Portal is open. Let’s discuss here. Potentials, etc
- Thread starter SBP
- Start date
In my opinion, who we land this year is going to be more important than who we keep.
The scouting report seems to indicate that Lathan and Ware are replicas of eachother style wise. That’s a big concern.
The scouting report seems to indicate that Lathan and Ware are replicas of eachother style wise. That’s a big concern.
I’d rather pay a tough defensive minded big who can give us 7-10 ppg than Somerville who will score double digits next year but is the worst help defender I’ve seen in a long time.
We don’t have to keep anyone. There are players that do what our players do literally on every team in the country. Landing them and knowing what to do with them are separate issues.
Okay ,but where are the points coming from next season ?The loss of Bailey and Harper alone is 38 less points.
Yeah - my concern is that keeping him probably means we’re locked in at center or if Ogbole leaves we pick up a a token minutes utility player. Thats not a winning recipe if Ware is just an extension of Lathan on D - and frosh version at that.
Pike can’t afford to think this way. He has to go back to the philsophy that brought him success which was defense first.
JY, Geo, Caleb, Tez, Mag, MJ - none of these guys were great shooters. They played tough nosed D. If we can find a Yeboah who shoots a little - great. But we can’t ride with poor defenders. That’ll be a losing strategy for Pike IMO. We might not win anyway but our strategy can’t be hoping Latham can outscore everyone. There’s close to zero chance that works.
We should, in my opinion, hope for a defense like 2023-24 absent the historically poor offense that couldn’t finish bunny lay ups.
Mark and Nwuli should play big minutes and give us 18-19 ppg together. Grant takes a natural step forward from 6 ppg to 12 ppg. Thats 24-25 right there. Need to find a true 2 in the portal to get us 11-12 ppg and we’re right there.
Need to keep all - age plays a big part as well as playing in Pikes system.
Nwuli looks like the real deal on D. I’m excited for him. If Mark can be like frosh Geo that would be great.
It would be great to keep all but not if, like last year, it means we can’t or don’t recruit any high level frontcourt players. Backcourt players are a dime a dozen. We won’t have trouble bringing in more Acuff and Noah F types. Hopefully we aim for D this time.
Our interior D this season was historically bad. If retaining everyone we have - Latham, Dortch, Grant and Ogbole means we don’t add anyone other than the frosh to play the front court, that’s probably bad news.
This board has the strangest revisionist history with Geo. His percentages weren’t great because he took loads of tough shots, but how many big time down the stretch shots does a guy need to make to be considered a great shooter?
Lol Don't get your hopes up, wait and see who will be on the final roster. I'll start to psych myself up for the season after the roster is official otherwise I'll be disappointed. Or I could be pleasantly surprised, I'll wait and see though, all I did was piss myself off last year..
My guess is that Sommerville, Jmike and Jwill move on. Priority is a rim protecting 5 and a point guard who can hit 3s on a consistent basis.
I also think BKnight will land a HC job. I hope Smoke stays but it possible he follows BK.
Interesting, challenging and critical offseason for Pike and the program.
I also think BKnight will land a HC job. I hope Smoke stays but it possible he follows BK.
Interesting, challenging and critical offseason for Pike and the program.
Richie O has a Portal Tracker page : But it IS paid (i.e. you'd have to subscribe to THIS site) ... he is keeping on top of this.
But because it is premium content, it would not be appropriate to reveal. But here is the link: https://rutgers.rivals.com/news/rutgers-basketball-2025-transfer-portal-tracker
Also, there is a thread on the Round Table (also premium, i.e. paid, that is already 7 pages long: https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/t...fer-portal-tracker.290074/page-7#post-7178508
Both may be well worth the subscription for those who can afford, at least for the next several months.
But because it is premium content, it would not be appropriate to reveal. But here is the link: https://rutgers.rivals.com/news/rutgers-basketball-2025-transfer-portal-tracker
Also, there is a thread on the Round Table (also premium, i.e. paid, that is already 7 pages long: https://rutgers.forums.rivals.com/t...fer-portal-tracker.290074/page-7#post-7178508
Both may be well worth the subscription for those who can afford, at least for the next several months.
We can't have a complete roster turnover.
You need some sense of continuity for a core group to know what's expected and Pikes defense. Trying to get a whole new set of players bought in & understanding takes the season to hit their stride and by then itay be too late.
I am really on the fence with this one. Leaning towards keeping guys who really want to be here at a fair price. Anyone else doesn't get a strong pitch.
