Who would Have Thought…

satnom · Mar 7, 2026

that at end of this season many of us are contemplating bringing back at least five players from this year’s roster back next season?

The mindset of most RU fans prior to season was that this roster was devoid of any high major talent and that Pike would be gone sooner rather later.

Guess that’s why we play the games and development is still a component of roster construction in the post NIL world we live in.

GO RU

bac2therac · Mar 7, 2026

this team is devoid of starting big 10 and really only Francis/Buch starting next year meaning the portal needs to be huge for Pike. Since Pike now has $$$$$$ why wouldnt he upgrade overall the lesser talent that he bought with little money

your post is quite odd. The roster is going to get a significant upgrade with most of the returning players getting a cut in their playing time. The rosy picture you paint on a failed season going possibly 13-18/6-14 while acting as if RU lives in some vacuum with respect to other schools in the conference

dark_check · Mar 7, 2026

satnom said:
that at end of this season many of us are contemplating bringing back at least five players from this year’s roster back next season?

The mindset of most RU fans prior to season was that this roster was devoid of any high major talent and that Pike would be gone sooner rather later.

Guess that’s why we play the games and development is still a component of roster construction in the post NIL world we live in.

GO RU

At least 5? By that you mean 2-3ish. When people throw out some names but at the right price that doesn’t mean they think they’re big ten quality enough to strive for a 10 win conference season.

ScarletDave · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
this team is devoid of starting big 10 and really only Francis/Buch starting next year meaning the portal needs to be huge for Pike. Since Pike now has $$$$$$ why wouldnt he upgrade overall the lesser talent that he bought with little money

your post is quite odd. The roster is going to get a significant upgrade with most of the returning players getting a cut in their playing time. The rosy picture you paint on a failed season going possibly 13-18/6-14 while acting as if RU lives in some vacuum with respect to other schools in the conference

What’s your definition of “Big Ten”? Would Powers or Lino start on putrid Penn State? Maryland whos one of the worst teams I’ve ever watched play basketball? Minnesota who plays walkons by February every season? Pretty stupid. No they wouldn’t start on Purdue. But there are 18 teams in this league and these guys are about to get a bye in the Big Ten tourney, something we have not often received.

bac2therac · Mar 7, 2026

no one cares if you finish 14th or 17th. you proved my point...any big 10 team with aspirations.....i will say Lino could start and I think has a future but he is likely gone. Point still remains, most of the returning players will be bench players next year....when are people going to wake up that we have at least $8 million to spend on better players...its up to Pike to get them

bye in the big 10 tourney..lmfao..what are you talking about...there are 18 schools now, this is the first time they are having a tourney with all 18...we made the tourney last year

PSAL_Hoops · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
no one cares if you finish 14th or 17th. you proved my point...any big 10 team with aspirations.....i will say Lino could start and I think has a future but he is likely gone. Point still remains, most of the returning players will be bench players next year....when are people going to wake up that we have at least $8 million to spend on better players...its up to Pike to get them

Richie said on the podcast could be 10M?

RedTeamUpstream94 · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
no one cares if you finish 14th or 17th. you proved my point...any big 10 team with aspirations.....i will say Lino could start and I think has a future but he is likely gone. Point still remains, most of the returning players will be bench players next year....when are people going to wake up that we have at least $8 million to spend on better players...its up to Pike to get them

bye in the big 10 tourney..lmfao..what are you talking about...there are 18 schools now, this is the first time they are having a tourney with all 18...we made the tourney last year

agree that Lino could be a starter … for RuTgers.

but on any Big10 team with any hopes of a winning season mark is no where near starter quality

we need better players !!!

bac2therac · Mar 7, 2026

PSAL_Hoops said:
Richie said on the podcast could be 10M?

if its 10 million that is awesome and yet there is some disconnect from some of our fans relishing the thought of most of the roster coming back....are they going to realize that its the center, the forward and the guard we spend most of our monies on along with francis...the other 6-7 roster guys pick the scraps up

Sweet Pea's Corner · Mar 7, 2026

RedTeamUpstream94 said:
agree that Lino could be a starter … for RuTgers.

but on any Big10 team with any hopes of a winning season mark is no where near starter quality

we need better players !!!

