Season preview: At Rutgers, the hype is real; this roster could be too
Season preview: At Rutgers, the hype is real; this roster could be too
Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper will grab the headlines at Rutgers. Role players like Zach Martini, Jordan Derkack and the other talented freshmen could open everything up for a huge season.
PISCATAWAY – Jordan Derkack and Zach Martini had no shortage of opportunities when they entered the transfer portal in March.
But they’re Jersey guys, and they knew at that time that their state university was about to embark on a massive year. At Rutgers, they could be part of something special.
“Not every day you get to play with two future lottery picks,” Martini said.
The Scarlet Knights’ highest-ranked recruiting class in program history, headlined by five-stars Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, is now on campus and the commensurate hype is already starting to build. (Harper, the brother of recent Rutgers star Ron Harper Jr., said people on campus will see him and shout, “Let’s go Harper!” To which he’s begun reflecting the love over to his friend and teammate, pointing him out and shouting, “Look, it’s Ace Bailey!”)
These aren’t just any five-stars. They’re considered two of the top three prospects in the high school class, and signing a duo like that is something only Duke has done before.
To build around them, Steve Pikiell and his staff carefully handpicked guys who could play roles off the bench or potentially in the starting lineup. Among those were Martini, a native of Warren and fan favorite at Princeton, and Derkack, a Colonia native who was named NEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year last year at Merrimack.
“The portal, it was tough. It was speed dating on crack,” Derkack deadpanned. “I had decisions that had to be made, and this was an awesome, awesome opportunity for me to play with some guys that are gonna play at the next level. I was looking forward to that, I was looking forward to guarding people every single day. That was part of the decision.”
At media day in late September, Pikiell was a bit rankled by a question about greater expectations for his program, saying the ultimate goal hasn’t changed. But there’s no denying that this season On the Banks is going to be different.
Meaning: There’s no guarantee that this young team will make it far in the postseason. This campaign isn’t necessarily going to the Scarlet Knights’ best or most successful. It is going to be unique, and quite likely the most entertaining Rutgers fans and students have ever seen.
The blue-chippers’ bond
Harper and Bailey both remember the day they were introduced.
Bailey was on a visit to Rutgers, and assistant coach Brandin Knight got out his phone and dialed up Harper.
“We both got each other’s numbers and it just went up from there,” Harper said.
Bailey is from Georgia, yet it wasn’t long before he and Harper became long-distance friends, catching up two or three times per day, and not always focusing on basketball. Wild as it may look to outsiders that Rutgers could sign two elite prospects, their arrival was almost predestined as their relationship grew and they began playing with one another at elite events, including the SLAM Summer Classic at New York’s famed Rucker Park.
For Harper, who committed to Rutgers a while after Bailey, his decision was partly about “giving back” to the family and loved ones in New Jersey who helped him get this far. He added that his older brother spoke highly of Pikiell and the entire staff.
“For me it was never really about basketball,” Harper said. “It was about, ‘Where can I go and where can I become a better man?’ I think Pike and the rest of the staff is gonna help me do that.”
Bailey didn’t walk into a completely unfamiliar team, either. He was high school teammates with Rutgers guard Jamichael Davis in the Atlanta suburb of Powder Springs. The road trip to Kennesaw State on Rutgers’ schedule is a homecoming game for those two.
“We’re here to play ball,” Bailey said. “What happens happens. We’re gonna do our best to take the team as far as we can. We’re gonna try to win the Big Ten, try to – we’re gonna take us to March Madness. We’re just here to play ball.”
Don’t count out the other freshmen
The common wisdom about college basketball is that it’s good to be “old.” Restocking a roster with a bunch of one-and-dones didn’t result in much postseason success for Kentucky after its 2012 title. Especially in the age of the transfer portal, experience matters.
I get all that, yet it’s pretty shocking to see Rutgers acquire such a ballyhooed freshman class and get dinged for it in certain media rankings. “Rutgers has a staggering eight freshmen on its roster this season,” according to The Athletic – technically true, but misleading because three of those freshmen are walk-ons who will not play outside garbage time.
And while Bailey and Harper are the biggest stars, center Lathan Sommerville and forwards Bryce Dortch and Dylan Grant were all top-200 guys in their class. And as of now, they all project to fill limited roles off the bench anyway.
Still, any one of those three could pop as the season progresses. Jerry Carino praised Grant’s 3-point shooting following last Saturday’s public scrimmage, and here you can see Dortch making a tough play at the hoop in that game.
“It means a lot. These are great guys,” Sommerville said of being part of such a highly thought-of class. “I feel like we mesh well on and off the court, so I’m excited to be able to get the chance to play with these guys, such high-level players.”
The center of attention
The biggest intrigue of the preseason has been the position battle for starting center. I’m interested in the answer to that question, too, but simultaneously I have to wonder: Does it matter?
There are three candidates for the job: Emmanuel Ogbole, Martini and Sommerville. Any of them could be chosen, but Pikiell also has the flexibility to create different lineups based on the matchup and split their minutes evenly.
Bailey’s positionless-ness is a major reason why. A long and lanky 6-foot-10, Bailey is actually listed as a guard/forward on Rutgers’ roster, and Pikiell is enamored with his positional flexibility. Play him out on the wing, and you could put, say, Martini at the four next to Ogbole or Sommerville at the five.
“I can play Ace at the four spot and I can play Martini at the five and put all shooters on the floor,” Pikiell suggested. “Probably more so than any team I’ve had here, we can just do a lot of different things.”
Martini was the de facto center at Princeton, but as the starting five of a five-out offense as the Tigers transitioned away from having Tosan Evbuomwan in the middle of everything.
