OT: Maryland’s Transfer Class

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Once again, Maryland quickly lands a transfer class that will help them succeed, while we have to settle for scraps. The only difference: Money.

Name	Previous School
Isaiah Watts	Washington State
Myles Rice	Indiana
Pharrell Payne	Texas A&M
Andre Mills	Texas A&M
Solomon Washington	Texas A&M
David Coit	Kansas

https://www.zagsblog.com/2025/04/11/washington-state-transfer-isaiah-watts-commits-to-maryland/

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Irrelevant.....3 players followed from Texas A&M and they lost Rodney Rice and Jacobi Gillespie, who were elite 3 point shooters. Add in Derek Queen going to the NBA and Julian Reese graduating and Maryland is much more likely to be around 10th to 12th right now in the B1G.

Myles Rice was a supposed HUGE signing by Indiana out.of Washington State and was a disappointment for Indiana last year. He is now at Maryland, maybe he's better with Buzz Williams vs Mike Woodson, which would have to be a YES, but not a given at all.

 

[bac2therac]

Irrelevant.....3 players followed from Texas A&M and they lost Rodney Rice and Jacobi Gillespie, who were elite 3 point shooters. Add in Derek Queen going to the NBA and Julian Reese graduating and Maryland is much more likely to be around 10th to 12th right now in the B1G.

Bad take. Buzz will have them in the tourney easily

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Irrelevant.....3 players followed from Texas A&M and they lost Rodney Rice and Jacobi Gillespie, who were elite 3 point shooters. Add in Derek Queen going to the NBA and Julian Reese graduating and Maryland is much more likely to be around 10th to 12th right now in the B1G.

Let’s say you’re right. 10 to 12 is a lot better than
16 to 18.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Let’s say you’re right. 10 to 12 is a lot better than
16 to 18.

You have no idea what you're referring to in hoops....please just stop yourself. No one knows what RUs freshman class is going to do, but they have enough tape to me, to be better than advertised.

All I can tell you was that RU had ZERO chance to win last year, the minute Pike not only brought in Zach Martini BUT doubled and tripled down on Martini by making him Captain and starter, with never being even the 3rd best player on his team at Princeton.

I am already considering 2025-26 as a build season for 2026-27. Once I see the HS recruiting class for 2026, is when I can judge where the staff is. The portal pickups are bridge players that allow the freshman and Grant, plenty of minutes to play and develop. And don't be a knucklehead and say every freshman recruit is going to transfer next year, that's what 2026 recruiting is for, to add layers of depth and talent to offset a couple of potential departures.

Whining about what money RU doesn't have does NOTHING.....and posting what every other school does mean very little to me. RU has a path to create depth and accumulate players and it's primarily done by HS recruiting in football and hoops.

Despite the hype on Schiano, he is doing EXACTLY what Pike is doing now.....recruiting a high volume of HS kids and letting those players battle it out and backfilling some gaps with mid-major or Non Power 4 players.

 

[RutgersClassof2004]

You have no idea what you're referring to in hoops....please just stop yourself. No one knows what RUs freshman class is going to do, but they have enough tape to me, to be better than advertised.

All I can tell you was that RU had ZERO chance to win last year, the minute Pike not only brought in Zach Martini BUT doubled and tripled down on Martini by making him Captain and starter, with never being even the 3rd best player on his team at Princeton.

I am already considering 2025-26 as a build season for 2026-27. Once I see the HS recruiting class for 2026, is when I can judge where the staff is. The portal pickups are bridge players that allow the freshman and Grant, plenty of minutes to play and develop. And don't be a knucklehead and say every freshman recruit is going to transfer next year, that's what 2026 recruiting is for, to add layers of depth and talent to offset a couple of potential departures.

Whining about what money RU doesn't have does NOTHING.....and posting what every other school does mean very little to me. RU has a path to create depth and accumulate players and it's primarily done by HS recruiting in football and hoops.

Despite the hype on Schiano, he is doing EXACTLY what Pike is doing now.....recruiting a high volume of HS kids and letting those players battle it out and backfilling some gaps with mid-major or Non Power 4 players.

They are freshman. How much could they possibly do? Didn't we just learn our lesson?

 

[dark_check]

Once again, Maryland quickly lands a transfer class that will help them succeed, while we have to settle for scraps. The only difference: Money.

