Tag: Steve Pikiell

Rutgers basketball recruit Gus Yalden previews October visit, talks Scarlet Knights interest

Rutgers basketball recruit Gus Yalden discusses his legitimate interest in the program and talks October visit.

Gus Yalden is getting ready for a visit to Rutgers to check in on the men’s basketball program. The four-star big man out of IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) is emerging as a priority recruit for Scarlet Knights head coach Steve Pikiell.

Yalden is set to visit Rutgers the first weekend of October, per Rivals affiliate site The Knight Report.

The 6-foot-8, 240 pounds power forward is the No. 73 player in the nation according to Rivals.com. He is a member of the class of 2023. He is seriously checking out the basketball program and seems to be feeling the love from Rutgers, especially as he is consistently being recruited following a foot injury late this past season.

“I’m just looking forward to spending time with the team and getting to know the players, spending time with the coaches and actually seeing students on the campus… really just dive into the culture of what makes Rutgers a special place,” Yalden told ‘Rutgers Wire’ this week.

“Coming off an injury this summer and not being 100 percent and then not being able to play in front of coaches this fall – you really learn quickly which coaches are all in and have made you a priority. So in my book, if I’m a priority to them [then] they are definitely a priority for me and my future.”

Yalden said that the College of Charleston, Rutgers, Nebraska, Wake Forest, Ohio, and Wisconsin have been most interested in his recruitment. He currently holds offers from the aforementioned programs as well as Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Iowa, Louisville, Stanford, and West Virginia among others.

“A coach that knows players strengths and finds ways within their style of play to highlight those skills but at the same time refuses to settle with what players can do and instead pushes the team to achieve what they never knew they could do or be taught to do,” Yalden said.

“Academically looking for a school that supports their student-athletes, offers a strong community and a program that has pride in their legacy both in the classroom and on the court.”

Steve Pikiell on Tournament loss to Houston: ‘we’re not very far off from where we want to be’

Rutgers men’s basketball head coach Steve Pikiell talks about the importance of the team’s NCAA Tournament and the big picture significance of their second-round loss.

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Rutgers men’s basketball made the NCAA Tournament this past spring for the first time since 1991. For head coach Steve Pikiell, it was a sign of not just progress but also how close his Scarlet Knights are to their eventual goal.

Rutgers lost to Houston in the second round of the tournament, a hard-fought 63-60 knockout to a team that eventually made it to the Final Four. It was a bittersweet moment but one that head coach Steve Pikiell said underscored the progress and direction of this team.

So much progress has been made over the last three years and the tournament appearance plus the first-round win should be celebrated by the program. But the team was very close to a Sweet 16 appearance and could have beaten Houston with better execution on the offensive end.

“Our focus was more than anything, the one thing the Houston game really taught us, it gave us tremendous confidence. They were to see and [Houston] played in the Final Four. We were able to see, we’re not very far off from where we want to be. We want to play in the Final Four, we want to win the national championships,” Pikiell said last week.

“I think it gave our program as a staff tremendous excitement about the future; tremendous confidence going into this year.”

Pikiell spoke to Jon Newman and Danny Breslauer of the Scarlet Spotlight podcast. Available on Apple Podcasts, the bi-weekly show is an excellent resource for Scarlet Knights fans and focuses on Rutgers sports with an emphasis not just on football and basketball but also the school’s full offering of Olympic sports.

 

While Rutgers has brought in several good pieces via their recruiting as well as the transfer portal, the program’s starting five was rocked with the transfer of Myles Johnson to UCLA this offseason. In addition, guard Jacob Young, a significant piece of the rotation over the past two years, transferred to Oregon.

“Once the season ended it quickly turning to the season that we’re almost at right now. We didn’t spend a lot of time – we knew three of those guys were graduating and leaving, so we were very prepared for that,” Pikiell said on the podcast.

“And then had meetings with everybody and I want everyone to be happy. Just thankful for the time that we had with those guys, they were great people, great teammates, and excited about the opportunity that the freshmen and incoming players have for us.”

Bobi Klintman has Rutgers in his final six

Rutgers basketball is in the final six for Swedish forward Bobi Klintman.

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Bobi Klintman has Rutgers basketball in his top six, the small forward from Sweden including the Scarlet Knights as he pared down his list this week.

Listed as 6-foot-8 and 200 pounds, Klintman is a three-star prospect according to Rivals. His list of six programs includes Rutgers, Big Ten rival Maryland as well as Kansas, Virginia, Texas A&M and Loyola-Chicago.

For Rutgers basketball, it is an interesting development as the class of 2022 has a solid core including three-star guard Derek Simpson and three-star forward Braeden Moore. Both players committed to the Scarlet Knights over this past summer. Simpson is considered a late bloomer and Moore had a very solid offer list when he chose Rutgers.

