The paying players part has nothing to do with Pike. This comes from the top of the house at Rutgers. We are a big state school that depends on state funding and we can’t afford to have scandals that threaten that. We are not a small private commuter school like Seton Hall, where the only thing they are known for is the basketball team, or a crappy school like Iona, which can only attract any attention at all from the basketball program.
Some of the other points I am not sure I agree with or at least we don’t really know. If a player like DJ Wagner was willing to consider Rutgers, who knows what Pike would be willing to agree to. I can tell you any team would love to have a player with NBA ready skills and phenomenal athletic talent coming into their program, and I am sure Pike would love to coach someone like that, even if it is only for one year. But the reality is those types players are not going to consider Rutgers.