Rutgers Basketball adds International big man prospect Mervedi Miteo
Rutgers Basketball has added a new commitment from International big man prospect Mervedi Miteo, now completing the 2026-27 roster.
BB Recruiting Rutgers Basketball adds International big man prospect Mervedi Miteo
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
Shame about Lewis. Was kind of excited to see what he could bring.
On paper, way more optimistic about this team than last year's, when I more or less wrote off the season before it began. Kept most of the players who were worth keeping, made some really solid portal adds and some intriguing Euros as well, Miteo included. Still a Pike skeptic until proven otherwise, but if nothing else, the roster work this offseason shows he has the resources he needs now.
Call me a crazy optimist, but I think this years team is gonna be light years better than last.
He looks sensational on tape. I mean as good as you could look and not be AI. I was hoping we'd sign one of the high schoolers out there still looking for a home but I am not at all disappointed. Plus at 17, he does bring some of the youth mix. Congrats to the staff. They swung for the fences. Welcome Mervedi Miteo (M&M).
Physicality will be down in the B1G next year and that will open up some bully room for Buchanan and Miteo. He reminds me of Adrian Hill if your memory goes back that far. Miteo needs to be in New Brunswick now to unlearn all that Euro-style crap.
To be honest I was a little worried with Darrin Smith and retaining guys who can't contribute to winning at this level. In total the off season is going very well for Pike.
Physicality will be down in the B1G next year and that will open up some bully room for Buchanan and Miteo. He reminds me of Adrian Hill if your memory goes back that far. Miteo needs to be in New Brunswick now to unlearn all that Euro-style crap.
To be honest I was a little worried with Darrin Smith and retaining guys who can't contribute to winning at this level. In total the off season is going very well for Pike.
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Pikiel certainly went out and got players who could be really good! We need to hit a few home runs on these players and get at least a couple of them who can excel at the Big Ten level. I wouldn’t count out any player on this roster from being a major contributor. However, there are no guarantees that any of them can compete effectively at the Big Ten level. Really looking forward to seeing them practice and play their first game to see with my own eyes the team they put together!
am I thinking about this correctly? He played in Spains top league, that's a pretty good league if I'm not mistaken. And he was a starter at 17? Decent numbers for a big, this guy might be an impact player..
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Wow a big body that can rebound and work his way back to the basket. I’d say-a great pickup. Don’t think Ware gets many minutes. Imagine this guy in year 2.
No, he was a starter for their U22 team. Got called up for a few games and averaged less than 2 ppg for the big club. Interesting kid at that age though.
Watching videos of him play, it looks like he may already be pretty decent at rim running, rebounding and defending, including blocking shots. They are only highlights, but those skills are definitely needed. With the new eligibility rules, they can’t red shirt him, so if he can contribute, Pikiel will likely play him even though he may need time to develop to his full potential.
It might, but keep in mind that many folks thought we would be deep 2 seasons ago too. Tyson Acuff came in averaging almost 22 ppg. Dercack averaged 17 ppg. Jeremiah was coming off a 12 ppg shortened season for us. And PJ Hayes averaged 10.5 ppg @ San Diego. Martini was a solid glue guy on a good Princeton team. It seemed like we were going to have depth on offense then too and we really didn’t.
What’s more promising this time around is that we’re bringing in guys who project to be better at defense, and we added players to compete for roles at every position. Two years ago - PJ was a pure catch and shoot who played no D and the other guys could only really play guard where we already had Dylan.
Jones, Sydnor and Diego project to be substantial upgrade options on D and don’t all play the same position. That’s a big thing. Looking back, it was also a concern adding a front court player in Martini who only averaged 3 rebounds per game at Princeton.
This season looks promising, with the new additions
I was expecting more of a raw athlete.
But he seems to have good footwork and soft hands.
But yes only highlights.
We’ve added a lot of guys with upside and hedges our bets through retention. If nothing else, it’s an intriguing roster going into the season. Also - only Darren Smith and Gurdak come in with scouting reports suggesting shaky defense.
The only position we didn’t add to, was the least concerning one on defense (Lino was solid on D as a frosh and JMike a veteran back up). We added a 2 known for D in Jones. A 3 known for D (Diego). Syndor at 4 (solid defensive metrics), and a couple possible complementary options to Gurdak for D at the 5 (Buca, Miteo, etc.). If Pike has to - he also still has Buchanan to fill defensive minutes in the front court.
These guys replace some of the worst defensive players in recent RU history to log big minutes - Grant, Zrno, Denis. Definitely reason for cautious optimism.
lol
Maybe he played poorly because he was a freshman dealing with an injury last year. I tend to think that Pikiel sees something in him more than just a somewhat big body that he can get on the cheap. I expect to see improvement from him this year. It would have to be an awful lot of improvement for him to get minutes, but I wouldn’t count him out.
The Ware we saw last year won’t get any minutes, but that may not be the Ware we see this year. If redshirting still meant anything, last year would’ve been a redshirt year for him. Some have said the injury was bogus so he could redshirt, but in high school he was reported as being agile and athletic. In the practice that was open to the media he was reported as mobile and athletic. He didn’t look agile and athletic last year.
Maybe he played poorly because he was a freshman dealing with an injury last year. I tend to think that Pikiel sees something in him more than just a somewhat big body that he can get on the cheap. I expect to see improvement from him this year. It would have to be an awful lot of improvement for him to get minutes, but I wouldn’t count him out.
I doubt it. There will be a learning curve for sure. The other addition Diego is more likely to be game ready based on the competition he played against. But if he can come on situationally and provide a big body spark that will be huge.
Since redshirting is no longer meaningful, I would expect to see Mervedi play in early non conference games to develop. Watching his video, it seems obvious why Pikiel is high on him. However, the Big Ten is a tough conference for 17 or 18 year old centers. I agree that he will need to make a big jump if he is to be used more than situationally.
Read Cliff got near $1million in NIL from
Bama - any idea how they managed that?
I assume Rutgers is paying these kids before they get on campus. Or at least their handlers somehow.
Duarte. The guy who went G league and DR, but struggled to qualify academically. He was kind of a lottery ticket (with better odds than Fall) - if it paid off great, if not, we weren’t counting on him. But a bigger guard we could have used.
It was not an academic issue. It was due to his time with Overtime Elite.
What’s a visa that allows Messi to earn millions in endorsements playing here and not a basketball player? A student visa? Yea that will get challenged.
There is a legal work around where the player gets paid in his home country for NIL usage in his own country. It shouldn't effect a student visa.