Seton Hall figured out the college sports money game. When will Rutgers? | Politi
Seton Hall stunk last season. If you’re a Rutgers basketball fan looking for a glimmer of hope right now after the Pirates embarrassingly knocked off your team on Saturday night, well, this is the best you’ll find.
The Pirates have transformed into a confident, talented and fun-to-watch team that appears NCAA Tournament-bound. They have, in transfer point guard Budd Clark, the kind of floor general that reminds fans of head coach Shaheen Holloway. They have, in freshman forward Najai Hines, a legitimate presence that had those same fans shouting “Baby Shaq!” because he owned Rutgers in painting.
Advertisement
They have hope where, less than a year ago, there was none. Holloway’s team was 7-25 overall and 2-18 in the Big East, the kind of humiliation that discouraged the university and its donors from taking action — which, in today’s college game, is spelled MONEY.
“I don’t want to keep talking about last year,” Holloway said, naturally, but his 10-1 team is a New Jersey basketball story that, for now, appears to be headed toward a happy ending.
Seton Hall understands this. It’s the glass half full right now if you’re on the scarlet side of this rivalry after that 81-59 loss. It took a season that tested the mental health of everyone around this program — which, of course, is exactly what Rutgers is headed toward over the next few months.
For Rutgers fans who want to end this glimmer of hope, now is probably a good time to stop reading…and, for that matter, stop watching.
Advertisement
The Scarlet Knights (5-6) appear to be just as bad a team as Seton Hall was a year ago, perhaps on track to become the worst team of the Steve Pikiell era. It’s hard to imagine them winning more than a handful of Big Ten games in what promises to be a long, cold and difficult winter.
In the first half, they had as many blocked shots (six) as made baskets (on 22 attempts) with 13 turnovers. Holloway took one look at the Rutgers starting lineup with guard Jamichael Davis, the team’s only experienced ball-handler, inexplicably coming off the bench, and said, “We have to get them out of the way early.” » Seton Hall did just that, forcing turnovers on six of Rutgers’ first seven possessions to open an 11-0 lead.
It’s hard to fault Pikiell for trying something new, but at this point it’s painfully obvious that the answers aren’t on his bench. This is a basketball team that doesn’t do anything right, and features the trio of defense, rebounding and effort that Pikiell built his program around when it broke that 30-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2021-22.
Clark controlled this game on the perimeter for Seton Hall with 16 points and seven assists, while Hines – who Clark called a “monster” – dominated in the paint. Pikiell often points to the challenges of winning with a young team as one of the reasons his program struggled, but it was a Seton Hall teenager schooling 25-year-old Rutgers center Emmanuel Ogbole in this one.
Advertisement
Armed with an infusion of revenue sharing funds estimated at around $6 million, Holloway outbid NC State and others for the talented four-star big man from Plainfield. Pikiell, meanwhile, would operate on about half that budget.
“With the right resources, I think you can make a difference in this day and age,” Pikiell said. “It’s a whole different world we’re playing in now.”
Money is of course the most important factor, but not the only one. Rutgers athletic director Keli Zinn has pledged to provide Pikiell with increased funding to build his roster, but it’s fair to wonder whether the head coach — who thus far has proven to be an incompetent general manager in the play-for-hire era — can figure out how to maximize his assets.
Rutgers used 12 players against Seton Hall. How many of them are Really Big Ten caliber players? Two? Three? A year after going 15-17 with two NBA lottery picks in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, the Scarlet Knights aren’t just short on talent. They also don’t have a clear identity, and that’s a big problem.
Advertisement
Holloway’s team made them look bad Saturday night by collecting the New Jersey-shaped trophy that comes with victory in this rivalry game. A year ago, it was the Pirates who looked completely hopeless as the Scarlet Knights celebrated a December victory on a Harper buzzer beater.
Seton Hall understands this. If you’re a Rutgers fan, this might be the only thing that gives you hope for the future right now.
MORE FROM STEVE POLITI:
How New Jersey gymnast Livvy Dunne led a revolution in college sports
The late Rutgers star was a legend in my hometown — and, for a young sportswriter, a savior
The Untold Story of How Rutgers Crushed the Big Ten
Advertisement
I Was a Little League Threat Who Knocked Down the Birds – and It’s Time to Tell the Truth
The Last of the Lifers: Can a High School Coach Survive Half a Century in Today’s World?
How a former Rutgers athlete was charged with murder in Tijuana
Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as your preferred source by clicking here.
