The lack of NIL isn’t the fans fault, it’s Pike’s fault

[KK1827]

The excuse that it was a lack of NIL that prevented pike from putting together a tourney bid quality roster (despite all the pikecanzee’s saying he put together not just a tourney roster but a 2nd weekend+ roster pre-season) falls directly on his shoulders.

There’s a narrative floating around that it’s the fans fault. Fans not willing to shell out $100/month, $50/month, $20/month, etc. That it’s the long time fans at the court clubs fault for not emptying their social security checks into funding a team. It’s all bs.

The NIL race is NOT being won and lost by fan collectives but rather it’s being won and lost by how many 7-figure check writers you can get to help you fund your roster. Folks saying “pikes trying hes going to the court club”. That’s where both you and pike are so fvcking lost.

In 2025, a college head coaches primary job is fundraising. It is the first and most important job that coach has in todays landscape. Greg has gotten creative, hes gotten folks not even associated with RU to pony up and weve seen the effects over the past 2 recruiting cycles. Pike seemingly has not.

I get pike is a hoops head and not into alot of other stuff but hes going to have to adapt or retire. Every waking hour he has away from the court this offseason should be spent pounding the pavement and meeting with any wealthy individual he can get in front of. The casual fan does not matter to NIL, it’s the whales who do.

We’ll see if he’s up for what the job now requires this offseason.

 

[bethlehemfan]

It’s not the fans fault it’s just reality. Wake me up when Schiano has a winning big ten record in a season.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Pike signed a big contract to coach the team and recruit. Going after big donors is t his responsibility.

 

[RUskoolie]

You're mostly right but this narrative of only the rich can save us when it comes to donations, that needs to stop. Every single donor is important.

 

[RUBlackout]

I would actually say it’s the ADs main responsibility and his team. They need to find the donors and the coaches need to sell their vision.

Schiano is doing it bc he lacks an AD and even when Hobbs was here he was too busy focusing on gymnastics(physically)

 

[KK1827]

Pike signed a big contract to coach the team and recruit. Going after big donors is t his responsibility.

He’s the 2nd highest paid employee in NJ history, a top 25 paid college basketball coach. Bet your ass his job is to fundraise and figure this out.

Imagine Greg Brown saying to Motorola, “I didnt sign up to deal with ai”. Anyway, pike signed his extension when nil was already in play. So yes, he knew what he was signing up for

 

[ancienthooper]

The excuse that it was a lack of NIL that prevented pike from putting together a tourney bid quality roster (despite all the pikecanzee’s saying he put together not just a tourney roster but a 2nd weekend+ roster pre-season) falls directly on his shoulders.

There’s a narrative floating around that it’s the fans fault. Fans not willing to shell out $100/month, $50/month, $20/month, etc. That it’s the long time fans at the court clubs fault for not emptying their social security checks into funding a team. It’s all bs.

The NIL race is NOT being won and lost by fan collectives but rather it’s being won and lost by how many 7-figure check writers you can get to help you fund your roster. Folks saying “pikes trying hes going to the court club”. That’s where both you and pike are so fvcking lost.

In 2025, a college head coaches primary job is fundraising. It is the first and most important job that coach has in todays landscape. Greg has gotten creative, hes gotten folks not even associated with RU to pony up and weve seen the effects over the past 2 recruiting cycles. Pike seemingly has not.

I get pike is a hoops head and not into alot of other stuff but hes going to have to adapt or retire. Every waking hour he has away from the court this offseason should be spent pounding the pavement and meeting with any wealthy individual he can get in front of. The casual fan does not matter to NIL, it’s the whales who do.

We’ll see if he’s up for what the job now requires this offseason.

So ridiculous. The primary job of the head coach is NOT fundraising. That’s the fairly new job of the AD and the people on staff whose actual jobs are, uh, fundraising. I’m sure Pikes and Schiano are more than willing to do some glad-handing and schmoozing with potential donors, but it is NOT their primary job, nor will it ever be.

