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25-26 Current Roster

MadRU

MadRU

Heisman
Jul 26, 2001
38,151
19,488
98
Current Roster before Portal:

Bigs 4/5

Ogbole, Lathan, Dortch, Grant, Nwuli, Ware

SG/SF

Derkack, Powers

PGs

JWill, JMike, Mark

​

Did I miss anyone? That makes 11 current roster players.

Is it still 13 or now 15? I forget.

Definitely need at least 1 SG/SF added. If a true Big comes, I’d expect someone to leave.
 
PiscatawayMike

PiscatawayMike

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
17,325
15,158
113
No One Knows Snl GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
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D

Degaz-RU

Heisman
Dec 19, 2002
22,311
26,534
88
Greene Rice FIG said:
Not sure I like the 3 bucket system...
grant and Dortch should have their own bucket
Click to expand...
Yeah, I would bucket them like this:

BIGS -- Sommerville, Ogbole, Ware

FORWARDS -- Grant, Dortch, Nwuli

GUARDS/WINGS -- JWill, JMike, Derkack, Mark, Powers

One things is clear here. We need to subtract a few guys and then add in some "two-way" guards/wings who can both defend and shoot/score (like the guys Maryland got in the portal this past year).

I am torn on Sommerville. He showed a LOT of promise on offense at the 5 spot, and I think he can become a consistent 12-14 ppg scorer as early as next year. But as we all saw, he struggled mightily on defense, and we already know he will never be a rim protector even though he can improve other aspects of his defense and rebounding. So, do you ride with a potential 12-14 ppg center who is relatively weak on defense; or do you move on and try and get a starting-caliber 5 who can rebound and block shots, but who might be a lesser offensive player? It's a tough call, as we haven't had a 5 with LS's offensive skills in a long time.
 
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B

bitnez

All-American
Jan 18, 2006
6,404
7,005
113
Not to be provincial, and Richie said it wasn’t happening, but Bashir would be perfect. He can fill it, has some size, and proved he can be at or near best player on floor even against P4/5 teams.
 
G

Greene Rice FIG

Heisman
Dec 30, 2005
40,437
23,613
0
Degaz-RU said:
Yeah, I would bucket them like this:

BIGS -- Sommerville, Ogbole, Ware

FORWARDS -- Grant, Dortch, Nwuli

GUARDS/WINGS -- JWill, JMike, Derkack, Mark, Powers

One things is clear here. We need to subtract a few guys and then add in some "two-way" guards/wings who can both defend and shoot/score (like the guys Maryland got in the portal this past year).

I am torn on Sommerville. He showed a LOT of promise on offense at the 5 spot, and I think he can become a consistent 12-14 ppg scorer as early as next year. But as we all saw, he struggled mightily on defense, and we already know he will never be a rim protector even though he can improve other aspects of his defense and rebounding. So, do you ride with a potential 12-14 ppg center who is relatively weak on defense; or do you move on and try and get a starting-caliber 5 who can rebound and block shots, but who might be a lesser offensive player? It's a tough call, as we haven't had a 5 with LS's offensive skills in a long time.
Click to expand...
12-14 PPG is way too high of an expectation.....but even if he does. if he is doing it over 15+ possessions that doesnt do us any good.

Lathan is a lot like Ace in that he takes bad shots that find a way of going in. He made at least 3 baskets last night where he didn't square to the basket and threw it up and it went in.

Lathan is Zed Key. Ohio State knew he wasn't a player they could play at center and win.
 
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Ridge 22

Ridge 22

Heisman
Jun 30, 2007
7,704
10,046
98
Next year is close to a complete rebuild. Lathan is a bad fit and isn't coming back regardless. The rest are a bunch of spare parts. Pike is starting all over again. Only this time he won't have the benefit of finding projects and developing them over 4 years. And honestly, his work as a player developer is overrated. I give him Ron, Caleb, and maybe Myles as low rated players who got better. But who else did? Most washed out and dropped down a level or stagnated and never got better (see Geo). And his portal work. Yikes. Even worse. At least he's a great game day coach.
 
