Congrats to Tariq Francis-Staying on Next Year; et tu Lino too?

Knight Shift · Mar 8, 2026

Good for him

Asked if the core staying together is a possibility, Francis replied, “I hope so – I hope so.”

Mark addressed the subject as well.

“We’re growing," he said. "You can see we’re playing better, passing better, we’re all bonding – we had to get to know each other. We came from different places and different environments, but we’re all figuring it out. Hopefully we can stay together, for sure.”

RUdepressed · Mar 8, 2026

RedTeamUpstream94 · Mar 8, 2026

I said it another thread but it doesn’t seem to have gotten any attention - after the game Francis was interviewed at half court and he said “see you next year”. I assume he wouldn’t say that unless it’s already been worked out ?

Knight Shift · Mar 8, 2026

Asked if the core staying together is a possibility, Francis replied, “I hope so – I hope so.”

Mark addressed the subject as well.

“We’re growing," he said. "You can see we’re playing better, passing better, we’re all bonding – we had to get to know each other. We came from different places and different environments, but we’re all figuring it out. Hopefully we can stay together, for sure.”

Story: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...tate-to-finish-regular-season-hot/ar-AA1XMc6C

goru7 · Mar 8, 2026

2 bits of potential positive news if Francis and Mark are coming back

rob kight · Mar 8, 2026

Pre season and during non conference, some fans didn’t think Francis would be successful in the BIG. So glad he proved them wrong-big time. Love his game and look forward to watching him next year. I hope we also retain Lino, Powers and Buchanan.

RUDiddy777 · Mar 8, 2026

rob kight said:
Pre season and during non conference, some fans didn’t think Francis would be successful in the BIG. So glad he proved them wrong-big time. Love his game and look forward to watching him next year. I hope we also retain Lino, Powers and Buchanan.

Aside from Fall, Badalau, (maybe Ware), I hope we retain the rest. There’s still room to add the pieces that we need.

mugrat86 · Mar 8, 2026

I guess Mark is not as out the door as Richie suggested after all. Great news if both Francis and Mark come back. Not sure Bac is too happy now, but oh well

Doctor Worm · Mar 8, 2026

RedTeamUpstream94 said:
I said it another thread but it doesn’t seem to have gotten any attention - after the game Francis was interviewed at half court and he said “see you next year”. I assume he wouldn’t say that unless it’s already been worked out ?

Dup

Doctor Worm · Mar 8, 2026

RedTeamUpstream94 said:
I said it another thread but it doesn’t seem to have gotten any attention - after the game Francis was interviewed at half court and he said “see you next year”. I assume he wouldn’t say that unless it’s already been worked out ?

I wouldn't assume anything at this point. Even if it is all worked out as of this moment, that can change with one advisor getting into his ear. We all know that from years of following HS recruiting.

bac2therac · Mar 8, 2026

I dont think you can read into quick comments after the last home game. Weve gone through this before. Portal bags change alot

bac2therac · Mar 8, 2026

mugrat86 said:
I guess Mark is not as out the door as Richie suggested after all. Great news if both Francis and Mark come back. Not sure Bac is too happy now, but oh well

Wtf is wrong with you

MCKnight · Mar 8, 2026

Portal Market values are not set until the first big names go. These kids will have 2 weeks to enter, and likely will wait until then, despite their season ending weeks before that mid April deadline. When Mark hears from his reps/agent that USC, or UCLA is offering 1 million and RU has spoken to him about 500K, we all know he’s taking the 1 million. You cant blame him. Point being the bags $ will decide

Kbe4 · Mar 9, 2026

MCKnight said:
Portal Market values are not set until the first big names go. These kids will have 2 weeks to enter, and likely will wait until then, despite their season ending weeks before that mid April deadline. When Mark hears from his reps/agent that USC, or UCLA is offering 1 million and RU has spoken to him about 500K, we all know he’s taking the 1 million. You cant blame him. Point being the bags $ will decide

Mark has clearly shown improvement. But I can't see anyone offering him $1 million.

