replace Pike as Head Coach?
Their best player, Dickerson, hit the portal today, Go get Him!
Their best player, Dickerson, hit the portal today, Go get Him!
I am wondering this too. He would take an assistant job ? And on a staff that may get canned next year ?
Think the only time it ever worked was Yeboah. He dropped 21 on us in 2017.
Good point. If they finished that game he would probably have a job offer in hand from a high major already.
didn’t know about Robert morris losing Dickerson. Maybe it will entice Toole to make a job move a year too early rather than a year too late? If nothing else, Toole certainly loses a big piece of last years team. Long shot I guess but just thinking out of the box. Dream scenario: make it a package deal and grab both of them.
Toole was on jersey jump shot with carino a few weeks back and seems to love the area so I’m not sure it’s completely out of the question but could just be blindly hoping some changes are made.
If pike’s strategy is going to be developing under the radar players for the most part, he needs to add to the staff that can help him do just that and build up his basketball brand again.
If this is correct, he'd probably get more money being an assistant here.
Andrew Toole's Salary & Contract in 2025
While the institution has not officially published the specific financial details of his contract, rumors claim that his annual pay ranges between $200 K and $400 K. This range is consistent with salary packages for head coaches at comparable NCAA Division I teams.2 days ago
Andrew Toole's Salary & Contract in 2025
While the institution has not officially published the specific financial details of his contract, rumors claim that his annual pay ranges between $200 K and $400 K. This range is consistent with salary packages for head coaches at comparable NCAA Division I teams.2 days ago
Listening to the pod was depressing. No money to compete for high major players. Sounds like we will be basically picking lottery tickets hoping to hit on a couple low major players. It’ll be a long year next year if so. Pike may be on the hottest of hot seats in all power conferences
The podcast was pretty depressing. Here are some players that apparently we have reached out to::
Orlando Lovejoy, Detroit Mercy, 6’3” 16.4 pts, 45% fg %, 22% 3 pt %
Adam Clark, Merrimack, 5’10”, 19.8 pts, 45% fg %, 29% 3 pt %. Probably going to Tennessee
Jalil Bethea, Miami, 6’5”, 8.1 pts, 37% fg %, 33 3 pt %
Amari Monroe, Quinnipiac, 6’7”, 18.1 Pts, 9.1 rbds, 40% fg %
Chris Bell, Syracuse, 6’7”, 9.7 Pts, 2 rbds, 41% fg%, 35% 3 pt %
Tariq Francis (Brandon Knight’s Nephew), NJIT, 6’0”, 19.2 pts, 37 fg %, 33 % 3 pt %
Orlando Lovejoy, Detroit Mercy, 6’3” 16.4 pts, 45% fg %, 22% 3 pt %
Adam Clark, Merrimack, 5’10”, 19.8 pts, 45% fg %, 29% 3 pt %. Probably going to Tennessee
Jalil Bethea, Miami, 6’5”, 8.1 pts, 37% fg %, 33 3 pt %
Amari Monroe, Quinnipiac, 6’7”, 18.1 Pts, 9.1 rbds, 40% fg %
Chris Bell, Syracuse, 6’7”, 9.7 Pts, 2 rbds, 41% fg%, 35% 3 pt %
Tariq Francis (Brandon Knight’s Nephew), NJIT, 6’0”, 19.2 pts, 37 fg %, 33 % 3 pt %
I still find it hard to believe that we can’t get ANY high major players. In that case, we would basically be the worst power 5 team in the nation next year (worse than all the ACC schools and Big East). Although anything is possible I highly doubt that happens. Otherwise if that is a realistic possibility Pike should be fired the minute there is a new President and AD.
Practically speaking, based on player movement we should have the money to get even ONE high major player. It is very tough to win without getting some form of high major experience from the transfer portal. Otherwise, RU definitely needs a new coach
Problem is...even with enough NIL to get a high major player or two, why would someone come here for at most a small increase over other offers to play with Walmart scratch and dent bin teammates and not a chance in hell of making the tourney ?
RU may not be the “most attractive” destination for most portal guys, but high major players will have the opportunity to be a key contributor right away and be a true leader on the team.
For example, Tony Perkins transferred from Iowa to Missouri (the worst SEC team last year I believe) and was a key contributor and helped turn around their season (Mizzou finished as a 6 seed this year). On the other hand, AJ Storr transferred for a ton of NIL to Kansas and became a complimentary piece and only averaged 6.1 points/game this season.
RU will give high major players the chance to become a lead player in the rotation and if the team succeeds, will get a ton of credit for that.
We should just pay up for a couple players then take projects or hidden gem possibly scrubs and hope to get lucky
Spreading money around to a bunch of players that all aren't B1G quality is pointless
Spreading money around to a bunch of players that all aren't B1G quality is pointless
100%, let’s at least get two real Big 10 players, find our own John Tonje and Danny Wolf type for next year, probably break the whole bank of the budget but maybe we get lucky and find one cheap hidden gem with two real players and the rest of the roster we cobble together and I am sure it would be improved from last season…..I guess I should say the last two seasons.