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N

needmorecowbell

Heisman
Oct 28, 2007
9,568
10,714
78
This team needs a lot. I would go scoring 2 guard, scoring athletic wing and rim protector. Point guard would be next for me but I understand why someone are saying go PG first. Everyone must be a willing defender and we need experience.
 
RUskoolie

RUskoolie

Hall of Famer
Aug 1, 2007
221,399
112,066
63
I saw this all clearly after the Princeton debacle and declared that he was DOA. I like him a lot. We had some good times but barring a miracle in 4-6 weeks in the portal he is cooked and we will move on a year from now. Thats my prediction. The returning players will struggle to score 45 ppg.
 
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S

stribucher

Junior
Dec 6, 2024
186
323
47
There is 50-60 points per game going out the door from this year’s team. Be lucky to get 30-40 points per game coming in. Back to 55-60 point rock fights if we have any chance of winning
 
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MadRU

MadRU

Heisman
Jul 26, 2001
38,151
19,488
98
Pike needs to be meeting with each player ASAP. A portal plan needs to be in place fast.
 
R

rsegall

Senior
Jul 28, 2001
457
457
63
All I hear Pike needs to do this or he needs to do that blah, blah , blah! Number one he is a poor evaluator of talent and when he has talent dropped in his lap he doesn’t know what to do with it. He has achieved nothing in nine years. If Rutgers was a serious player he should be gone.
 
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S

SBP

All-Conference
Feb 5, 2003
4,732
4,653
0
rubs said:
All I hear Pike needs to do this or he needs to do that blah, blah , blah! Number one he is a poor evaluator of talent and when he has talent dropped in his lap he doesn’t know what to do with it. He has achieved nothing in nine years. If Rutgers was a serious player he should be gone.
Click to expand...
Fair….but$$$$$$$$$$$
 
R

RULegion

Junior
Aug 14, 2007
330
308
0
I don’t think Pike can’t evaluate talent, I think he does a good job of that, I think the bigger issue is his coaching. He doesn’t know what to do with talent. As soon as I saw what Spencer did at UConn I was like Pike doesn’t know how to coach.
 
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PiscatawayMike

PiscatawayMike

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
17,325
15,158
113
rubs said:
All I hear Pike needs to do this or he needs to do that blah, blah , blah! Number one he is a poor evaluator of talent and when he has talent dropped in his lap he doesn’t know what to do with it. He has achieved nothing in nine years. If Rutgers was a serious player he should be gone.
Click to expand...
Impossible to take your opinion seriously when you don't understand the definition of nothing.
 
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R

RUDivision

All-Conference
Jan 6, 2023
2,301
1,809
42
MadRU said:
Current Roster before Portal:

Bigs 4/5

Ogbole, Lathan, Dortch, Grant, Nwuli, Ware

SG/SF

Derkack, Powers

PGs

JWill, JMike, Mark

​

Did I miss anyone? That makes 11 current roster players.

Is it still 13 or now 15? I forget.

Definitely need at least 1 SG/SF added. If a true Big comes, I’d expect someone to leave.
Click to expand...


Need a Point Guard , 2 wings/SH, and a competent center! Lots of work for Pike to do.
 
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RULegion

Junior
Aug 14, 2007
330
308
0
BG1973 said:
For the life of me I don’t understand why we never saw the two man game with Ace and Dylan.
Click to expand...
Excellent point. I don’t think Pike knows what that means. He needs to watch a team with a solid two man game like Kentucky they have been running it for years.
 
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S

Shelby65

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2008
8,343
4,644
66
Greene Rice FIG said:
12-14 PPG is way too high of an expectation.....but even if he does. if he is doing it over 15+ possessions that doesnt do us any good.