Name	Previous School
Isaiah Watts	Washington State
Myles Rice	Indiana
Pharrell Payne	Texas A&M
Andre Mills	Texas A&M
Solomon Washington	Texas A&M
David Coit	Kansas

https://www.zagsblog.com/2025/04/11/washington-state-transfer-isaiah-watts-commits-to-maryland/

They have under armour money. Didn’t a whale just give them $10mm for hoops

 

[KK1827]

Once again, Maryland quickly lands a transfer class that will help them succeed, while we have to settle for scraps. The only difference: Money.

Name	Previous School
Isaiah Watts	Washington State
Myles Rice	Indiana
Pharrell Payne	Texas A&M
Andre Mills	Texas A&M
Solomon Washington	Texas A&M
David Coit	Kansas

https://www.zagsblog.com/2025/04/11/washington-state-transfer-isaiah-watts-commits-to-maryland/

Al, pike needs to make an effort to fundraise. I love him as a dude to have beers with but hes putting in next to zero effort on the fundraising front

 

[Mr. Magoo1]

The only difference is money? That’s hilarious. It might be a significant part of it but Buzz Williams is twice the coach that Pike is.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Al, pike needs to make an effort to fundraise. I love him as a dude to have beers with but hes putting in next to zero effort on the fundraising front

He says he is. Have to take him at his word.

 

[Smols]

He says he is. Have to take him at his word.

If he is, he's ineffective at it. Oviously.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

The only difference is money? That hilarious. It might be a significant part of it but Buzz Williams is twice the coach that Pike is.

Could Rutgers hire a Buzz Williams type Coach? No! Why? MONEY

No matter how much people try to provide alternative explanations, it always comes back to money

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

If he is, he's ineffective at it. Oviously.

Or maybe people just don’t want to give, like many on this board.

 

[Mr. Magoo1]

Could Rutgers hire a Buzz Williams type Coach? No! Why? MONEY

No matter how much people try to provide alternative explanations, it always comes back to money

Ok that’s fair. I thought you were implying the current coaching between the schools is similar

 

[Smols]

Or maybe people just don’t want to give, like many on this board.

Stop already.

 

[KK1827]

Could Rutgers hire a Buzz Williams type Coach? No! Why? MONEY

No matter how much people try to provide alternative explanations, it always comes back to money

There are plenty of good coaches at lower level programs who would crawl over broken glass for the RU job.

One being Dan Earl, jersey native, shawnee grad and doing a heckuva job at Chattanooga.

 

[SBP]

You have no idea what you're referring to in hoops....please just stop yourself. No one knows what RUs freshman class is going to do, but they have enough tape to me, to be better than advertised.

All I can tell you was that RU had ZERO chance to win last year, the minute Pike not only brought in Zach Martini BUT doubled and tripled down on Martini by making him Captain and starter, with never being even the 3rd best player on his team at Princeton.

I am already considering 2025-26 as a build season for 2026-27. Once I see the HS recruiting class for 2026, is when I can judge where the staff is. The portal pickups are bridge players that allow the freshman and Grant, plenty of minutes to play and develop. And don't be a knucklehead and say every freshman recruit is going to transfer next year, that's what 2026 recruiting is for, to add layers of depth and talent to offset a couple of potential departures.

Whining about what money RU doesn't have does NOTHING.....and posting what every other school does mean very little to me. RU has a path to create depth and accumulate players and it's primarily done by HS recruiting in football and hoops.

Despite the hype on Schiano, he is doing EXACTLY what Pike is doing now.....recruiting a high volume of HS kids and letting those players battle it out and backfilling some gaps with mid-major or Non Power 4 players.

Building year? You played yourself Hawk no such thing as “building” in CBB, it’s rare. Build as in actually build with other players not Freshman/sophomores. Especially at Rutgers.

 

[Jerseylegends]

My thing is, obviously Rutgers does not have the donor base to be depending on donations to improve NIL... Instead of just being defeated. Try something out of the box to raise money or bring on partners, I guess you need an AD and a president first...go ahead and get that handled and a strategy can be formed after that...I can almost guarantee there isn't some mythical whale waiting to be convinced into giving Rutgers University a hand out. Let alone on the knightreport message board..lol soliciting big money from message board posters isn't the answer. I know some of these guys claim to be so well off in life but I wouldn't count on that..and they probably want to remain well off in these uncertain times..the answer is never to not try..