Lino is not coming back. Say good bye to Fall and Ware. May also include Nwuli.

goru7 · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
if its 10 million that is awesome and yet there is some disconnect from some of our fans relishing the thought of most of the roster coming back....are they going to realize that its the center, the forward and the guard we spend most of our monies on along with francis...the other 6-7 roster guys pick the scraps up

Any reasonable objective Rutgers fan knows that we need a 5 that can score in the low post and be a rim protector and we desparately need a 0power forward that most importantly can defensive rebound, hopefully can offensive rebound , plays defense , and can score if given the ball down low. That is priority 1 and Priority 1 and if you have to spend 4 million for that you do it.
Then you go get an impact 2 or 3 wing that can score .
But retention is also key Francis has shown and his distribution the last 8 games or so , is a retainer subject to Pitt coach situation.
Lino has shown he can play at a high level over the last 8-10 BIg 10 games and he plays good defense.
Not sure to make of BAC’s hate if Powers . He can shoot , he can drive , he can pass perfecting the pick and roll and most importantly he is not afraid to attack the defense and look to score. His defense needs work but gotten better. His size and form on his shot oozes an impact 2 guard. To get a much better player to come here first and then pay him second which is 1.5
Million for an impact 2 guard will not be easy or doable. Especially if Francis is back.
Arguments can be made to keep Zrno, Buchanan and Nwuili and I think they will be within our budget.
Arguments can be made to not retain Dylan, Davis and Dorsch and there are better players out there but they would give us older experience off the bench. If any of them wants serious money let them walk.

G- RUnit · Mar 7, 2026

Lino could start in the B1G here. Odd career move to leave?!

satnom · Mar 7, 2026

dark_check said:
At least 5? By that you mean 2-3ish. When people throw out some names but at the right price that doesn’t mean they think they’re big ten quality enough to strive for a 10 win conference season.

Remember it’s not bring back at least five to start. It’s to be in rotatition.

Francis - start
Powers - start , first off bench
Buchanan - off bench
Zrno - off bench
Jmike - off bench
EO - off bench, not coming back
Mark - off bench, not coming nack
Nwuili - off bench, not coming back

GO RU

Simce91 · Mar 7, 2026

Wouldn't surprise me if Lino Mark played at 4 different schools

satnom · Mar 7, 2026

G- RUnit said:
Lino could start in the B1G here. Odd career move to leave?!

Has ability but paired with another small guard in Francis not ideal.

Sounds like it won’t be an issue to contend with when he leaves.

GO RU

mugrat86 · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
no one cares if you finish 14th or 17th. you proved my point...any big 10 team with aspirations.....i will say Lino could start and I think has a future but he is likely gone. Point still remains, most of the returning players will be bench players next year....when are people going to wake up that we have at least $8 million to spend on better players...its up to Pike to get them

bye in the big 10 tourney..lmfao..what are you talking about...there are 18 schools now, this is the first time they are having a tourney with all 18...we made the tourney last year

You are assuming that Powers, Mark and Nwuli don't get any better from their freshman years. I really think Mark is going to be a definite BIG1G starter, maybe as early as next year. He is the most improved player from the beginning of the year to the end that I could ever remember. His game reminds me of Jacob Young's, and he didn't dramatically improve till the second half of his junior year. His shot is so much better. I know Richie claims he is gone, but that was before his big turn around. I am thinking he could definitely change his mind with a nice contract offer.

Powers has also shown considerable improvement, and who knows what his ceiling is. As another poster already mentioned, John Battle's improvement from freshman year to sophomore is legendary. There were a lot of people just like you who would say John would never become a NBA player after his freshman year, and I think Powers is a guy to bet on

RUKen1 · Mar 7, 2026

Pike must win next year. It won’t be with 5 plus current players. If 5 stay most will have a diminished role in 26/27. The 5 that stay cost $1.5M. Bring in $8.5M of value from other places. Assuming current like their future role

goru7 · Mar 7, 2026

satnom said:
Has ability but paired with another small guard in Francis not ideal.

Sounds like it won’t be an issue to contend with when he leaves.

GO RU

That would only be for 1 more year. Francis is gone after next year. .Whether it is Powers or Zrno or Wooten or another player it will likely be a 6’4-6’5 guard.

bigbirdru · Mar 7, 2026

We all remember what Geo, Ron, Myles, Cliff etc were as freshman. Not great. They got better each year. That’s what I see in this group. You can’t bring in freshman and then panic when they aren’t ready day 1. Especially given how Pike has struggled with wholesale roster changes in the NIL/portal era.

dark_check · Mar 7, 2026

satnom said:
Remember it’s not bring back at least five to start. It’s to be in rotatition.