 

[KK1827]

So ridiculous. The primary job of the head coach is NOT fundraising. That’s the fairly new job of the AD and the people on staff whose actual jobs are, uh, fundraising. I’m sure Pikes and Schiano are more than willing to do some glad-handing and schmoozing with potential donors, but it is NOT their primary job, nor will it ever be.

Schiano himself has said his primary job has become fundraising.

Thing is Schiano has to fundraise for a roster of 105, pike has to do it for 13. 1-2 check writers can solve all pikes issues, gs needs 10X more

 

[365Poster24Seven]

Pike’s job is to coach and recruit. He tried to get the fanbase to get involved in the NIL. He got nothing from the fanbase including most if not 85% of those who post here daily. NIL has been shit on in hundreds of threads now the new spin is to blame Pike for the lack of NIL.

 

[bac2therac]

So ridiculous. The primary job of the head coach is NOT fundraising. That’s the fairly new job of the AD and the people on staff whose actual jobs are, uh, fundraising. I’m sure Pikes and Schiano are more than willing to do some glad-handing and schmoozing with potential donors, but it is NOT their primary job, nor will it ever be.

We have no AD in this important time in college athletics

 

[Mr Magoo]

Granted NIL came into existence during PIke’s contract so you can’t fault him there. It was bonehead Hobbs that then extended him. However, I’m pretty sure we can pay someone less than 3.5 million to come in 17th place in the B1G with two lottery picks.

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

The excuse that it was a lack of NIL that prevented pike from putting together a tourney bid quality roster (despite all the pikecanzee’s saying he put together not just a tourney roster but a 2nd weekend+ roster pre-season) falls directly on his shoulders.

There’s a narrative floating around that it’s the fans fault. Fans not willing to shell out $100/month, $50/month, $20/month, etc. That it’s the long time fans at the court clubs fault for not emptying their social security checks into funding a team. It’s all bs.

The NIL race is NOT being won and lost by fan collectives but rather it’s being won and lost by how many 7-figure check writers you can get to help you fund your roster. Folks saying “pikes trying hes going to the court club”. That’s where both you and pike are so fvcking lost.

In 2025, a college head coaches primary job is fundraising. It is the first and most important job that coach has in todays landscape. Greg has gotten creative, hes gotten folks not even associated with RU to pony up and weve seen the effects over the past 2 recruiting cycles. Pike seemingly has not.

I get pike is a hoops head and not into alot of other stuff but hes going to have to adapt or retire. Every waking hour he has away from the court this offseason should be spent pounding the pavement and meeting with any wealthy individual he can get in front of. The casual fan does not matter to NIL, it’s the whales who do.

We’ll see if he’s up for what the job now requires this offseason.

I nominate this for post of the year. Nicely said, KK. But I think we all know the answer on whether Pike is up for this. If he was, we’d be dancing this year.

 

[FAT MOON]

The excuse that it was a lack of NIL that prevented pike from putting together a tourney bid quality roster (despite all the pikecanzee’s saying he put together not just a tourney roster but a 2nd weekend+ roster pre-season) falls directly on his shoulders.

There’s a narrative floating around that it’s the fans fault. Fans not willing to shell out $100/month, $50/month, $20/month, etc. That it’s the long time fans at the court clubs fault for not emptying their social security checks into funding a team. It’s all bs.

The NIL race is NOT being won and lost by fan collectives but rather it’s being won and lost by how many 7-figure check writers you can get to help you fund your roster. Folks saying “pikes trying hes going to the court club”. That’s where both you and pike are so fvcking lost.

In 2025, a college head coaches primary job is fundraising. It is the first and most important job that coach has in todays landscape. Greg has gotten creative, hes gotten folks not even associated with RU to pony up and weve seen the effects over the past 2 recruiting cycles. Pike seemingly has not.

I get pike is a hoops head and not into alot of other stuff but hes going to have to adapt or retire. Every waking hour he has away from the court this offseason should be spent pounding the pavement and meeting with any wealthy individual he can get in front of. The casual fan does not matter to NIL, it’s the whales who do.

We’ll see if he’s up for what the job now requires this offseason.

oooooooooooh the posters who bitch about every GD thing around here while not giving jack s*it at the same time are gonna love this one...kudos on the five page thread...