 

[PiscatawayMike]

The only difference is money? That hilarious. It might be a significant part of it but Buzz Williams is twice the coach that Pike is.

 

[seansherm]

They have under armour money. Didn’t a whale just give them $10mm for hoops

UMD received $10M donations to athletics in both Dec and Jan.

 

[Mr_Twister]

It’s about big donors, not small donations.

 

[Mholinko]

Irrelevant.....3 players followed from Texas A&M and they lost Rodney Rice and Jacobi Gillespie, who were elite 3 point shooters. Add in Derek Queen going to the NBA and Julian Reese graduating and Maryland is much more likely to be around 10th to 12th right now in the B1G.

Myles Rice was a supposed HUGE signing by Indiana out.of Washington State and was a disappointment for Indiana last year. He is now at Maryland, maybe he's better with Buzz Williams vs Mike Woodson, which would have to be a YES, but not a given at all.

All 6 of these guys are better than a single player on our roster

 

[NY AGENTMAN]

They just got another guy Saunders from UVA

 

[Captain Hogleg]

I feel like the portal this year for RU should at least enable us to remain competitive with FDU.

 

[tru2ru1]

Stop already.

Truth hurts obviously

 

[Smols]

Truth hurts obviously

Truth, our NIL money is lacking. Questionable, that constantly chastising members of a message board that they're not contributing enough will solve this problem.

 

[RAC93]

Irrelevant.....3 players followed from Texas A&M and they lost Rodney Rice and Jacobi Gillespie, who were elite 3 point shooters. Add in Derek Queen going to the NBA and Julian Reese graduating and Maryland is much more likely to be around 10th to 12th right now in the B1G.

Myles Rice was a supposed HUGE signing by Indiana out.of Washington State and was a disappointment for Indiana last year. He is now at Maryland, maybe he's better with Buzz Williams vs Mike Woodson, which would have to be a YES, but not a given at all.

IRRELEVANT?!?!?!?! They have a good coach, we don’t……they have NIL funding, we don’t…….they brought in power conference program transfers, we can’t……we are eons and eons away from being in same sphere as Maryland basketball. They are relevant and we could not be more irrelevant as a program.

 

[Mholinko]

IRRELEVANT?!?!?!?! They have a good coach, we don’t……they have NIL funding, we don’t…….they brought in power conference program transfers, we can’t……we are eons and eons away from being in same sphere as Maryland basketball. They are relevant and we could not be more irrelevant as a program.

It’s alright there’s guys on the Tariq Francis threads arguing that it wasn’t a family related hire and a favor to knight and that it was possibly a good decision

The fan base that is delusional we’re gonna be okay this year are still here

 

[RU-Kidding]

You have no idea what you're referring to in hoops....please just stop yourself. No one knows what RUs freshman class is going to do, but they have enough tape to me, to be better than advertised.

All I can tell you was that RU had ZERO chance to win last year, the minute Pike not only brought in Zach Martini BUT doubled and tripled down on Martini by making him Captain and starter, with never being even the 3rd best player on his team at Princeton.

I am already considering 2025-26 as a build season for 2026-27. Once I see the HS recruiting class for 2026, is when I can judge where the staff is. The portal pickups are bridge players that allow the freshman and Grant, plenty of minutes to play and develop. And don't be a knucklehead and say every freshman recruit is going to transfer next year, that's what 2026 recruiting is for, to add layers of depth and talent to offset a couple of potential departures.

Whining about what money RU doesn't have does NOTHING.....and posting what every other school does mean very little to me. RU has a path to create depth and accumulate players and it's primarily done by HS recruiting in football and hoops.

Despite the hype on Schiano, he is doing EXACTLY what Pike is doing now.....recruiting a high volume of HS kids and letting those players battle it out and backfilling some gaps with mid-major or Non Power 4 players.

Rutgers football 7th in country in improving their team talent via the 2025 transfer portal according to On3's proprietory algorithm for this purpose as defined in the link below...

Schiano's outstanding transfer portal class

 

[Rufaninga]

The only difference: Money.

That's the only real difference between Warren Buffet and me too. We're practically twins at this point

 

[gigantor1024]

Or maybe people just don’t want to give, like many on this board.