Francis - start
Powers - start , first off bench
Buchanan - off bench
Zrno - off bench
Jmike - off bench
EO - off bench, not coming back
Mark - off bench, not coming nack
Nwuili - off bench, not coming back

GO RU

I like Francis, Buchanan and Powers OR Zrno. Two of them can start. Then I want three new starters. That’s six. I’d rather pay 2-3 more new players to come off the bench who are better than your other retainees. If some of those retainees you want will play for dirt then sure, they can stay.

NewJerseyHawk · Mar 7, 2026

We will be here next year discussing the bad information floating around that 10M is an actual budget, which is still 15th to 18th in the B1G and bottom 15% in Power 4 programs nationally.

You cannot win on a shoe string budget, 10M gets you a NCAA tournament starting 5, not a 13 player roster.

Just because someone posts bad information that cannot be verified like how much NIL money is there (which many RU fans somehow buy as legitimate), the names posted on the Round Table are 90% mid to low majors players.....who are productive.

Which is fine, but doesnt address the center position, which by itself, is a floor price of 1.75M to 3M.....not because the player is actually worth it, but they're limited in quantity and quality.

If 1 player costs 2M, 8 M for the rest is not a real budget folks.....not a bonafide one that can contend for a bid.

14M is the floor in the B1G, not 10M.....stop falling for bad information folks...

bac2therac · Mar 7, 2026

satnom said:
Remember it’s not bring back at least five to start. It’s to be in rotatition.

Francis - start
Powers - start , first off bench
Buchanan - off bench
Zrno - off bench
Jmike - off bench
EO - off bench, not coming back
Mark - off bench, not coming nack
Nwuili - off bench, not coming back

GO RU

then what was the point of your rah rah thread since almost all of them are going to be passed by portal players....are you celebrating role players?

bac2therac · Mar 7, 2026

NewJerseyHawk said:
We will be here next year discussing the bad information floating around that 10M is an actual budget, which is still 15th to 18th in the B1G and bottom 15% in Power 4 programs nationally.

You cannot win on a shoe string budget, 10M gets you a NCAA tournament starting 5, not a 13 player roster.

Just because someone posts bad information that cannot be verified like how much NIL money is there (which many RU fans somehow buy as legitimate), the names posted on the Round Table are 90% mid to low majors players.....who are productive.

Which is fine, but doesnt address the center position, which by itself, is a floor price of 1.75M to 3M.....not because the player is actually worth it, but they're limited in quantity and quality.

If 1 player costs 2M, 8 M for the rest is not a real budget folks.....not a bonafide one that can contend for a bid.

14M is the floor in the B1G, not 10M.....stop falling for bad information folks...

while I agree RU will still be in the bottom 6 grouping, they are still cutting the gap from what it was....RU spending $8-10 will still put them near schools like iowa and nebraska and maryland. RU will never spend 20 million so thats absurd to talk about it. Across the board vs the rest of the power 5, $10 million is enough to COMPETE....the issue is Pikes is not the best talent evaluator in a win NOW and win in November/December type coach. He is a dinosaur with his style of play

the fact is though, the guys rutgers is getting in the portal will be better than the ones here besides Francis

RUfan1977 · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
while I agree RU will still be in the bottom 6 grouping, they are still cutting the gap from what it was....RU spending $8-10 will still put them near schools like iowa and nebraska and maryland. RU will never spend 20 million so thats absurd to talk about it. Across the board vs the rest of the power 5, $10 million is enough to COMPETE....the issue is Pikes is not the best talent evaluator in a win NOW and win in November/December type coach. He is a dinosaur with his style of play

the fact is though, the guys rutgers is getting in the portal will be better than the ones here besides Francis

I remember last year when the proof that Pikiel didn’t know what he was doing was when he immediately went after Tariq Francis. Will admit Pikiel had a number of misses, but he’s also brought in quite a few very good under the radar players. Cam Spencer, Omoruyi, and of course Geo Baker come to mind. With money to work with, Pikiel should have a bigger pool of players to pick from. Tough choices ahead in deciding whether to go after a few high value players or more players who may be iffy.

richthedentist · Mar 7, 2026

bigbirdru said:
We all remember what Geo, Ron, Myles, Cliff etc were as freshman. Not great. They got better each year. That’s what I see in this group. You can’t bring in freshman and then panic when they aren’t ready day 1. Especially given how Pike has struggled with wholesale roster changes in the NIL/portal era.

