During Portal Chaos, Rutgers Basketball Fans Hope for the Best

It’s the most anxious time of year for Rutgers fans: portal season. A season in which head coach Pikiell and staff raise the fanbase’s hopes that they will receive an influx of talent that will help the Scarlet Knights compete in the rugged Big Ten conference, a conference that reached new heights this past postseason, with four teams reaching the Elite Eight. When all was said and done, the Michigan Wolverines were crowned national champs, snapping a 26-year championship drought for the conference that dated back to Michigan State’s victory over the Florida Gators.

Needless to say, if Rutgers is going to have any chance to go toe to toe against the Big Ten’s best, they cannot afford another offseason of striking out looking as conference foes reload.

Last fall, the Scarlet faithful were cautiously optimistic, with coach Pikiell lauding the arrivals of European players Harun Zaron and Denis Badalau, as well as former five-star center Baye Fall and four-star guard Dorian Jones. All four have since entered the portal, with only transfer guard Darren Buchanan Jr. still listed on the team’s current roster. Buchanan’s intentions should be made clear this week, but needless to say, last year’s portal haul was a humongous flop.

The flop was expected by Andy Katz and other national pundits, predicting Rutgers would have to fight and claw to stay out of the Big Ten’s basement (thank you, Penn State), but Rutgers fans managed to channel some early-season hope that was quickly washed away by losses to Tennessee and Notre Dame during Thanksgiving week’s Players’ Era Tournament.

The real issue, though, is that many fans haven’t forgiven coach Pikiell and staff for blowing a generational opportunity with two one-and-done NBA lottery picks in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Rutgers needed to surround both players with top-tier veteran talent, but instead leaned on a front-court of inexperienced center Emmanuel Ogbole, freshman Lathan Sommerville, and freshman forward Dylan Grant. That led to a front court overwhelmed and overmatched by the size and athleticism of Big Ten opponents, putting Harper and Bailey in a position where they had to play hero ball and outscore opponents for the Knights to have a shot at victory.

Watching Harper’s rapid ascension as a premier young NBA point guard on a San Antonio Spurs squad that has a real shot to make the championships this season, has fans still rightuflly questioning why Pikiell and staff couldn’t bring in legitimate support from the portal. It’s hard to imagine that playing with two NBA lottery picks wouldn’t have been attractive to some of the top front-court talent available that offseason in the portal.