College Rutgers Basketball to Hire Stony Brook’s Steve Pikiell as its New Coach by Staff Post March 19, 2016 Steve Pikiell coached Stony Brook University to the NCAA Tournament this year. Rutgers hasn’t been to the tournament since 1991. photo credit: CBSNEWYORK Following a 26-7 season and an NCAA Tournament berth, Steve Pikiell has agreed to become the new Rutgers men’s basketball head coach. The Scarlet Knights went a combined 29-68, along with a 3-35 conference record in the Big Ten under former head coach Eddie Jordan. After Rutgers went 7-25 this season, it was clear that changes needed to be made in the basketball program. Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs had been searching for a new head coach for the past nine days, and after interviewing multiple candidates, Pikiell was seen as the best choice by Rutgers leadership. Over the past 11 years, Pikiell coached at Stony Brook University on Long Island. He inherited a 4-win team when he took over at Stony Brook, and built the program from the ground up. His team went 26-7 this season, which included an America East Conference championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. Pikiell was 190-155 over his 11 seasons, including five seasons with 22 wins or more. His toughest challenge at Rutgers will be recruiting the top talent in New Jersey. When it comes to recruiting, Pikiell will have a solid background to lean on when talking to recruits. He played at Connecticut under Jim Calhoun from 1987 to 1991, where he was a two-year captain. Pikiell was an assistant coach at UConn, and also has coaching experience at Yale, Wesleyan, Centrall Connecticut, and George Washington. His coaching experience will surely help recruiting, but Pikiell needs to hire a staff filled with coaches possessing New Jersey roots to help keep the top talent in-state. It will be an uphill battle for Pikiell at Rutgers, but a new era has begun for basketball at the Scarlet Knights. Post Views: 1,082 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Staff Post Latest posts by Staff Post (see all) In The Zone Announces Initial Podcast Lineup - November 13, 2020 The Essential Resources You Need to Start Your Own Gym in 2020 - February 6, 2020 Wilder vs Fury II – How the second fight will be different to the first? - February 5, 2020 Early turnovers, defensive struggles plague the Scarlet Knights - January 26, 2020 Related TopicsBasketballRutgers Coaching HireSteve PikiellStony Brook University Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 Michael Jordan Could Change the Future of Nascar for the Better by Inesh Chari | posted on March 30, 2021 WNBA Rolling Out Red Carpet For Upcoming 25th Anniversary Season by Jason Cordner | posted on March 16, 2021 More in College You Know I’m Right, Episode 107: New York Post’s Columnist Mike Vaccaro (Audio/Video) On the 107th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... Master P’s Son, Hercy, Commits to Tennessee State Master P’s son, Hercy Miller, is committing to Tennessee State to play basketball. While... EA Sports Plans to Revive College Football Video Game EA Sports announced that they plan on making college football video games again. The... UVM Women’s Basketball Team Quits 2020-2021 Season The University of Vermont (UVM) women’s basketball will be ending their 2020-2021 season early... Villanova Defeats UNC Asheville by 30 to Advance to the Round of 32 Mets Decision to Release Ruben Tejada Shows High Quality of Talent on this Team