Unfortunately it’s the NIL era and whether or not you want to keep them together and develop them it’s just not happening in this day and age

bac2therac · Mar 7, 2026

RUfan1977 said:
I remember last year when the proof that Pikiel didn’t know what he was doing was when he immediately went after Tariq Francis. Will admit Pikiel had a number of misses, but he’s also brought in quite a few very good under the radar players. Cam Spencer, Omoruyi, and of course Geo Baker come to mind. With money to work with, Pikiel should have a bigger pool of players to pick from. Tough choices ahead in deciding whether to go after a few high value players or more players who may be iffy.

he went after Francis and struck gold yet even with that the team is just 12-18

Mr. Magoo1 · Mar 7, 2026

The bye means zippity-do-da. The real significance of tomorrow’s game is that a win will mean we won’t end the season with 20 losses. As far as keeping players, how quickly we forget how bad we are. Yes, we put up a fight at MSU in the second half..but we’ve mostly been playing Maryland without their bet two players and a crappy Penn State team. Have we improved? Yes, marginally, but we need upgrades at virtually every single position. The upside of most of these players is very limited.

bigbirdru · Mar 7, 2026

richthedentist said:
Unfortunately it’s the NIL era and whether or not you want to keep them together and develop them it’s just not happening in this day and age

I don’t think NIL is a reason we should lose anyone on this roster. Who on the roster is a power 4 team going to poach? Only reason someone should leave is more playing time

Simce91 · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
he went after Francis and struck gold yet even with that the team is just 12-18

True, especially since Francis was ranked # 623 in last year's portal

dark_check · Mar 7, 2026

RUfan1977 said:
I remember last year when the proof that Pikiel didn’t know what he was doing was when he immediately went after Tariq Francis. Will admit Pikiel had a number of misses, but he’s also brought in quite a few very good under the radar players. Cam Spencer, Omoruyi, and of course Geo Baker come to mind. With money to work with, Pikiel should have a bigger pool of players to pick from. Tough choices ahead in deciding whether to go after a few high value players or more players who may be iffy.

I think you’re greatly downplaying the number of misses compared to the hits. Even a broken clock…..

dark_check · Mar 7, 2026

NewJerseyHawk said:
We will be here next year discussing the bad information floating around that 10M is an actual budget, which is still 15th to 18th in the B1G and bottom 15% in Power 4 programs nationally.

You cannot win on a shoe string budget, 10M gets you a NCAA tournament starting 5, not a 13 player roster.

Just because someone posts bad information that cannot be verified like how much NIL money is there (which many RU fans somehow buy as legitimate), the names posted on the Round Table are 90% mid to low majors players.....who are productive.

Which is fine, but doesnt address the center position, which by itself, is a floor price of 1.75M to 3M.....not because the player is actually worth it, but they're limited in quantity and quality.

If 1 player costs 2M, 8 M for the rest is not a real budget folks.....not a bonafide one that can contend for a bid.

14M is the floor in the B1G, not 10M.....stop falling for bad information folks...

To set a floor is silly when you don’t know the real numbers either. Besides, player evaluation matters. 4mm is a big gap if you’re right but I’d rather have 11m and a good player evaluator as opposed to say 13m and a below avg talent evaluator.

RUDiddy777 · Mar 7, 2026

satnom said:
Remember it’s not bring back at least five to start. It’s to be in rotatition.

Francis - start
Powers - start , first off bench
Buchanan - off bench
Zrno - off bench
Jmike - off bench
EO - off bench, not coming back
Mark - off bench, not coming nack
Nwuili - off bench, not coming back

GO RU

This. Even if they’re not starters, they’re going to be valuable backups, practice players and off court mentors. We can’t keep turning over 75% of our roster. Continuity matters.

I’d still want Grant back at a reasonable price point. Don’t forget about Dorian Jones, would want to see what he can actually do before parting ways.

RUDiddy777 · Mar 7, 2026

mugrat86 said:
You are assuming that Powers, Mark and Nwuli don't get any better from their freshman years. I really think Mark is going to be a definite BIG1G starter, maybe as early as next year. He is the most improved player from the beginning of the year to the end that I could ever remember. His game reminds me of Jacob Young's, and he didn't dramatically improve till the second half of his junior year. His shot is so much better. I know Richie claims he is gone, but that was before his big turn around. I am thinking he could definitely change his mind with a nice contract offer.

Powers has also shown considerable improvement, and who knows what his ceiling is. As another poster already mentioned, John Battle's improvement from freshman year to sophomore is legendary. There were a lot of people just like you who would say John would never become a NBA player after his freshman year, and I think Powers is a guy to bet on

Yeah, think you have to be bullish on powers as a sophomore and with a full year of college S&C. He’s got good size at 6 4, is a crafty passer and great form.

