It’s true, we need multiple bodies (centers, power forward) in the frontcourt and it’s going to cost us. 3M is really steep, but unfortunately it may be the going rate for us to get a quality Big 10 level starting center. Who knows, 3M may just get us a competent level center and in order to get a higher quality level it may be out of our $9-10M budget range. I would like to think the first transfer we acquire is a Center, and then we know our remaining budget and go from there adding more pieces, but I am not so sure. I hope we don’t add bigs at the back end of our portal signings.
We should go after Najia Hines...but will we?
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Agree 100%. I usually don’t pay attention to recruiting at all until guys are official (football for example). But I’m taking interest with this given the whole thing is 15 days and a roster has only 13 guys on it. Almost like a game of chess how it gets managed.
I hate that there’s any discussion at all about focus on smaller PGs from Merrimack and Marita who are pedestrian / poor perimeter shooters. We need to secure a center quickly to see what resources we have left to work with for everything else and even if we have to spend extra to make it happen faster it’s probably worth it.
Probably because he averaged 2.4 fouls in those 18 mpg. He would have been in constant foul trouble most games.
Plus, Ogbole did his best but he’s not at a competent level if you want to be competitive in the Big 10. He’s a third string emergency center at best if you are putting together a top half of the conference, competitive Big 10 roster.
The Francis thing is a new, tremendous consideration for Pike. A defense oriented center is still necessary, but if Francis follows Knight to UNC there is a massive void that needs to be filled in backcourt scoring too. I’m now worried that Pike is currently sitting in a circumstance where he doesn’t have a good sense of what offense he’s bringing back in the backcourt. If we need to buy proven offense from guards in the open market too we’re in big trouble. Double digit scoring at Marist or Merrimack is not proven offense on a BIG team. Tariq wasn’t “proven” coming in either, but for every Tariq there are a lot more Noah Fs and PJs.
You think Francis is good enough for UNC? He's not what they look for in their guards.
The only time I saw him, he abused us. Freshman and sophomores get better. I would take that kid for sure. He definitely had some toughness to him.
Agree completely but the articles say there is basically unlimited budget so Knight would be able to get him a nice check to throw him on the roster.
What he’s saying is Sullivan needs to have read the market accurately. To get them to not “wait” we need to offer a big enough premium to get what we need. The twist in the background might be that we don’t know yet what we have returning at guard so we’re trying to play both ends but it seems to me this is the wrong play. It doesn’t matter what we have in the backcourt. We couldn’t even win with Dylan Harper at PG and Ace Bailey at stretch wing. Pike’s style requires a competent center and a physical power forward to execute his defense. We can’t compete without these things no matter what. Maybe with the next coach we could try a different style. But for Pike - not upgrading these things means another losing season before it even starts.
I get it but if you want good players, they are going to have lots of offers. Only 27 players have committed so far. That’s nothing. It’s going to take time, plus Rutgers will not be an hot destination for top players. My fear for most here is the Expectations are a bit out of wack. No surprise because they always are with fans. My prediction is Rutgers will probably have to over pay for an average center and the fans will hate it. Or they will bring in multiple players with different skill sets at mid-tier price. Both scenarios aren’t great.
That’s the point! We 100% have to overpay to obtain an average center or we could very well end up settling for someone who isn’t even a clear upgrade over EO and paying 7 figures for them. What part of this are folks missing? Hines has potential, but he played about the same amount as Ogbole and put up similar stats other than one.more block a game. He’s asking for 3M DOLLARS! But the thing is, if we don’t pay up and everyone else does, we could end up with an Agee or Fall type starter. And the same is true at PF. There’s no way we’re buying anything close to a middle of the pack high major frontcourt without coughing up at least half of our 10M budget. This has to be viewed as a cost of doing business. Full stop.
But this is also why we’re screwed if Tariq walks out the door. A kitchen sink approach to assembling a portal backcourt isn’t going to work because the only “scorers” Pike is going to be able to afford to replace Tariq’s offense in our price range (because again, anyone sought after isn’t choosing RU unless we overpay) are going to be low major sharp shooters (catch and shoot types) - except that he’d have to shift his whole philosophy in one offseason and also purchase a good enough PG to get that type of scorer the ball. J Mike isn’t really “that”. And oh yeah, most of those types play no D. And while TF is no defensive rock star, he’s not unplayable. We’d likely be getting what Peter Kiss was as a sophomore when Pike sent him packing. Do you see my point? The math just doesn’t work. We need to hope we retain most of our backcourt and add one complementary piece, and significantly upgrade the frontcourt. That will translate to a materially better team. Good enough for the NCAAs? Maybe not - but we at least may have a chance.