If merrimack still plays zone as primary defense why would he even consider
No but if you ask the other half of the board here they say it’s not a money issue it’s a talent evaluation issue why can’t we find good players with the Pennie’s we have makes no sense… smh
Delusional fans thinking we can just will our way to win by finding 8 guys that literally nobody else is looking for but are actually good players at the same time
What's the alternative?
More whining about poor fans and calling them cheap?
Just fold up the program?
Nobody is saying money isn't an issue.
But money isn't the ONLY issue.
At least the "delusional fans thinking" is actual actions that can be taken to try and fix something that can be fixed.
Money issue isn't being fixed.
It's a feature of the program you have to live with - not a bug that will be fixed.
When I first read this comment, I was thinking of Wolffolk, not Danny Wolf lol. It appears to be pretty bleak for basketball. Amazing how far we have fallen since NIL became legal.
That is the best way to build a winning team.
Say RU retains everyone except JWill and JMike. That would give RU 4 open scholarship spots. Given RU will have around 4 million in NIL + rev-sharing, I’d say spend around 1.5-2 million on two solid high major transfers, 500,000 on ONE solid mid-major transfer and 100,000-250,000 on another mid/low major transfer and the rest to retain the current roster + freshman.
This could give a lineup that looks something like this:
Transfer PG
Transfer SG
Grant
Sommerville
Transfer C
Bench: Mark, Nwuli, Transfer, Ogbole, Derkack, Dortch, Ware, Powers
Given this lineup, if transfers that Pike brings in play well, I could see this team winning some games.
I still think our best and more realistic path is to do something similar to Maryland
Retain a couple key young guys to develop and pour ALL you have into 3 and maybe a 4th guy if you have anything left and hope to get lucky avoiding injuries
You cannot spread limited resources across 9-10 guys you just get depth of mediocrity
Maryland rolled the dice with what they had that their starting 5 and 1 decent bench player could hold up through an entire season
The podcast hinting at more guys from Merrimack and directional Michigan and the lowest tiers of D1 is not instilling confidence from me
I know NIL isn’t coming but approaching things the same way ain’t going to solve anything and unfortunately I feel like we need to sit through a season without an ace and Dylan to witness what we can actually afford to put on the court before we can have a real discussion about whether it’s worth investing in this coach or program as constituted
You could get me 10x more excited if we follow a Maryland type path than if we actually try to fill a whole roster out with our resources
Makes sense. As long as retain does not mean pay. We don’t have the resources to pour money into keeping guys who couldn’t even help 2 star lottery picks field a team with a winning record. There’s no doubt experience helps so retaining our players would be better than not retaining them money notwithstanding. We need to buy 1-2 of the best players we can afford - decent defense a prerequisite. Do that, hope some guys we have decide to stay, and hope the frosh class turns out to be a good one. That’s our best chance in my opinion.
Honestly our best path to success IS RETAINING … we are closer to being a Purdue light than St. John’s light
It will be much easier to bring in the RIGHT freshmen and develop them enough that they buy in and stay and maybe take a slight discount versus trying to find pieces to bring in
Maryland had Julian Reese and recruited Queen as a one and done and found 3 dogs to play in their backcourt that could shoot like crazy and were willing defenders
Again - does retain mean “pay”? Because if so, this is not accurate. We must allocate whatever resources we do have towards a defensive post player. At least that’s my opinion. If our post D is comparable to what it was this past season we’re going to be way worse than 2024-25 (and that was a losing team).
Maybe it’s for another thread but after this past season why couldn’t HC Pike adapt the defense if he strikes out on a rim protecting center.
Obviously the goal is to have one but need to be ready to adapt if it doesn’t work out.
Do you really think Braden smith and fletcher loyer play at Purdue for free?
Or Zach Kalkbrenner at creighton?
Julian Reese?
Those guys may love their coach and program but it’s naive to think a guy that important to keep isn’t going to test the waters … kind of like guys in the NFL may want to stay with their team but they always check their value before coming back
Absolutely he can, and I predict he will. I’m not expecting a high level rim protector at all. In fact, I’m hoping a reenactment of Bob Huggins Press VA is in our future. The guards and forwards on our team from last year are built to play that style. Lathan, however, is not. It was Ace, not Lathan, at the bottom of the press on rim protection duty in the last 2 games where we saw sparks of hope. Dylan, ironically was part of the reason we couldn’t press. He looked exhausted when we ran it.
You don’t need a real center in that style - you need lengthy athletes. Press VA had Jon Holton and Elijah Macon. Look them up. Neither would’ve commanded huge NIL pay checks. They’d cost a decent amount yes - any halfway decent post player will. They wouldn’t cost more than retaining Lathan though. That’s the path I’m hoping for because I think it’s our best chance of a turn around.
We don’t have guys like this. It’d be nice for them to stay but to have any chance of being competitive the interior D has to be resolved. Ace was our best rebounder and shot blocker. He’s gone. We really have nothing in the post to stop anyone on D. Resources need to be allocated to address this regardless of what system we play on D.