RUDiddy777 · Mar 7, 2026

bac2therac said:
while I agree RU will still be in the bottom 6 grouping, they are still cutting the gap from what it was....RU spending $8-10 will still put them near schools like iowa and nebraska and maryland. RU will never spend 20 million so thats absurd to talk about it. Across the board vs the rest of the power 5, $10 million is enough to COMPETE....the issue is Pikes is not the best talent evaluator in a win NOW and win in November/December type coach. He is a dinosaur with his style of play

the fact is though, the guys rutgers is getting in the portal will be better than the ones here besides Francis

Assuming Knight doesn’t get the Pitt job and stays, think you need to move TJ back to an administrative/operational role and get a new assistant. Love Pikes loyalty, but if he doesn’t make some staff changes, everyone is gonna be out of a job.

KnightTerrors · Mar 7, 2026

NewJerseyHawk said:
14M is the floor in the B1G, not 10M.....stop falling for bad information folks...

I’m not trying to be a jerk but I know for a fact this is not true for this season. Now admittedly you may know something I don’t about what prices will be for next season, but $10M would put you firmly in the middle of the pack this year. Certainly below the big boys but no where near the bottom.

BillyC80 · Mar 7, 2026

NewJerseyHawk said:
We will be here next year discussing the bad information floating around that 10M is an actual budget, which is still 15th to 18th in the B1G and bottom 15% in Power 4 programs nationally.

You cannot win on a shoe string budget, 10M gets you a NCAA tournament starting 5, not a 13 player roster.

Just because someone posts bad information that cannot be verified like how much NIL money is there (which many RU fans somehow buy as legitimate), the names posted on the Round Table are 90% mid to low majors players.....who are productive.

Which is fine, but doesnt address the center position, which by itself, is a floor price of 1.75M to 3M.....not because the player is actually worth it, but they're limited in quantity and quality.

If 1 player costs 2M, 8 M for the rest is not a real budget folks.....not a bonafide one that can contend for a bid.

14M is the floor in the B1G, not 10M.....stop falling for bad information folks...

If we were a 1-bid conference then I’d agree every team would need to spend $14+ million to compete for that top spot.

But with say, 8 teams from the B1G qualifying for the big dance, you could have a scenario like:

$12-15M has you vying for the top 4 spots
$9-12 has you vying for spots 5-8
$7-9M has you scrapping to overachieve into the top 8

I doubt any team will spend less than that lowest range. But even if every team spent the same amount, it’s still gonna come down to a combination of coaching and team chemistry.

You can buy expensive players, but they have to be the right mix of players under the direction of a good coach.

I can totally see a team from the lower budget range overachieving to crack the top 8 based on better chemistry and coaching.

RUgal · Mar 7, 2026

RUDiddy777 said:
Assuming Knight doesn’t get the Pitt job and stays, think you need to move TJ back to an administrative/operational role and get a new assistant. Love Pikes loyalty, but if he doesn’t make some staff changes, everyone is gonna be out of a job.

I could see Pikiell bringing Hobbs back if Georgia Tech fires Stoudamire.

DocRU · Mar 7, 2026

Actually John Battle was a bench player for 2 years, then exploded Junior and Senior years. Powers and Mark have shown more in their first years.

RUDiddy777 · Mar 7, 2026

RUgal said:
I could see Pikiell bringing Hobbs back if Georgia Tech fires Stoudamire.

we’ll see. He may have burned that bridge - he took Ndongo with him and was a big reason the 23-24 season was a dumpster fire. Ndongo would have been a Day 1 starter.

Friend of 112 · Mar 7, 2026

RUgal said:
I could see Pikiell bringing Hobbs back if Georgia Tech fires Stoudamire.

Kbe4 · Mar 7, 2026

RUDiddy777 said:
This. Even if they’re not starters, they’re going to be valuable backups, practice players and off court mentors. We can’t keep turning over 75% of our roster. Continuity matters.

I’d still want Grant back at a reasonable price point. Don’t forget about Dorian Jones, would want to see what he can actually do before parting ways.

Grant is soft. We can do better.

Who would Have Thought…

All-American

Hall of Famer

All-Conference

Heisman

Hall of Famer

Heisman

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Hall of Famer

All-American

All-American

All-American

All-American

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Heisman

Redshirt

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Junior

All-Conference

Heisman

Hall of Famer

Hall of Famer

Senior

All-American

Hall of Famer

Heisman

Junior

All-Conference

All-Conference

All-Conference

Heisman

Heisman

Heisman

All-Conference

Heisman

Senior

Senior

Heisman

All-Conference

Senior