Knight interviewing at UNC
- Thread starter MCKnight
- Start date
For those that want a new offense but don't want to lose Francis, this is a best case scenario. It will be interesting to see how this goes. Knight is a fine recruiter, but isn't a few extra NIL dollars going to trump great recruiting? Maybe coaching acumen is more important than recruiting acumen in this new world.
For all I know, Curt Cignetti and Dusty May can't recruit a lick. But they have money and are outstanding coaches. Great coaching and bought (not recruited) players seems to be the new formula for success.
For all I know, Curt Cignetti and Dusty May can't recruit a lick. But they have money and are outstanding coaches. Great coaching and bought (not recruited) players seems to be the new formula for success.
Ah well maybe this explains why we’re looking at low major guards. I bet TF would follow him there. I’m sure they will be able to offer him more than we can even to sit on their bench.
If Knight goes and TF goes with him, one thing for sure it’s going to force Pike out of his comfort zone and he’ll have no choice but to rebuild this entire roster from the ground up and force him to make some sort of changes to his staff. Maybe this will be a good thing for him as it’s what he should have been doing in the first place, but he’ll have no choice if Knight and TF leave.
Cignetti and May have proven to be excellent recruiters and coaches. They won big at their previous stops without nearly the resources they have now.
UNC is a tough crowd. They practically ran Elliot Cadeau, the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four and a 5 star recruit, out of town on a greased rail because they thought he was @SS.
It's called expectations. We don't have any here. Hence Pike is still standing and Hubert isn't
Puts things in perspective, doesn't it? If Davis did at RU what he did at UNC, he would have gotten a statue.
100%. The Piketards would be doing circles around it too
In my opinion, he’s not going to have the time needed to sufficiently rebrand what he’s aiming for in a vision to build a brand new roster from scratch. Who is he convincing to come to Rutgers if not for a massive premium? And why are they coming? What are we trying to do? Nothing whatsoever to sell. Tariq was basically the offense and the D sucked. Nothing to build on except a few role players. Just like last year with more money but everyone has more money now and prices are higher. I think if Tariq departs pike is going to have a very hard time landing a center too because it becomes a big risk. Look what happened to Cliff in our offense when we had no guards who were legit weapons.
How many days are left to enter the portal and then after that anyone decent will be scooped up very quickly? This will just be yet another curve ball he’s not prepared for. Figuring out rotations has never been his strength to begin with. Losing TF would ultimately involve a fire drill trip to the mid-major store on an emergency shopping spree for Tyson Acuff’s, Jordan Dercacks, Austin Williams, PJ Hayes, and yes, TF in the hope that enough of these types translate at least somewhat. He won’t have the luxury to think about pieces fitting together. I’ll be chaos to make sure we can score because it’ll be a repeat of last offseason where we started the very little offense. Guaranteed offense is expensive in the portal and we already have to buy a frontcourt.
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Recruiting guys to come to Piscataway and play for Rutgers is not in the same universe as recruiting guys to come play for the Tar Heels. Davis would struggle just as much as Pike.
And he'd be competing in a tougher conference in the Big Ten too.
who cares... let him go. His offense stinks. Take Francis too, but I doubt UNC would even want him.
Is TF really going to UNC to play reserve minutes in a system that will assuredly not emphasize him ? I cant imagine so, even at a financial premium.
Can’t disagree with this, especially the sentence “This will just be yet another curve ball he’s not prepared for.” I am holding out optimism abut this round with the portal but really have my doubts between Pike and the fact that despite the fact we have an increased $9-10Mil NIL budget that we still are just playing in the low end of the pool compared to many programs. They all have more money as well, thus our NIL may be one of those the more things change the more they stay the same situations. Hoping I am wrong but I fear we may be doing a bunch of bargain bin shopping again.
Bingo- coaches that are recruiters first are less valuable. The GM and NIL do all the recruiting.
Can we set up a Go Fund Me for Knight to leave ?
Knight leaving would force Pike to actually hire someone capable of running an offense !
If Francis leaves as well - so be it !
As the Pittsburgh Pirates once told Ralph Kiner who asked for a raise - we ended in last place with you and we can end up in last place without you !
A coaching shakeup has been long overdue !
Knight leaving would force Pike to actually hire someone capable of running an offense !
If Francis leaves as well - so be it !
As the Pittsburgh Pirates once told Ralph Kiner who asked for a raise - we ended in last place with you and we can end up in last place without you !
A coaching shakeup has been long overdue !
No offense - but your clueless here. I mean, if your suggestion is a distant forward looking hope of moving on from Pike to a new coach, okay sure.
But next season? The hard reality is that Pike and 2026-27 become a lame duck season the instant Tariq walks out the door. What part of “we can’t monetarily afford” to buy comparable (forget better) and also sufficiently upgrade the frontcourt are folks failing to comprehend? Do you not see the collection of guards we are reaching out to? We don’t get better by swapping Tariq for an inefficient guard from a bad Xavier team. That kid might not even be an upgrade from J Mike honestly.
Dusty May can’t recruit? He brought FAU to the final four last year. Where were they this year? Or was the Michigan booster who paid for their NIL this year paying FAU players last year? Maybe he went to Boca for undergrad and UM for grad school. And then held all his $$ when Slappy was coach and only started paying for a national championship team once Dusty arrived
Can Pike go to UNC as well?? Throw him in as an extra whatever!!
Some people just don't understand. It isn't just money. It's evaluation and coaching, too.
We don't invest enough as a fanbase to have real expectations. UNC does. That's the difference.
Is it possible that Knight believes he is Pike's heir apparent and successor-in-waiting?