Rutgers bids adieu to two program faces, but maintains team chemistry with veterans, newcomers

Rutgers players and head coach Steve Pikiell huddle at mid-court during Monday’s offseason workout. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Winning truly does change perception.

Just within the last decade, Rutgers was still the low-hanging fruit on the college basketball tree, with fans and insiders alike piling on to take shots at the Scarlet Knights for the mere convenience and sheer ease of ripping a program once thought of as the worst among Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

A half-dozen years later, Rutgers is now synonymous with the high standard of consistent success, thanks in large part to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances — a third straight would have come if not for COVID — and the rebuild by head coach Steve Pikiell and his staff from the ground up to usher a new era into existence on the banks of the old Raritan.

“It used to be the place where coaches came to leave, and now they stay,” Pikiell said Monday as he addressed the changing culture, one of the many topics broached during a summer workout open to the media. “It used to be the place where coaches come to get fired, and now I’m going into year seven. That’s not the narrative anymore, and I’m excited that that’s changed. We’re all really valued, and that’s a really good sign, too.”

“This team is bigger than the tournament,” Paul Mulcahy added, stressing the lofty goals he and his teammates continue to place upon themselves. It’s an expectation, and we want to win the Big Ten. We’ve got bigger goals than making the tournament.”

For a team losing both of its twin-engined heart and soul in Ron Harper, Jr. and Geo Baker, such hefty aspirations might appear easier said than done. But with a veteran nucleus anchored by Mulcahy, Cliff Omoruyi and Caleb McConnell returning, not to mention the furthered development of role players such as Dean Reiber and Mawot Mag, plus the infusion of transfer guard Cam Spencer and a pair of promising freshmen in Derek Simpson and Antwone Woolfolk, the future is no less bright for the Scarlet Knights than it was at this time one year ago.

“You're going to miss some things with Geo and Ron, but I think we’ll be a little bit different defensively,” Pikiell admitted. “We’ll be different offensively in some ways, too, but I’m excited about that. This offseason has been good for us, it’s been good for me to figure it out. Anytime you get the leading dunker in the country back, you get the leading assist guy in the best league in the country and you get the best defender in the best league in the country, you feel pretty good about your team.”

“When guys graduate, other guys get opportunities. I feel very confident (Reiber) and Mawot are going to have really good years. Dean can guard threes, too, so his versatility excites me. I can play him a lot of different ways, I could go from playing Cliff — who’s above the rim — to playing Dean, who’s going to shoot threes from way deep when you move him around. I like the versatility of Aundre (Hyatt), Oskar (Palmquist), Dean, Mawot.”

The versatility of the Scarlet Knights’ interior was perhaps the boldest takeaway Monday afternoon, other than Spencer’s dead-eye accuracy playing off the ball alongside Mulcahy. Starting with Omoruyi, who appears to have been unleashed offensively, each Rutgers forward appears to have expanded on his skill set, which opens up a myriad of avenues for a team that relied heavily on Harper to plug those holes in the past.

“We’re going to expect a lot of (Omoruyi) this year,” Pikiell cautioned. “He’s going to have to play more minutes. He became almost a double-double guy every night, he’s gotta get to that point, and I know he can do that. It’s just been fun. He’s been a fun guy, and he’s improved as much as anybody in his two years.”

“This year, he’ll take on a new dimension, because I’m going to let him shoot the ball. Even last year, I was encouraging him to shoot the ball. He’s going to be a tough guy to match up with in the league (with) the way he runs and the way he’s committed to improving his game. His ceiling is so high.”

Omoruyi’s backup, who blossomed as a 3-point shooter down the stretch in pivotal Big Ten contests last season, has also added a new facet to his repertoire, which will open the door for his employment as more of a traditional big who can space the floor and offer a second post presence.

“I’ve done a lot of ball handling recently and working on my mid-post, just trying to create my own shot a little bit more,” Reiber revealed. “Playing a lot in the Big Ten last year made me realize everyone goes 110 percent, so you’re able to do a lot more when the pressure’s on. I feel like I’ve got a lot under my belt, so the experience compounding is going to help immensely, especially for the young guys coming in that don’t really know the Big Ten.”

While Simpson and Woolfolk, the two freshmen who signed last season, are still unproven under the lights, each has already offered mounds of potential. In fact, the former already turned heads with his athleticism and resemblance to Baker, whose former No. 0 the New Jersey native now dons to begin his collegiate career.

“He’s one of the most athletic guards we’ve had, I think, since Corey Sanders,” Pikiell said of Simpson, effusive in his praise. “He’s above the rim, he shoots the ball effortlessly, has a good feel for the game. Now he’s kind of learning our defenses and the things we want him to do, but his ceiling is tremendous and he’s really coachable, which I really like. He and his roommate, Antwone, have been really good additions to us. Antwone’s going to be really good, too.”

Rutgers went through a similar period of questioning last year when Pikiell promoted his team’s prospects before, during and after a rocky non-conference season, and is now facing the same uncertainty — to an extent — this year as its vocal leaders must be replaced. However, players and coach insist the synergy has not dissipated, cultivating further amid the incumbent players and new arrivals. 

“We’re really connected right now,” Mulcahy said. “We’re communicating at a high level, especially with a couple of the new guys. They’ve jumped in, their voices have been great. We’re really competing, and this group really loves basketball, which is fun to be around. There are a lot of voices who have been here, so we’re good.”

“It’s been a great group,” Pikiell echoed. “The newcomers have done a great job of picking up stuff, what I call our defensive vitamins, every day. It gives them a chance to get a really good feel, and it gives us a chance to try some different things and learn a lot about our team. We’ve got a good balance of the veteran guys that have been around, and the newcomers bring in some great energy, so that’s been fun for us.”