PSAL_Hoops · Mar 9, 2026

mugrat86 said:
I guess Mark is not as out the door as Richie suggested after all. Great news if both Francis and Mark come back. Not sure Bac is too happy now, but oh well

I thought BAC specifically said the 2 players he wants back most are Francis and Mark? Why would he be unhappy? Nothing is a given though until they sign but a good early sign for sure.

dpwhite · Mar 9, 2026

MCKnight said:
Portal Market values are not set until the first big names go. These kids will have 2 weeks to enter, and likely will wait until then, despite their season ending weeks before that mid April deadline. When Mark hears from his reps/agent that USC, or UCLA is offering 1 million and RU has spoken to him about 500K, we all know he’s taking the 1 million. You cant blame him. Point being the bags $ will decide

I think they have a much better sense of what the market is this year than ever before.

mugrat86 · Mar 9, 2026

PSAL_Hoops said:
I thought BAC specifically said the 2 players he wants back most are Francis and Mark? Why would he be unhappy? Nothing is a given though until they sign but a good early sign for sure.

He is rooting for Pike to fail. He already posted that he was not coming back

PSAL_Hoops · Mar 9, 2026

mugrat86 said:
He is rooting for Pike to fail. He already posted that he was not coming back

Really? That must’ve been on premium. I don’t recall a post like that on the free board. He said he doesn’t want us to end up in no man’s land where we have a mediocre 16 win season next year and it’s viewed as “progress”. And that was when we were at like 10-11 wins. The best part about picking up win number 13 is that it not only improves forward looking outlook, but also raises the bar for expected progress. As it should.

djrc89 · Mar 9, 2026

Im not going to speak for bac. Lord knows he can do that for himself. I think one of the things that gets lost on these boards is that imo we all want success. I think all of us would sign up for 22 wins in hoops and 10 in football. We’d praise whomever the coaches were. We might think a particular coach isn’t the right person to get the job done, but I don’t think there are many here praying for failure.

knightfan7 · Mar 9, 2026

Also congrats to Francis leading the B1G in Free Throw shooting at 90.6%. 6th best season leader since 1993.

Men's Big Ten Conference Yearly Leaders and Records for Free Throw Percentage | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

fatsam98 · Mar 9, 2026

mugrat86 said:
I guess Mark is not as out the door as Richie suggested after all

Willing to bet that this post will not age well

mugrat86 · Mar 9, 2026

fatsam98 said:
Willing to bet that this post will not age well

I stated that he is not as out the door as Richie suggested. Richie had him gone. I suggested in another post that things could have changed dramatically since Lino started to play much better and I stand by that

NightKnight · Mar 9, 2026

Lino and Francis are a bad match. They compound our lack of defense and rebounding. This year's team was poorly constructed. If we have Francis back, it would make sense that Lino would be more valuable to a west coast school than he is to us. (Sand Diego State had about $3mil total NIL.) I think his up court speed adds a dynamic element to offense and that he could start on a mid tier D1 team or be a nice energetic back-up on a pretty good team. On a top 20 team he would never see the court.

RU-ROCS · Mar 9, 2026

I hope these guys stay, but history teaches that talk is cheap especially when NIL money starts to fly! Both Mulcahy and Spencer told me at RU's end of the year basketball boosters' dinner just a week before they jumped ship that they were all in and could not wait for next season at RU.

Simce91 · Mar 9, 2026

bac2therac said:
I dont think you can read into quick comments after the last home game. Weve gone through this before. Portal bags change alot

Agreed,

But to that point, what other team out there is going to pay Francis as much as RU is speculated to pay him ?
Would Penn St pay him that ?
Would the Pitt AD/GM pay that for a 1 year, 6 foot SG?

Just my opinion, ( which surely isnt worth a million) but RU will probably be his higher $$$ offer

RUKen1 · Mar 9, 2026

rob kight said:
Pre season and during non conference, some fans didn’t think Francis would be successful in the BIG. So glad he proved them wrong-big time. Love his game and look forward to watching him next year. I hope we also retain Lino, Powers and Buchanan.

He proved me wrong. I’ll admit it. I thought he was too small and would get pushed around in the BIG. I am so glad I was off base. Love his game and attitude.

RUskoolie · Mar 9, 2026

I remember Goggle boy Griffiths saying no way he would transfer ever and was out the door like 3 weeks later.