 

In terms of fit, Klintman seems ideal for head coach Steve Pikiell’s system. He boasts good length, rebounds well and plays good defense. He has the ability to shoot from behind the arc and he is a good distributor of the ball.

Perhaps helping in this recruitment for Rutgers is forward Oskar Palmquist. A member of Sweden’s U20 national team, Palmquist joined the program in 2019 and was a redshirt. Last year, he appeared in 12 games and showed some promise as a shooter.

What Rutgers HC Steve Pikiell said about Wisconsin after the game

The Wisconsin Badgers bounced back last night from Tuesday’s blowout loss at Michigan, beating Rutgers in a classic Big Ten battle 60-54…

The Wisconsin Badgers bounced back last night from Tuesday’s blowout loss at Michigan, beating Rutgers in a classic Big Ten battle 60-54.

The win moves Greg Gard’s team to 11-3 on the season and 5-2 in Big Ten play, putting them just .5 games behind No. 2 Iowa and 1.5 games behind No. 1 Michigan.

Related: Former Badger F Sam Dekker reacts to Wisconsin landing three-star PF Markus Ilver

After the game, Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell spoke about the Badgers effort and their resilience coming off an abysmal showing against the Wolverines earlier in the week.

Here is everything he said about Wisconsin basketball after the game:

What Rutgers HC Steve Pikiell said about Wisconsin before the game

After a burn-the-tape loss to Michigan on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Badgers are back in action tonight against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

After a burn-the-tape loss to Michigan on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Badgers are back in action tonight against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

That’s the beauty, and sometimes the biggest challenge, of Big Ten basketball, as teams get the chance to bounce back and make a statement just days after tough losses.

Related: Former Badger F Sam Dekker reacts to Wisconsin landing three-star PF Markus Ilver

While that applies to Wisconsin tonight, it also applies to a Rutgers team that has lost its last three games and four of its last five.

Rutgers HC Steve Pikiell talked about tonight’s matchup with the Badgers, starting off by recognizing that the Wisconsin team we all saw on Tuesday probably won’t what his team sees tonight.

“Because I’ve watched so much Wisconsin tape I know how good Wisconsin is” Pikiell said. “And it was a very impressive, obviously, win by Michigan…Wisconsin is really good and I think sometimes you have days like that. My respect for the Wisconsin program is off the charts. But Michigan certainly played great on both ends of the floor. That’s life in the Big Ten.”

He continued to touch on the specific challenges his team will face tonight, starting with the Badgers’ ability to shoot the basketball.

“Every team in our league brings a different problem. Some teams can really shoot like Iowa,” Pikiell said. “But I think we’ve done a pretty good job, even the last game they made some very difficult shots. I go through every game tape and I grade the shot attempts and how contested they are. You have to give the other team some credit when they make tough shots. So you do the best you can.”

What followed, as anybody who’s turned on 30 seconds of a Wisconsin basketball game this year would know, were comments on the age of the Badger team.

“This team’s average age is 24 years old. This is an old, experienced team. They’re the Big Ten champs from last year,” Pikiell said. “They shoot the ball, they make free throws, they got great shooters and they surround them with some good post players. So they pose us many problems and guarding the three has been a problem. They shoot 42 percent, so they’ve made 3s against all the teams in our league…So you have to do an added emphasis and you have to make sure your guys understand they’re closing out to five men.”

The Rutgers coach finished his discussion about Wisconsin with a note on their free-throw shooting, though did so with a pretty significant name slip-up.

The Badgers and Scarlet Knights are set to tip off at 8:00 p.m. CST tonight and the game will be available on FOX Sports 1

Watch what Rutgers head basketball coach Steve Pikiell said about Ohio State after the game

Rutgers basketball coach Steve Pikiell met with the media following his team’s loss to Ohio State. Watch what he said about the Buckeyes.

The Ohio State basketball team used a big second-half to knock off No. 11 Rutgers after getting outplayed thoroughly in the first half. It was a physical game that the Buckeyes were able to take control of because of some foul issues in the paint for the Scarlet Knights.

OSU was able to get to the free-throw line and get high percentage baskets to reel things back in, grab the lead, and ultimately take control and win comfortably in the end.

Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell met with the media afterward to discuss his team and the challenge of what Ohio State offered. If you missed any of his comments, we have them for you thanks to the YouTube Channel of Rutgers Football.

Watch the below and listen to the Rutgers head man give a lot of credit to Ohio State, talk about the physicality of the game, the respect he has for Chris Holtmann, and more.

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Ohio State’s next game will be against Northwestern on the road on Saturday.

Ohio State basketball knocks off Rutgers. Three Things we learned.

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