We are deluding ourselves
- Thread starter RU677381
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At this point it’s clear Pike does not excel at wholesale roster changes. Our best shot is similar to football- retain what you can, develop, and when they do finally break through (KJ Duff) pay up to keep them. Throwing the entire roster in the trash every year won’t work.
My only point, is center will be the more expensive position, if we spend a third on a PF we end up w an EO level center.
I’d be fine with planning to spend $6M on very good PF, Center, and Francis. I don’t think Buchanan and Lino combined would cost more than $1.6M. Add in the 2 frosh and that’s now 7 spots filled with 2M of the 10M remaining for 5 spots.
My plan would be to shell out 600k-700k or so on a low-major forward / wing with some ball handling skills and decent looking metrics and then fill out the rest of our roster with utility guys from the existing roster (300k-400k give or take for each). Dortch, Zrno, etc. and if necessary go to the portal for the last body or so.
It can be enough
7.5 million on a starting 5 and 2.5 on a bench with PROPER coaching and a scheme that fits the roster can yield winning results
Especially when you’re a top 25 paid coach nationally as Zinn put it you should be a top 25 team and she’s putting them in that position
if pike doesn’t work out and we can pay a coach less maybe we can put more into the roster but what she’s providing darn well better be enough for how highly paid this staff is
No sure who is moving goal posts but hopefully the NIL budget near 10th or better. That gives Pike, or any other coach, a chance to finish top half and make the tournament. Otherwise is going to be tough for any coach to make the tournament.
It’s fair to ask a coach with the 10th best NIL budget to finish top 10 in the league. It’s not fair to ask a coach with the worst NIL budget to do the same.
He’s referring to a growing sentiment that a winning record and looking merely competitive next year will warrant retaining pike beyond next year
im of the mindset we need to be somewhere squarely on the bubble at worst like Indiana was for example to merit another year
Reality...does anyone ever think we can outspend these programs given our tiny fanbase and lack of historical success
Michigan
Michigan State
Purdue
Illinois
Wisconsin
UCLA
Indiana
Ohio State
Right off the best in any universe best case half the Big 10 schools will always be better positioned...thus was true pre NIL and its true now.
Oregon, Washington, USC pissed away money this year and 2 of them have accomplished coaches but these schools will always spend more money
Rutgers can hope that they are at least in range with the Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Maryland and ahead of Penn State and Northwestern
So why are we in this conference if we are at a disadvantage in every program yet we never really punched above our level in both sports
Throwing ones hands up and accepting fate at the bottom and .500 seasons is not the answer of course unless its just about leeching off the Big 10 coiffers. I am confident Zinn is here to win and that means holding coaches accountable and figuring out ways to punch above. If she feels Pikes is not the one to be able to do more with less and contend for tourneys he will be gone. Her comments in the Ledger interview spoke for themselves. The hiring of Ledus as womens hoops coach with no experience as head coach is high risk high reward but that Tate/Zinn are looking at out of the box methods is a plus and the mens hoops program will have to be out of the box given its very poor historical record vs a league full of juggernuts
And yes Pike is getting paid like a top 25 coach not 125
Michigan
Michigan State
Purdue
Illinois
Wisconsin
UCLA
Indiana
Ohio State
Right off the best in any universe best case half the Big 10 schools will always be better positioned...thus was true pre NIL and its true now.
Oregon, Washington, USC pissed away money this year and 2 of them have accomplished coaches but these schools will always spend more money
Rutgers can hope that they are at least in range with the Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Maryland and ahead of Penn State and Northwestern
So why are we in this conference if we are at a disadvantage in every program yet we never really punched above our level in both sports
Throwing ones hands up and accepting fate at the bottom and .500 seasons is not the answer of course unless its just about leeching off the Big 10 coiffers. I am confident Zinn is here to win and that means holding coaches accountable and figuring out ways to punch above. If she feels Pikes is not the one to be able to do more with less and contend for tourneys he will be gone. Her comments in the Ledger interview spoke for themselves. The hiring of Ledus as womens hoops coach with no experience as head coach is high risk high reward but that Tate/Zinn are looking at out of the box methods is a plus and the mens hoops program will have to be out of the box given its very poor historical record vs a league full of juggernuts
And yes Pike is getting paid like a top 25 coach not 125
Increases of money are no guarantee for success.
Kansas State and Indiana 2 straight years of top 20 spending with no results. The Washington/Oregon examples from Big 10
A perhaps acceptable non ncaa season would be similar to SHU's this year even though he did it in a weak conference.
Kansas State and Indiana 2 straight years of top 20 spending with no results. The Washington/Oregon examples from Big 10
A perhaps acceptable non ncaa season would be similar to SHU's this year even though he did it in a weak conference.
Also many schools suffered major injuries. Rutgers very lucky this year
Rutgers went unscathed with some later season injuries to deep role players
Rutgers went unscathed with some later season injuries to deep role players
I think you can make it work that way IF we in fact have $10M. $8M on the other hand....
100%. The increase in NIL will hopefully give them the proper roster to compete. No success guaranteed in anything.
No guarantee but you know as the resident bracketologist that there are far fewer examples of teams with Rutgers budget that WERE successful this year
you don’t need to be a whale money wise but you need to not be embarrassing yourself when shopping the portal and trying to retain a roster
It sounds like we have over $8M and closer to $10M if not over from the podcasts.
Agreed. But only if the expectation is to be successful with limited resources.
minimal.
But it seems some want to remove the risk.
If the expectations are "maybe be on the bubble every couple of years" then the risk is minimal.
However, if the risk is make the tournament every couple of years and be in contention/on the bubble every year - then you pay the coach.
But if the narrative is "Oh well we cant every expect to consistently compete because NIL" then there is no risk. No need for a potential elite coach and no need to overpay.