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Expectations are way out of whack within the TKR community and now they want Pike to overpay to satisfy their need to see things happening but that results in having less money in the end and not getting all your needs filled.
There’s a short supply of patience but that’s what’s needed. Plus a lot of anxiety medication.
You think it’s just in this community? Most of my RU friends outside this message board are similarly frustrated with the situation and don’t spend any time on here
My fathers alumni friends from the 1970s and 80s feel the same frustration
it is completely fair in year 11 to have limited patience for a top 25 paid coach nationally
We can’t be patient with center. The longer it drags on the less likely it is we land someone middle of the road. Richie said Hines will probably go for 4.5M. The longer we go without a center the more likely it is we don’t get a servicable one. Prices are going to go up as teams get more desperate to fill the spots - not down.
And one of the worst NIL budgets in power 6 basketball.
Fans don’t have patience, which is fine. They also struggle to clearly see the situation for their own team because they are emotional tied to the situation. Rutgers finally has some money for next season. If Pike fails with money, it’s on him. Last year he had last place money and finished 14th.
Is your stance, Rutgers should overpay now for a middle of the road option at center?
My stance is Sullivan’s job was to go into this cycle with an understanding of where the market is and what level player he must land at minimum (cost aside). We can’t have an Agee level center and replace Grant with a comparable forward. If we do that we lose and that would be true even if the 6-2 MAAC guards they are shopping for did actually work out. Again - even with Dylan Harperin the backcourt, it didn’t matter…. We had Ace playing stretch 4 out of position because our front court stunk. And we still couldn’t win.
If Hines is simply out of our budget - fine. But yes, we need to act fast and offer a premium over others to get someone locked in. Maybe it’s a mid-major center who put up good numbers that we’re overpaying paying 2.5M for when FMV projects most offers to be around 2M. We need to offer enough more up front so someone bites. And act quickly. We can’t afford to not have someone at the center position.
And oh yeah - if Hines is worth 4.5M, Ogbole types aren’t going to be 400k either.
Overpaying for a middle of the road center could be disastrous. I don’t think the staff is willing to spend $2.5-3M on a player unless they can really contribute at a high level. They are only getting one player in the $3m range. They must hit a home run on that guy.
Curious, what do YOU think he’s worth? Caveat.. IT DOESNT MATTER! It’s what the market brings. You may think it too much… oh well, time will tell … IF we are lucky enough to get him
Honestly, no one actually worth $3M is coming here, so who ever we do end up paying $3M to is overpaying.
Being toxic now and trying to stir the hornets nest?
Didn't you just call out someone who did something like this on the Round Table yesterday?
Agents can sniff a panicked buyer from a mile away and will keep raising the price. You're going to pay and then realize you can't fill out the rest of your roster. Then when the season is similar to this past one what will you say to Keli? We had to get that guy at all costs...lol.
1) it was comical. I also joked the other day that Wooten entered the portal. Geez. Breathe. And 2) yes I did call someone out for stoking fires and basically got an explanation that’s it’s ok in some cases and I don’t understand what that means.
I believe he said he wouldn’t be surprised
people don’t understand this NIL market grows every year it’s not flattening
We have 8.5 million or whatever is this year and that’s probably worth 6.5 million last year
it’s only going to increase every year until the eventual bubble bursts but that doesn’t seem to be in the near future
Seton Hall lost Hines and Budd Clark probably because they couldn’t afford their fair market value … Clark will probably get 1.5-2 million somewhere and Hines is certainly going to get over 3 million maybe 4+ like Richie said
more money or not the coaching staff has to get better at identifying talent with what they have they just have one hand tied behind their back instead of both
We better get a good contributing center or else we are cooked for another season. Hines is local and we should have gotten him last August when he committed to SHU. Instead we got Johnson in August and after red shirting he bailed on us. I sure hope he didn't get a piece of the pie money from out Thanksgiving trip to Las Vegas. He gave us the shaft after never playing one second for us.
I would not be surprised by $4 mil either. The market for big men has been crazy in the past and only expect it to go up and be even crazier this year. We may end up spending $2-$3Mil on someone and I don’t expect that will be one of the top bigs. That could be the going rate just to get a competent, average, starting level player. Not a star, not elite, big man market is tough. Who knows maybe we sign 3 or 4 smaller pseudo centers or power forwards to fill the front court that fits within our budget. I think that’s a recipe for a disaster as we need at least one legit, real center. I am sure they’re trying to add centers, just easier said than done.
whoa whoa whoa whoa I am NOT just “someone”