Lathan is a lot like Ace in that he takes bad shots that find a way of going in. He made at least 3 baskets last night where he didn't square to the basket and threw it up and it went in.

Lathan is Zed Key. Ohio State knew he wasn't a player they could play at center and win.
Click to expand...
Key wasn’t the poster boy for defensive futility….actually, co-poster boy. Forgot Davis.
 
NewJerseyHawk

NewJerseyHawk

Heisman
Jan 11, 2007
24,385
38,642
113
Can't keep cutting corners and thinking it's going to work the next time, when its failed 3 years in a row via the portal.

Its gotta be 1, maybe 2 portal kids tops.....pay them if they're starting caliber B1G level athletes, otherwise save the money for the 2026 HS kids who fit the criteria as a starter when they hit campus in 15 months.

There's not enough on this roster to support a NCAA run next year IMO. I would be shocked to be wrong. Recruit and retain is how we got good in 2017 to 2019.....we need to complete the cycle with summer and fall recruiting for 2026.
 
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R

RUSCFORMERLYRULOU

All-American
Nov 12, 2017
5,484
6,960
103
NewJerseyHawk said:
Can't keep cutting corners and thinking it's going to work the next time, when its failed 3 years in a row via the portal.

Its gotta be 1, maybe 2 portal kids tops.....pay them if they're starting caliber B1G level athletes, otherwise save the money for the 2026 HS kids who fit the criteria as a starter when they hit campus in 15 months.

There's not enough on this roster to support a NCAA run next year IMO. I would be shocked to be wrong. Recruit and retain is how we got good in 2017 to 2019.....we need to complete the cycle with summer and fall recruiting for 2026.
Click to expand...
For a so called expert on this board, you really have no clue here.
 
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B

BillyC80

Heisman
Oct 23, 2006
17,071
15,451
72
NewJerseyHawk said:
Can't keep cutting corners and thinking it's going to work the next time, when its failed 3 years in a row via the portal.

Its gotta be 1, maybe 2 portal kids tops.....pay them if they're starting caliber B1G level athletes, otherwise save the money for the 2026 HS kids who fit the criteria as a starter when they hit campus in 15 months.

There's not enough on this roster to support a NCAA run next year IMO. I would be shocked to be wrong. Recruit and retain is how we got good in 2017 to 2019.....we need to complete the cycle with summer and fall recruiting for 2026.
Click to expand...
Respectfully disagree.

Pike built this year’s team with players from high school, community college, and mid-majors. Not one player on the roster was obtained from another P5 school.

In the past this would work for him, with key guys staying multiple years in his system. Those days are gone.
 
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R

RUby RED

All-Conference
Aug 9, 2010
1,857
2,683
0
NewJerseyHawk said:
Can't keep cutting corners and thinking it's going to work the next time, when its failed 3 years in a row via the portal.

Its gotta be 1, maybe 2 portal kids tops.....pay them if they're starting caliber B1G level athletes, otherwise save the money for the 2026 HS kids who fit the criteria as a starter when they hit campus in 15 months.

There's not enough on this roster to support a NCAA run next year IMO. I would be shocked to be wrong. Recruit and retain is how we got good in 2017 to 2019.....we need to complete the cycle with summer and fall recruiting for 2026.
Click to expand...
Hard to be more wrong. If Pike has any interest in keeping his job — he needs to cut the dead weight off the current roster and attack the portal hard. Needs to lock down a go-to scorer and then round out the rest of the roster with older guys that bring length / athleticism and can fit his defensive scheme. And while I don’t think Lathan should be shown the door — I do think the funds needed to retain him would be better utilized getting a defensive minded 5. Better fit for a Pike team

Steve has to focus on winning now. Retaining the whole roster, refusing to get aggressive in the portal and going all in on HS recruiting in the 2026 class is conceding that this team will not sniff the tourney for another 3+ years. Dead man walking at that point
 
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