I am currently on the fence renewing my tickets and watching college basketball. Somerville staying will make my decision to bolt easier. I am a hypocrite. I am so turned off watching all these teams with all new faces every year. I have watched 15 minutes so far of the tournament. However I am saying I can't watch most of our current team returning.
@NickRU714
We've talked about this before.
Lathan's offensive skills aren't good enough to justify both the lack of defense and the hoops you have to jump through on offense.
Maybe he becomes a better shooter or a better defender in the offseason but I'm not pining my hopes on either of that if I'm Pike.
Keeping guys is fine.
But it has to be the right role.
Keeping JWill, Derkack and Davis as starters/significant contributors is pointless.
How did it work out with just handing JWill a starting off ball role this year?
That is interesting – – I remember reading just the opposite — that Ware is more of a physical presence, but does not have the ball skills that Somerville has.
Dumb. However I wouldn't be opposed to JWill and JaMike coming back for peanuts provided every other perimeter player expected to be in the rotation were shooters.
JWill off the ball was a recipe for disaster.
I want to keep J Mike and Lathan. J Will can walk. Ogbole can walk (no one is taking him). Lathan you hope his defense and toughness will improve and it should. Because he would score 10 but allow 14. That doesn't help.
We have a bunch of bench players. This portal season needs to be a huge success or Pike is toast in 12 months.
We have a bunch of bench players. This portal season needs to be a huge success or Pike is toast in 12 months.
If any of the freshman are pure PGs and are ready to play now my answer changes
I am pretty sure Lino mark is a PG. Whether he is ready for P5 level starting position, I have no idea.
Somerville is a nice player offensively and has potential. Great free throw shooter, shot 86%, by far he was best on the team for FTs. However, his athleticism is below average and his defense is really bad. Hard to see massive improvement here with his lack of athleticism. To me, he is really a power forward, he’s not a center and can’t be relied upon for rim protection in the paint as he is often out of position, then lacks quickness and explosion to get back into position and challenge shots. We need a true rim protecting big that Somerville would play with at times. Lathan does not look like he will ever be that guy as he looks like he can hardly jump off the floor. Ogbole is not that guy either as he is often lost on defense and still has a steep learning curve that likely he won’t climb to provide what’s needed from a center.
I think Lathan will stay, he may be the leading scorer next year but at least in double digit scoring for sure with more opportunities to score on next year’s roster and then he bolts out the door in the portal after his Sophomore year.
I think Lathan will stay, he may be the leading scorer next year but at least in double digit scoring for sure with more opportunities to score on next year’s roster and then he bolts out the door in the portal after his Sophomore year.
I think that’s a safe bet. We also need a lot more money, apparently. But look at it this way, we’ll at least get to keep the freshman who aren’t any good for the following season.
The assumption you make about Lino Mark and Nwuli and their scoring may be through scarlet colored glasses. 18-19 ppg is a lot to expect from two freshman, that could easily be 11-12 ppg as they are both Freshman, who need to learn Pike’s defense and then execute Pike’s defense in order to stay on the floor. This year gave us an example of players struggling to execute Pike’s defense. I am hoping for the best, but reality tells me that a Freshman will have their ups and downs, which may impact their minutes out on their floor which then impacts their ppg. JMike likely ahead of Lino Mark if he is back next year as Pike gets back to his true defensive identity next year with a player who is in his 3rd year in his system.
New intel out that Pike eyeing some DIII players for next year
Pike cannot think just defense. His job is to think offense, defense , rebounding ,,athleticism and high IQ players. You don’t make a team just focusing on defense. We need 2 guard scorers that are 2 way players and a solid rim protector that can back up Lathan. Lathan really came on the last 10 games of his freshman year. He is only going to get better defensively , hitting his mid range and hitting a 3,, and going straight up without hestitation when he is close to the hoop. Just focusing on defense without any offense is a losing formula and even worse on this offensive era. Stop shoving Lathan out the door. He should be a priority retention period.
it't not just who we get and who leave, but the part we can't answer is does Pike and staff know how to use them...
Yeah, these next 4 weeks probably determine pike's fate at RU. While I think he definitely gets 2 more years, if he flops in the portal this next month, he'll be walking into the 2026-2027 as a coach everyone knows will be fired.
I'd look to keep j-mike, lathan, grant, dercack and j-will. Of those 5, I'd only want probably one as a starter though. Feel like J-Will, J-Mike and dercack are good depth pieces to play 7-10 mins a night each. Whether they'd be willing to buy into roles like that though is a separate story
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