Show me in April. I do hope Lino stays though. Not sure why he wants to leave now that it started to click a little bit. God forbid you have to deal with some adversity.

bac2therac · Mar 9, 2026

Simce91 said:
Agreed,

But to that point, what other team out there is going to pay Francis as much as RU is speculated to pay him ?
Would Penn St pay him that ?
Would the Pitt AD/GM pay that for a 1 year, 6 foot SG?

Just my opinion, ( which surely isnt worth a million) but RU will probably be his higher $$$ offer

I think plenty. Look how much Summerville got

PSAL_Hoops · Mar 9, 2026

RUskoolie said:
I remember Goggle boy Griffiths saying no way he would transfer ever and was out the door like 3 weeks later.

Show me in April. I do hope Lino stays though. Not sure why he wants to leave now that it started to click a little bit. God forbid you have to deal with some adversity.

I thought GG said that before the season.

-RUFAN4LIFE- · Mar 9, 2026

RUskoolie said:
I remember Goggle boy Griffiths saying no way he would transfer ever and was out the door like 3 weeks later.

Show me in April. I do hope Lino stays though. Not sure why he wants to leave now that it started to click a little bit. God forbid you have to deal with some adversity.

Yeah because if a certain coach leaves he's likely to follow which means taking his comments at face value not smart.

fatsam98 · Mar 9, 2026

PSAL_Hoops said:
I thought GG said that before the season.

Yes, it was before he even got on campus

Tango Two · Mar 10, 2026

NickRU714 · Mar 10, 2026

PSAL_Hoops said:
I thought GG said that before the season.

Same
I don't remember GG saying it himself after the season.

There was another "insider" who was adamant GG wasn't going to transfer and would eventually graduate from Rutgers.
I guess that technically could still happen.

RAC93 · Mar 10, 2026

This whole discussion makes no sense considering season is not even over, portal has not opened yet, etc..

RUdad · Mar 10, 2026

mugrat86 said:
I stated that he is not as out the door as Richie suggested. Richie had him gone. I suggested in another post that things could have changed dramatically since Lino started to play much better and I stand by that

I said a long time ago that I thought he would stay. Sure hope he does.

MadRU · Mar 10, 2026

Tariq Francis named all big ten honorable mention from the media vote.

RUJMM78 · Mar 10, 2026

NightKnight said:
Lino and Francis are a bad match. They compound our lack of defense and rebounding. This year's team was poorly constructed. If we have Francis back, it would make sense that Lino would be more valuable to a west coast school than he is to us. (Sand Diego State had about $3mil total NIL.) I think his up court speed adds a dynamic element to offense and that he could start on a mid tier D1 team or be a nice energetic back-up on a pretty good team. On a top 20 team he would never see the court.

Rutgers having three 6' guards getting significant playing time is a disaster on defense.

PSAL_Hoops · Mar 10, 2026

RUJMM78 said:
Rutgers having three 6' guards getting significant playing time is a disaster on defense.

Actually, it’s been the least of our problems. Not that I’m a huge believer in individual def efficiency metrics but those concur. It’s not like our bigger guards have been better on D. Our best defensive line ups have been when at least 2 of those guys have been on the floor together. The frontcourt is by far our biggest problem on both ends.

NickRU714 · Mar 10, 2026

PSAL_Hoops said:
Actually, it’s been the least of our problems. Not that I’m a huge believer in individual def efficiency metrics but those concur. It’s not like our bigger guards have been better on D. Our best defensive line ups have been when at least 2 of those guys have been on the floor together. The frontcourt is by far our biggest problem on both ends.

I think you would agree that our current defensive situation shouldnt be the standard for comparison for next year.

Saying its the best "this year" isnt a ringing endorsement.

PSAL_Hoops · Mar 10, 2026

NickRU714 said:
I think you would agree that our current defensive situation shouldnt be the standard for comparison for next year.

Saying its the best "this year" isnt a ringing endorsement.

I didn’t say it was. My only point was that in no observable way this season was the lack of height of those particular players a clear reason for our struggles on D. That posters said the 3 six foot guards has been a disaster on D and that’s simply not true. There were far easier ways to score on us than shooting over those guys. It was a non-factor.

Congrats to Tariq Francis-Staying on Next Year; et tu Lino too?

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