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Rutgers Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Scarlet Knights

By Holden Walter-Warner

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Head coach Pikiell of Rutgers. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Head coach Pikiell of Rutgers. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 01: Corey Sanders #3 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights celebrates with teammates after dunking the ball in the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers during the second round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2018 in New York City (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 01: Corey Sanders #3 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights celebrates with teammates after dunking the ball in the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers during the second round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2018 in New York City (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Rutgers Basketball has served as the doormat of the Big Ten since joining the conference. Is 2019-20 the year that finally changes?

It’s a trying time to be a fan of the Rutgers Basketball and Scarlet Knights athletics in general. C. Vivian Stringer’s run as women’s basketball coach is closer to the end than the beginning. The football team has already fired its head coach.

And the men’s basketball team continues an eternal quest for solid ground.

Last year brought some progress to the program. The team only won 14 games overall, but half of those came in Big Ten play, easily the most the Scarlet Knights have won in conference play since joining the league in 2014-15. Rutgers has only sported a .500 or better record in conference play once since the turn of the century.

It would be too optimistic to say the Scarlet Knights will notch that second .500 season in 2019-20. There are promising pieces on the roster, including the arrival of a coveted point guard prospect. But all of the team’s departures from a year ago are significant.

Center Shaquille Doorson graduated. Forward Eugene Omoruyi stunningly transferred across the country to Oregon. And forward Issa Thiam was dismissed from the team after his arrest in March for an alleged domestic violence incident.

Fans in Piscataway will nevertheless expect more progress in Steve Pikiell’s fourth season at Rutgers. No coach has reached a fifth season at Rutgers since Gary Waters in 2005-06 (his last season at Rutgers), which is coincidentally the last year the Scarlet Knights have played in the postseason.

Here’s a full season preview for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in 2019-20.

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