 

[ancienthooper]

I nominate this for post of the year. Nicely said, KK. But I think we all know the answer on whether Pike is up for this. If he was, we’d be dancing this year.

Ooh, Kyk, what an honor to be so appreciated by the biggest doofus on the board.

 

[RutgersClassof2004]

The excuse that it was a lack of NIL that prevented pike from putting together a tourney bid quality roster (despite all the pikecanzee’s saying he put together not just a tourney roster but a 2nd weekend+ roster pre-season) falls directly on his shoulders.

There’s a narrative floating around that it’s the fans fault. Fans not willing to shell out $100/month, $50/month, $20/month, etc. That it’s the long time fans at the court clubs fault for not emptying their social security checks into funding a team. It’s all bs.

The NIL race is NOT being won and lost by fan collectives but rather it’s being won and lost by how many 7-figure check writers you can get to help you fund your roster. Folks saying “pikes trying hes going to the court club”. That’s where both you and pike are so fvcking lost.

In 2025, a college head coaches primary job is fundraising. It is the first and most important job that coach has in todays landscape. Greg has gotten creative, hes gotten folks not even associated with RU to pony up and weve seen the effects over the past 2 recruiting cycles. Pike seemingly has not.

I get pike is a hoops head and not into alot of other stuff but hes going to have to adapt or retire. Every waking hour he has away from the court this offseason should be spent pounding the pavement and meeting with any wealthy individual he can get in front of. The casual fan does not matter to NIL, it’s the whales who do.

We’ll see if he’s up for what the job now requires this offseason.

Agreed

 

[JoeRU0304]

You're mostly right but this narrative of only the rich can save us when it comes to donations, that needs to stop. Every single donor is important.

I get what you're saying but Al's 'Miami fans pony up' statements are ridiculous considering UM's fairweather fanbase and their sports notoriously drawing like crap. UM has a big handful of high-roller donors who fund their NIL; it's not like the 25k who show up at Hard Rock or the maybe 2k who actually attend UM basketball games are ponying up 10k each for NIL.

Joe P.

 

[RUChoppin]

To those saying that Pike's job is to "coach and recruit" (and not to fundraise) - you are living in the past. That was what he was hired for in 2016... but the game has changed.

"Recruiting" has now expanded to mean much more than it ever did. You now need to re-recruit every player on your roster, every year. And the promise of tuition, room and board, and an opportunity to play are no longer the full package when recruiting - NIL is a huge part of the recruiting equation.

If Pike isn't elbows deep in wooing and securing NIL funding, he's falling behind his peers (and not fulfilling the "and recruit" portion of his job).

Soliciting from the general fanbase is next to meaningless, though. It will never come close to footing the bill. If someone isn't writing at least an upper-five-figure check, they aren't worth Pike's time.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

I am sorry....Pike is my age. He has kids that are my age. He chose to end his career here to coach and he understood recruiting was part of his job. He was offered the contract by Rutgers to coach and recruit.

I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to meet with wealthy donors. He didn't sign a contract to do that. I don't expect him to spend much time doing this.

Does that mean he falls behind? probably

Should Pike walk away from a contract that Rutgers offered him because he is now asked to do something completely different than what he signed to do? NO

That is up to RU to decide how to handle and whether both parties need to get together and work out a deal if Pike doesnt want to do it and RU thinks it is completely necessary.

 

[PhillyRU]

I am sorry....Pike is my age. He has kids that are my age. He chose to end his career here to coach and he understood recruiting was part of his job. He was offered the contract by Rutgers to coach and recruit.

I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to meet with wealthy donors. He didn't sign a contract to do that. I don't expect him to spend much time doing this.

Does that mean he falls behind? probably

Should Pike walk away from a contract that Rutgers offered him because he is now asked to do something completely different than what he signed to do? NO

That is up to RU to decide how to handle and whether both parties need to get together and work out a deal if Pike doesnt want to do it and RU thinks it is completely necessary.

Respectfully I don’t agree with any of this. He signed a contract to win basketball games and you’re not guaranteed a stagnant career field. I don’t see how soliciting donors for players versus soliciting donors for facilities is terribly different aside from scale.