“I love playing the five,” Martini said. “I’m 6-7, but I’ve got heart-over-height mentality. And on the flip side, they gotta come out on the perimeter and guard me. But then what it really does is open lanes for Ace and Dylan and Jeremiah (Williams) and J-Mike and Jordan to get downhill.”
That will be great situationally; still, I’d bet on the 6-foot-10, 270-pound Ogbole to start the opening game against Wagner. Even last year, when he didn’t play until February while rehabbing a knee injury, he looked the part of a Big Ten big man – imposing, all muscle and no body fat, with some of the broadest shoulders you’ll see up close.
Sommerville said he’s enjoyed going against Ogbole in practice, and he’s had to shed 25 pounds and counting since getting to campus in June (he’s listed at 275). He may also possess a skill set that blends a little Martini and a little Ogbole, with a healthy dose of playmaking.
“I could stretch the floor a little bit more,” Sommerville said. “I’m also a playmaker from that standpoint. A lot of drags, a lot of flip action, putting me in dribble handoffs, making passes, making plays, things like that. Other than that, a little bit – I can switch a little bit more on defense maybe. I can play the four and the five, so a little more versatile.”
Avoiding a repeat of last year?
What doomed the Scarlet Knights in 2023-24? First it was an inability to rebound against the likes of Howard and Stonehill. And while that was not a season-long problem, their shooting was. Some rough field goal percentages from since-departed players like Derek Simpson (30.5), Noah Fernandes (35.0) and Gavin Griffiths (32.4) tell the story of Rutgers’ awful offense as plainly as possible.
The upgraded talent and athleticism of this roster should mean Rutgers’ rebounding will be back up to the program’s standard. As for shooting, these Scarlet Knights might finally have some reliable secondary scoring.
Derkack (17.0 ppg last year) tends to go straight downhill, and Eastern Michigan transfer Tyson Acuff (21.7 ppg) also relies on the 2-pointer. But Pikiell is mixing them in with Martini and San Diego transfer PJ Hayes, who shot almost 40 percent from 3-point range as a freshman wing.
“We’ve had shot-takers in the past. He’s a shot-maker,” Pikiell said of Hayes.
That bodes well for a team that should be able to put the ball in the basket even when Bailey and Harper need to sub out for breathers or foul trouble. And having secondary scoring threats also means the five-stars can’t be smothered or double-teamed.
Now, does it all add up to 27 wins and a Final Four run? It’s far too early to say. Generally speaking, it’s harder than ever to project a college basketball season, but pundits have no idea what to do with the Scarlet Knights; The Athletic ranked them 11th in the Big Ten and Blue Ribbon Yearbook a laughable 15th, while ESPN’s way-too-early rankings peg Rutgers No. 25 in the country.
That contrasts with the feeling around Central Jersey, imbued in the remarks from Martini, Derkack, Bailey, Harper and even Pikiell himself, that this Rutgers season won’t resemble anything that came before it.
“Every year I still have that (empty) trophy case, so from Day 1, the first year I got here, I’ve been trying to win a national championship,” Pikiell said. “So expectations, bring them on. I love that part of it. Our expectations haven’t changed. … We’ve always had high expectations. Just because we get Ace and Dylan doesn't mean they go any higher.”
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Happy Thursday, and thanks for stopping by! As I mentioned in Tuesday’s edition (link here if you missed that), Rutgers is bound to be the story of the season here in Jersey and the best team in the state (though my Princeton followers would like a word!). You can bet I’ll be around the Scarlet Knights more than anyone else this season. More on them as we get closer to November.
For the first time since the spring, it’s time to clean the glass and cover the leftovers in my notebook from Rutgers media day:
Derkack is that rare player who’s gotten good defensive coaching as far back as high school. At Merrimack, he played in Jon Gallo’s 2-3 zone, while at Rutgers he’ll be in man much more often. “Instinctually it’s very similar,” he said. “Coach is telling me, ‘If you can get a steal, get a steal.’ … At Merrimack, I can’t get back-cut. If I get back-cut, you’re running into somebody else so it really doesn’t matter. Now if you get back-cut, it’s a dunk. It’s been a little bit of a transition, but I’ve kind of picked it up pretty quick.”
Derkack is also friends with former Rutgers star Geo Baker: “He’s a friend before he’s a Rutgers teammate. I texted him every day in the portal. He wasn’t telling me, ‘Yo, go to Rutgers, go to Rutgers.’ He was telling me, ‘Yo, we gotta figure out what’s good for you and what’s gonna line you up for your future.’”
The Martini-Rutgers marriage was obvious as soon as we heard the Scarlet Knights had interest in him in the portal. Martini revealed that Pikiell called him within his first hour of entering the portal as a grad transfer. The co-captain said he wants to win, no matter if he’s only taking three or five shots a game: “I came from a program where the standard was winning the Ivy League championship. That’s hard to do three years in a row, and I’m never gonna compare the Ivy League to the Big Ten, but I know what it takes to win, the sacrifices that have to come along the way. I think a big thing that we’ll realize going into this season is that roles are important. One thing we knew at Princeton was just what role each person had on the team. One thing I want to tell everyone is do what you do really well, and bring that strength to the team. From there, the sky’s the limit.”
Acuff is still dealing with a broken bone in his foot. As of last week, he wasn’t cleared for contact, but Pikiell insists he’s ahead of schedule and should be ready for Nov. 6 against Wagner.
I thought this was a neat quote revealing Bailey’s motor and internal motivation: “I just love the game of basketball. You got other people that work out, they go 9 to 5, they do what they do. Some people don’t love their jobs but I just love basketball.”