NEW YORK — At some point, the best thing that Steve Pikiell can do for himself, his Rutgers program and this tortured fanbase is to level with everyone.
Maybe it was too early for that on Saturday afternoon. Rutgers had just lost to Michigan State, 81-74, in Madison Square Garden to fall to 10-10 on the season with 11 games left on the schedule. Barring a miracle, this team is not sniffing a meaningful basketball game in March, but the man in charge still has to hold it together for the next six weeks.
So, instead of something resembling an honest appraisal of this still-unfolding disaster, Pikiell fell back on Coachspeak 101.
This is his answer when I asked if he was shocked — as many observers (raises hand!) are right now — that the most anticipated team in recent Rutgers history is cratering toward the Big Ten basement with two NBA Draft lottery picks on the roster:
“I love Rutgers,” he said. “I’m so happy that these are the expectations that we have now. When I took over nine years ago, we were just trying to win one Big Ten game. Now we’re selling out, or close to selling out, Madison Square Garden. We’ve got a team that has a 3.2 GPA. We’ve taken them to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, would have been to a third, went to an NIT. I’m so proud of all those things.”
A quick interruption. This is a moment in college sports history when the athletes are paid, in some cases quite handsomely, to wear these uniforms. To even mention a team’s GPA is akin to marveling at the functionality of a transistor radio. It is an even more astonishing thing to brag about when a team has two one-and-done future pros. But let’s let him finish.
“Do I want to have more wins? We all do,” he said. “We want to be undefeated. But I’m just thankful. The Rutgers people have been awesome. I will tell you that. I get more great emails — ‘just keep fighting, coach’ — and we sell out Jersey Mike’s for every game. The season hasn’t gone exactly the way (we expected), but none of the nine seasons have gone exactly the way that I wanted it to. And we are in the best league in the country, from 1 to 18.
“You fight through the tough times, you get healthy, you can do some special things. We’re close. We’re close. (Michigan State) is the best team in the league, so we’re close.”
It was, as press conference answers go, a lot to digest.
Again, with a full month and a half left in the season, Pikiell can’t be completely honest. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt on that. But these comments sound like they’re coming from a coach who is in denial about this wreck of a season, and worse, someone ill-equipped to pull this program from its current two-season spiral.
This team is ... close?
Really?
Rutgers is now 3-6 in the Big Ten. Dylan Harper’s recent struggles with injuries and illness have robbed the team of its best playmaker, but the Scarlet Knights had carved losses to Kennesaw State and Princeton onto their resume long before that happened. Wins over UCLA and Nebraska offered some hope, but let’s be real about this team.
It has been a disappointment for months.
Pikiell can’t say that, of course, even if he believes it. Eventually, though, he should stop reciting his Rutgers resume — that lone NCAA Tournament victory, after all, is four years in the rearview mirror — and own up to his mistakes with this team and program.
He should acknowledge that he saw a once-in-a-career opportunity to grab two future NBA stars and went for it, even though he was never truly comfortable handing the keys to his program to a pair of teenagers and their agents.
He should admit that he failed in building a Big Ten-caliber roster around Harper and Ace Bailey in the transfer portal, dooming this team to its current fate long before the flaws became apparent against top competition.
Most of all, he should say these four words: I will make changes.
It was no surprise that Michigan State coach Tom Izzo heaped praise on Pikiell after Saturday’s game, calling him “one of the best coaches in the league” before he settled into his seat at his press conference. Fans can debate that statement — and, if you’re on social media, you know it is a never-ending topic — but coaching acumen isn’t the only issue here.
Pikiell needs to bring his program into the current times. He needs a general manager who can handle the portal and raise NIL funds. He needs an offensive-minded assistant coach who can breathe life into the team’s stagnant style of play. He has acknowledged, many times, that the game has changed. He hasn’t done a good enough job changing with it.
All that must happen this offseason. Rutgers has a few good building blocks on this roster and, once the House settlement allows direct payments to players, it will have the opportunity to add more. Pikiell is under contract through 2031. This marriage is not ending any time soon, and besides, plenty of fans still love and believe in the guy.
Pikiell needs to level with them. He’s certainly not doing himself any favors bragging about his team’s GPA as it craters toward the bottom of the Big Ten standings.
MORE FROM STEVE POLITI:
N.J. gymnast Livvy Dunne is leading a revolution in college sports
The untold story of how Rutgers crashed the Big Ten
How an ex-Rutgers athlete ended up charged with murder in Tijuana
I was a bird-flipping Little League menace — and it’s time to come clean
The search for Luther Wright, once N.J.’s greatest hoops talent
I played Augusta National and had my own Masters meltdown
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Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com.