 

[KK1827]

I am sorry....Pike is my age. He has kids that are my age. He chose to end his career here to coach and he understood recruiting was part of his job. He was offered the contract by Rutgers to coach and recruit.

I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to meet with wealthy donors. He didn't sign a contract to do that. I don't expect him to spend much time doing this.

Does that mean he falls behind? probably

Should Pike walk away from a contract that Rutgers offered him because he is now asked to do something completely different than what he signed to do? NO

That is up to RU to decide how to handle and whether both parties need to get together and work out a deal if Pike doesnt want to do it and RU thinks it is completely necessary.

1) He signed his extension when nil was FULLY in sight.

2) he is the ceo of an organization. Like any half competent ceo, when things change, you must adjust. Schiano has, every coach in america has, why cant he?

Again, imagine greg brown the ceo of Motorola saying, “ahh shit i never signed up for this ai technology, not my job”. Hed be fired in a nanosecond. This is the real world. Its time he earn his paycheck and do what the job now requires

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

He signed a contract to coach basketball

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

1) He signed his extension when nil was FULLY in sight.

2) he is the ceo of an organization. Like any half competent ceo, when things change, you must adjust. Schiano has, every coach in america has, why cant he?

Again, imagine greg brown the ceo of Motorola saying, “ahh shit i never signed up for this ai technology, not my job”. Hed be fired in a nanosecond. This is the real world. Its time he earn his paycheck and do what the job now requires

What is Greg Brown’s contract?

 

[seansherm]

Funny, I tried saying this about both Greg and Pike last year. Fundraising was their most important job nowadays. People argued w me, said it's the AD's job. ITS ALL THEIR JOBS. Sounds like Greg has adapted. Pike needs to if he hasn't.

 

[KK1827]

What is Greg Brown’s contract?

To do everything he can to maximize shareholder value. Just as pikes job is to do everything he can to win games.

Nothing remains the same forever, you adapt or youre passed by

 

[seansherm]

I am sorry....Pike is my age. He has kids that are my age. He chose to end his career here to coach and he understood recruiting was part of his job. He was offered the contract by Rutgers to coach and recruit.

I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to meet with wealthy donors. He didn't sign a contract to do that. I don't expect him to spend much time doing this.

Does that mean he falls behind? probably

Should Pike walk away from a contract that Rutgers offered him because he is now asked to do something completely different than what he signed to do? NO

That is up to RU to decide how to handle and whether both parties need to get together and work out a deal if Pike doesnt want to do it and RU thinks it is completely necessary.

That's nonsense. Every coach knows meeting with wealthy donors is a big part of the gig. Most would rather deal with that side than the recruiting side.

 

[NickRU714]

Pike signed a big contract to coach the team and recruit. Going after big donors is t his responsibility.

Ideally, I’d agree.
Even recruiting shouldn’t be his primary focus. He should have a voice but and contribute. But during the season?
Just coach the team week to week.
Unfortunately, college athletics broken funding system demands the HC also serve as the GM of the program.

It circles back to fans.
“Elite Boosters” don’t actually care about the team. They need their validation directly from the coach (and players) in order to give money.
So that means HC Pike has to jump through hoops and fundraiser instead of just worrying about game planning and coaching.

 

[stribucher]

It is partially NIL but I think it was mismanagement of the budget in getting the right transfers. One would think he could have found at least one 6 foot 9 inch power forward / center that was better than Ogbole.

The biggest fail by Pike is not running anything that looks like an offense to maximize the talents of the players. I never see three point shooters running off of picks to get open. Pike needs to find an offensive coordinator as assistant coach immediately. Also, the defense and rebounding has been abysmal. That was a staple of Pike's prior teams.

There are plenty of mid major coaches who do a lot more with a lot less talent than what Pike has on the roster. You can look at several NJ div 1 coaches (Sha at Seton Hall, Princeton, Monmouth, St Peters, FDU) who could out coach Pike and that is a damn shame.

I was a Pike supporter but the last 2 years have soured me on him as he has not adjusted to the new world of college basketball.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

To do everything he can to maximize shareholder value. Just as pikes job is to do everything he can to win games.

