Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball

Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
	2020–21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team
University	Rutgers University
First season	1906-07[1]
All-time record	1,260–1,223 (.507)
Head coach	Steve Pikiell (5th season)
Conference	Big Ten
Location	Piscataway, New Jersey
Arena	Rutgers Athletic Center ; (Capacity: 8,000)
Nickname	Scarlet Knights
Colors	Scarlet[2];
Uniforms
Home	Away
NCAA Tournament Final Four
	1976
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
	1976
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1976, 1979
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
	1975, 1976, 1979, 1983
NCAA Tournament Appearances
	1975, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1989, 1991
Conference Tournament Champions
	1975, 1976, 1979, 1989
Conference Regular Season Champions
	1943, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1991

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represents Rutgers University in NCAA Division I college basketball competition. Rutgers competes in the Big Ten Conference.

History

The Rutgers men's basketball team played in the Final Four in the 1976 NCAA Tournament and ended the 1976 season ranked fourth in the nation, after an 86–70 loss against the Michigan Wolverines in the semifinal round and a 106–92 loss to the UCLA Bruins in the tournament's third-place consolation game.[3] This was the last men's Division I tournament to date to feature two unbeaten teams, as both Indiana, who won that year's title, and Rutgers entered the tournament unbeaten. Rutgers went 31–0 during the regular season.

The Scarlet Knights also played in the championship game of the 2004 NIT Final, losing to the Michigan Wolverines 62–55.

The Scarlet Knights had a prolonged down period through the following decade, cycling through a number of coaches and routinely finishing at the bottom of the Big East standings. This period included a scandal in 2013 with then head coach Mike Rice Jr. being shown on video verbally and physically abusing players.[4] The scandal resulted in the firing of Coach Rice as well as the resignation of then Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti.

Rutgers basketball played their first season in the Big Ten conference in 2014-2015. Fortunes began to improve following the hiring of Head Coach Steve Pikiell in 2016. The 2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team saw their win total improve from 14 to 20 and included multiple wins over ranked teams, as well as an 18-1 home record, one of the best in the country. Experts widely predicted Rutgers's inclusion in the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament which was subsequently cancelled before the field was announced. [5] Additionally, this season marked the first time since 1979 that Rutgers basketball was ranked in the top 25 teams.[6]

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Scarlet Knights have appeared in the NCAA Tournament six times. Their combined record is 5–7.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1975		First Round	Louisville	L 78–91
1976		First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd Place Game	Princeton Connecticut VMI Michigan UCLA	W 54–53 W 93–79 W 91–75 L 70–86 L 92–106
1979	#6	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#3 Georgetown #10 St. John's	W 64–58 L 65–67
1983	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Southwest Louisiana #1 St. John's	W 60–53 L 55–66
1989	#13	First Round	#4 Iowa	L 73–87
1991	#9	First Round	#8 Arizona State	L 76–79

NIT results

The Scarlet Knights have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 14 times. Their combined record is 16–14.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1967	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Utah State New Mexico Southern Illinois Marshall	W 78–76 W 65–60 L 70–79 W 93–76
1969	First Round	Tennessee	L 51–67
1973	First Round	Minnesota	L 59–68
1974	First Round	Utah	L 89–102
1977	First Round	St. Bonaventure	L 77–79
1978	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Army Indiana State Texas Georgetown	W 72–70 W 57–56 L 76–96 W 85–72
1982	First Round Second Round	Iona Purdue	W 55–51 L 65–98
1990	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Holy Cross Fordham Penn State	W 87–78 W 81–74 L 55–58
1992	First Round Second Round	James Madison Manhattan	W 73–69 L 61–62
1999	First Round Second Round	Hofstra Clemson	W 58–45 L 68–78
2000	First Round	Kent State	L 62–73
2002	First Round	Yale	L 65–67
2004	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Temple West Virginia Villanova Iowa State Michigan	W 76–71 W 67–64 W 72–60 W 84–81 L 55–62
2006	Opening Round First Round	Penn State Saint Joseph's	W 76–71 L 62–71