Still sticking to this? You're seeing what up to $10m is buying Rutgers, a better roster, but not one that is going to be a tournament team unless multiple players significantly exceed expectations.
This is a rebuild portal haul not a reload portal haul. $10m was never going to get reload type players.
Zinn will be able to raise more money next year and hopefully it cuts the deficit between where Rutgers sits now and the middle of the pack NIL and they can continue to acquire better players.
Are you asking me if I’m sticking by “a competent coach in the NIL era should be able to produce a bubble team with $10m in 2026-27”? Yes. If Pike can’t get this team to the bubble I don’t think the answer is give Pike and the same staff more money and run it back again.
wow...so off base, Pike has to win..there is no such thing as a rebuild portal haul in 2026....i dont know why are you are saying reload...its actually Load. No one cares about 3 year builds, that simply isnt going to happen. Pike has to catch lighting in a bottle next year. He brought in a solid class of players but its unspectactular when you match it up with others...a big issue is that 2 schools in the vicinity of RU last season Maryland and USC are expected to be very good....that puts RU in spot ahead of NW, PSU and Wash maybe and battling it out with Minny and Oregon for 13th to 15th.
this isnt football where people with schianopox believe greg is the only one that can finish 6-6 at Rutgers and where the tailgating and pre game atmosphere are why people attend games since winning is not an expectation at all
You just keep spinning nonsense, who said three year rebuild? You because you need a narrative...lol.
First year with decent NIL and you're expecting miracles. They need two cycles with good retention next year to get there. You know it but you just want to make stuff up. Richie has said many times already that Pike missing the tournament doesn't result in his dismissal unless the end result is like the last few years.
But good ahead and continue stomping your feet claiming otherwise.
lmfao...if RU is 500 next year than it means most of the players were not all that good...if they are above 500, its likely one or more of the better ones think Lino are gone, of course francis a huge scorer will also be gone but you claim he is no big deal
good luck with your rebuild and retention philosophy.. a recipe to spin wheels in the bottom 4 but yeah it makes great delusional message board discussion until reality hits by December
richie is certainly knowledgable but he has no clue what is on Kellis mind with another 14th place finish and do you think RU is finishing higher than 13th..give me that scenario.
keep bumping threads and taking victory laps for what I have no clue
good luck with your rebuild and retention philosophy.. a recipe to spin wheels in the bottom 4 but yeah it makes great delusional message board discussion until reality hits by December
richie is certainly knowledgable but he has no clue what is on Kellis mind with another 14th place finish and do you think RU is finishing higher than 13th..give me that scenario.
keep bumping threads and taking victory laps for what I have no clue
Nope second year with great NIL support. To be fair one year with great support and one year with good! It doesn’t matter Pike won’t make it!
he recruited offensive players 3 of which have the highest usage rates in the country.. Only one ball and you will need offensive mind to make it work.
Don’t disagree with the Schiano stuff. Tougher crowd patience with basketball for sure. That said, in the small sample of reasonably balanced teams with some talent that Pike has had (not recently) he’s held his own in outperforming his peers. The Dylan / Ace situation notwithstanding - he was completely out of his element with them, number one, and number 2 , there was very little other talent on that roster. But when he had a reasonable answer at every spot on the court he’s held his own.
So I’m not all that concerned with the thoughts of Maryland or this team or that team adding players and improving more than us. Some teams will get better. Some will get worst. For now, the most important thing in my opinion is to have a materially more talented roster than we did last year and I think we’re going to achieve that. Need another piece or two who adds defense up front.
To be fair, same was said about Grant and Dortch basically exactly a year ago.
"Marked improvement" isn't some sort of guarantee.
Continuity is only good if the players actually get better.
Nobody would "love continuity" if we kept Badalau, Fall, Grant and Dortch.
Grant was better this year, Dortch was so far down he was supposed to redshirt last year, only played because of lack of depth.
While I agree Pike has to win this year… is it not fair to say as devils advocate that this years 10 million is last years 7.5-8 million?
it’s recognized inflation is still at play here and we have not reached the bubbling point
obviously nobody knows raw data until after the portal closes and then some but it sounds like the market increased another 20-30% this offseason across the board which means a team that cost 12 million last year like ucla would cost 14-15 this year
makes it tough… that being said if you have average NIL and a coach who’s top 25 paid you gotta get it done
if we weren’t paying coach so much we could spend more on roster etc etc
it’s recognized inflation is still at play here and we have not reached the bubbling point
obviously nobody knows raw data until after the portal closes and then some but it sounds like the market increased another 20-30% this offseason across the board which means a team that cost 12 million last year like ucla would cost 14-15 this year
makes it tough… that being said if you have average NIL and a coach who’s top 25 paid you gotta get it done
if we weren’t paying coach so much we could spend more on roster etc etc
What do you define as "average NIL"? Per Richie, he expects that $10m to be only 12th-13th in the B1G this year. So that's bottom of the middle third or top of the last third in the conference.
Also, paying Pike more or less would have no impact on NIL. Zinn and team will be working and getting more NIL across the board and expanding the footprint of where they are getting it from this year.
Rutgers will never have top half conference nil in either sport..do you know Rutgers actual place among power 5 programs. It always needs to do more with less
Save the sad story because RU coaches are getting paid top 25 salaries
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Correct. Pike's salary has no impact on the level of funding.
We are presumably fully funding Revenue Share.
The only thing Rutgers could directly do that would impact the level of funding would be to change the Rev Share distribution and take from football (
)The impact is on the level of expectations.
Even if we had last place level of funding - having a Top 25 paid coach (and Top 5 paid assistants) raises the expectations.
Not sure a coach can justify a high salary while also saying "but my impact is minimal because of funding".
What exactly are you getting paid for then?