Nothing remains the same forever, you adapt or youre passed by

What are the terms?

You can't compare someone who is compensated based on how he does in the future vs. someone who is compensated based on how he has done in the past.

Coaches get paid a set amount of money and CEOs get paid differentlky

 

[RUGiddy777]

Ooh, Kyk, what an honor to be so appreciated by the biggest doofus on the board.

It’s a bit of a tie between the two of them.

 

[superfan01]

It’s a bit of a tie between the two of them.

Diddy. - you and your multiple handles have been dead wrong all year.

 

[blueoyster]

This is such a tired debate...a major problem is simply this: the blue blood programs are destination schools that have provided thier students with an on campus and historically successful sports experience as they fill a 100,000 seat stadium week after week and provide a successful BB program year after year. Rutgers has had historically poor major sports performance for years on end, was really 4 seperate institutions that reluctantly intermingled until the past couple of decades, and was significantly a commuter school. This did/does not drive an intimate relationship between the student and the university, and its sports programs, unlike our blue blood brethren. It's not an issue of our mainline fans being cheap or not wanting to support the program, as that we do not have the scale to get us where we need to be with donations and NIL. Its just that we have many less alums passionate about the program and I am sure consequently many less deep-pocketed donors passionate about our sports programs. This is where the $$ bang for the buck is. Better to get one $1,000,000 donor than 10,000 giving $100 each. Combine that with under performing athletic and alumni relations departments and you have what we are. Apologies in advance if this offends some of our passionate fans..,but it is what it is.

 

[RUDivision]

Pike signed a big contract to coach the team and recruit. Going after big donors is t his responsibility.

Then he should quit college basketball. If he does not realize how the game is played then simply go back to lower level college or high school and coach

 

[RUDivision]

He signed a contract to coach basketball

In that case based on his “coaching” since he signed that contract extension he has been awful at “ coaching basketball “. If it ls strictly on coaching and winning games then he should be fired the day after the season ends.

 

[RUDivision]

I am sorry....Pike is my age. He has kids that are my age. He chose to end his career here to coach and he understood recruiting was part of his job. He was offered the contract by Rutgers to coach and recruit.

I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to meet with wealthy donors. He didn't sign a contract to do that. I don't expect him to spend much time doing this.

Does that mean he falls behind? probably

Should Pike walk away from a contract that Rutgers offered him because he is now asked to do something completely different than what he signed to do? NO

That is up to RU to decide how to handle and whether both parties need to get together and work out a deal if Pike doesnt want to do it and RU thinks it is completely necessary.

Respectfully if you have tickets you should be forced to give them up after your cable provider removes all big ten tv/internet channel providers. You have zero clue what a coaches responsibility are.

Do donors want to talk with AD Name here OR Pike?

Never use the letter N or I or L in any of your future thoughts

 

[RUskoolie]

I am sorry....Pike is my age. He has kids that are my age. He chose to end his career here to coach and he understood recruiting was part of his job. He was offered the contract by Rutgers to coach and recruit.

I am sure the last thing he wants to do is to meet with wealthy donors. He didn't sign a contract to do that. I don't expect him to spend much time doing this.

Does that mean he falls behind? probably

Should Pike walk away from a contract that Rutgers offered him because he is now asked to do something completely different than what he signed to do? NO

That is up to RU to decide how to handle and whether both parties need to get together and work out a deal if Pike doesnt want to do it and RU thinks it is completely necessary.

NIL aside it is absolutely the head coaches job to talk with donors and make them feel connected.

 

[RUskoolie]

What are the terms?

You can't compare someone who is compensated based on how he does in the future vs. someone who is compensated based on how he has done in the past.

Coaches get paid a set amount of money and CEOs get paid differentlky

Motion to change your user name to CMU block because you are that dense on so many basketball topics its impressive.

 

[dontestrond]

Do you want him trying to convince rich people to invest in his program? You see them god awful post game interviews? Coach speak ain’t gonna put millions in the pocket. Go get a GM who’s a shark.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Motion to change your user name to CMU block because you are that dense on so many basketball topics its impressive.

seriously?
You don't read and remember what I write.