Seasons

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Tom Young (Independent) (1973–1976)
1973–1974	Rutgers	18–9			NIT First Round
1974–1975	Rutgers	22–7		1st ECAC Metro	NCAA First Round
1975–1976	Rutgers	31–2		1st ECAC Metro	NCAA Final Four
Tom Young:		71–18
Tom Young (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1976–1985)
1976–1977	Rutgers	18–10	7–1	1st	NIT First Round
1977–1978	Rutgers	24–7	7–3	1st	NIT Semifinals
1978–1979	Rutgers	22–9	7–3	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1979–1980	Rutgers	14–14	7–3	1st
1980–1981	Rutgers	16–14	7–6	5th
1981–1982	Rutgers	20–10	9–5	2nd	NIT Second Round
1982–1983	Rutgers	23–8	11–3	T-1st	NCAA Second Round
1983–1984	Rutgers	15–13	9–9	6th
1984–1985	Rutgers	16–14	9–9	4th
Tom Young:		168–99	73–42
Craig Littlepage (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1985–1988)
1985–1986	Rutgers	8–21	2–16	10th
1986–1987	Rutgers	8–20	5–13	9th
1987–1988	Rutgers	7–22	3–15	10th
Craig Littlepage:		23–63	10–44
Bob Wenzel (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1988–1995)
1988–1989	Rutgers	18–13	13–5	3rd	NCAA First Round
1989–1990	Rutgers	18–17	11–7	3rd	NIT Quarterfinals
1990–1991	Rutgers	19–10	14–4	1st	NCAA First Round
1991–1992	Rutgers	16–15	6–10	6th	NIT Second Round
1992–1993	Rutgers	13–15	6–8	7th
1993–1994	Rutgers	11–16	6–10	7th
1994–1995	Rutgers	13–15	7–9	6th
Bob Wenzel:		108–101	63–53
Bob Wenzel (Big East Conference) (1995–1997)
1995–1996	Rutgers	9–18	6–12	10th
1996–1997	Rutgers	11–16	5–13	13th
Bob Wenzel:		20–34	11–25
Kevin Bannon (Big East Conference) (1997–2001)
1997–1998	Rutgers	14–15	6–12	12th
1998–1999	Rutgers	19–13	9–9	6th	NIT Second Round
1999–2000	Rutgers	15–16	6–10	10th	NIT First Round
2000–2001	Rutgers	11–16	3–13	13th
Kevin Bannon:		59–60	24–44
Gary Waters (Big East Conference) (2001–2006)
2001–2002	Rutgers	18–13	8–8	5th	NIT First Round
2002–2003	Rutgers	12–16	4–12	7th
2003–2004	Rutgers	20–13	7–9	9th	NIT Runner Up
2004–2005	Rutgers	10–19	2–14	12th
2005–2006	Rutgers	19–14	7–9	10th	NIT First Round
Gary Waters:		79–75	28–52
Fred Hill (Big East Conference) (2006–2010)
2006–2007	Rutgers	10–19	3–13	T-14th
2007–2008	Rutgers	11–20	3–15	T-15th
2008–2009	Rutgers	11–21	2–16	15th
2009–2010	Rutgers	15–17	5–13	14th
Fred Hill:		57–77	13–57
Mike Rice Jr. (Big East Conference) (2010–2013)
2010–2011	Rutgers	15–17	5–13	13th
2011–2012	Rutgers	14–18	6–12	T-13th
2012–2013	Rutgers	15–16	5–13	12th
Mike Rice Jr.:		44–51	16–38
Eddie Jordan (American Athletic Conference) (2013–2014)
2013–2014	Rutgers	12–21	5–13	7th
Eddie Jordan (Big Ten Conference) (2014–2016)
2014–2015	Rutgers	10–22	2–16	14th
2015–2016	Rutgers	7–25	1–17	14th
Eddie Jordan:		29–68	5–13 (AAC) 3–33 (B10)
Steve Pikiell (Big Ten Conference) (2016–present)
2016–2017	Rutgers	15–17	3–15	14th
2017–2018	Rutgers	15–19	3–15	14th
2018–2019	Rutgers	14–17	7–13	12th
2019–2020	Rutgers	20–11	11–9	T-5th	No postseason held
2020–2021	Rutgers	6–1	2-1	T-2nd	TBD
Steve Pikiell:		69–65	25–53
Total:
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Retired numbers

Three Rutgers players have had their numbers retired:[7]

No.	Player	Years
Rutgers Scarlet Knights retired numbers
12	Phil Sellers	1972–1976
14	Bob Lloyd	1964–1967
20	James Bailey	1975–1979

Players in international competition

Steve Kaplan, American-Israeli basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League

References

Rutgers Men's Basketball History, 22 December 2020.
"Colors | Visual Identity System". Retrieved April 6, 2017.
1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament Archived 2008-01-19 at the Wayback Machine at shrpsports.com, accessed 29 December 2006.
The Guardian, Rutgers' firing of coach Mike Rice exposes a toxic locker-room culture, 3 April 2013.
NCCA.com, .
ESPN, .
Rutgers Men’s Basketball Media Guide (PDF), 2020 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Men’s Basketball Media Guide”, Rutgers Sports Information Department, Pages 92–94.

External links

Official website

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Rutgers Men's Basketball History, 22 December 2020.

[2] "Colors | Visual Identity System". Retrieved April 6, 2017.

[3] 1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament Archived 2008-01-19 at the Wayback Machine at shrpsports.com, accessed 29 December 2006.

[4] The Guardian, Rutgers' firing of coach Mike Rice exposes a toxic locker-room culture, 3 April 2013.

[5] NCCA.com, .

[6] ESPN, .

[7] Rutgers Men’s Basketball Media Guide (PDF), 2020 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Men’s Basketball Media Guide”, Rutgers Sports Information Department, Pages 92–94.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball
Venues	Original College Avenue Gymnasium (1906–1931) College Avenue Gymnasium (1931–1977) Rutgers Athletic Center (1977–present)
Rivalries	Princeton
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Big Ten Conference men's basketball
Teams	Illinois Fighting Illini Indiana Hoosiers Iowa Hawkeyes Maryland Terrapins Michigan Wolverines Michigan State Spartans Minnesota Golden Gophers Nebraska Cornhuskers Northwestern Wildcats Ohio State Buckeyes Penn State Nittany Lions Purdue Boilermakers Rutgers Scarlet Knights Wisconsin Badgers
Championships & awards	Regular season champions Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Coach of the Year Player of the Year Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball (defunct)
Seasons	1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21