Paying players to lose makes no sense. If you give money to college athletes out of pocket you are a fool.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

You have no idea what you're referring to in hoops....please just stop yourself. No one knows what RUs freshman class is going to do, but they have enough tape to me, to be better than advertised.

All I can tell you was that RU had ZERO chance to win last year, the minute Pike not only brought in Zach Martini BUT doubled and tripled down on Martini by making him Captain and starter, with never being even the 3rd best player on his team at Princeton.

I am already considering 2025-26 as a build season for 2026-27. Once I see the HS recruiting class for 2026, is when I can judge where the staff is. The portal pickups are bridge players that allow the freshman and Grant, plenty of minutes to play and develop. And don't be a knucklehead and say every freshman recruit is going to transfer next year, that's what 2026 recruiting is for, to add layers of depth and talent to offset a couple of potential departures.

Whining about what money RU doesn't have does NOTHING.....and posting what every other school does mean very little to me. RU has a path to create depth and accumulate players and it's primarily done by HS recruiting in football and hoops.

Despite the hype on Schiano, he is doing EXACTLY what Pike is doing now.....recruiting a high volume of HS kids and letting those players battle it out and backfilling some gaps with mid-major or Non Power 4 players.

Even if the frosh are better than advertised, this could be the worst team since the Eddie Jordan years. We could be the Bad News Bears of the Big Ten, and it’s all because not enough people care.

Our chance to win went out the door once people didn’t pony up for NIL last year. The same is likely to be the case this year. So once again, we do our best with what we have, but also acknowledge that it’s likely not good enough. We can accumulate depth as long as we retain our returning players. If we keep losing players due to inadequate NiL, we will never be able to build any semblance of depth. Schiano is doing what Pike is doing. But at least Schiano has a decent chance to be competitive because the lower division kids are now physically mature, and can combine with returning kids to perform respectably. Basketball lacks the depth that football has. So we are relying on transfers and frosh to come in and be impact players. That’s a tough position to be in.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Paying players to lose makes no sense. If you give money to college athletes out of pocket you are a fool.

If you want to win, you have to pay players, there’s no way around it. Otherwise, you will be losing even before the season begins, like this coming year. Everyone can see this season is going to be a shtshow from a mile away.

 

[RUDivision]

Rutgers football 7th in country in improving their team talent via the 2025 transfer portal according to On3's proprietory algorithm for this purpose as defined in the link below...

Schiano's outstanding transfer portal class

Schiano is trash he will talk about the schedule being tough and the development of the program when he has a bad year next year.

 

[RUDivision]

Even if the frosh are better than advertised, this could be the worst team since the Eddie Jordan years. We could be the Bad News Bears of the Big Ten, and it’s all because not enough people care.

Our chance to win went out the door once people didn’t pony up for NIL last year. The same is likely to be the case this year. So once again, we do our best with what we have, but also acknowledge that it’s likely not good enough. We can accumulate depth as long as we retain our returning players. If we keep losing players due to inadequate NiL, we will never be able to build any semblance of depth. Schiano is doing what Pike is doing. But at least Schiano has a decent chance to be competitive because the lower division kids are now physically mature, and can combine with returning kids to perform respectably. Basketball lacks the depth that football has. So we are relying on transfers and frosh to come in and be impact players. That’s a tough position to be in.

Our chance to win when out the door when Pike signed his extension!

 

[czxqa]

Truth, our NIL money is lacking. Questionable, that constantly chastising members of a message board that they're not contributing enough will solve this problem.

It's not the engaged folks that post here, it's the other 450,000 alumni who could give a **** about RU sports or Rutgers in general.

 

[fluoxetine]

Stop already.

This. I’m not even sure Al is necessarily wrong (though I suspect he exaggerates) but this is getting as tiresome as the people who just post “Pike sucks” in every thread. We got the message the first 20,000 times

 

[babbs09]

There are plenty of good coaches at lower level programs who would crawl over broken glass for the RU job.

One being Dan Earl, jersey native, shawnee grad and doing a heckuva job at Chattanooga.

Is he any relation to Brian Earl who went to Princeton and was from the same area (I went to Shawnee and am from the same area).

 

[KK1827]

Is he any relation to Brian Earl who went to Princeton and was from the same area (I went to Shawnee and am from the same area).

According to wiki that is his brother

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Their father, Dennis, played at RU in the mid 60s.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/dennis-earl-1.html