Rutgers basketball recently had a major renaissance under Steve Pikiell’s leadership, appearing in the NCAA Tournament in both 2021 and 2022 before being on the wrong side of the bubble in 2023. Since then, things have not gone as smoothly for a Scarlet Knights program that has underwhelmed with some impressive talent and is fresh off a 14th place season in the Big Ten.
Retooling needed
Whether or not you consider this good news from a 14-win team, Rutgers will return a number of players from last season, with five of them averaging at least 5 points per game. The highlight is clearly Tariq Francis, who put up 17.0 points per game in his junior year and remains a focal point in the Rutgers backcourt. Darren Buchanan and Jamichael Davis are back as seniors as well while Angelino Mark could see a major jump in his production heading into year two of his career.
A relatively young roster gets a little older this offseason and most of the new additions are coming to Piscataway through the transfer portal. RaSheed Jones put up great numbers at Coastal Carolina and is the smallest addition at 6-6, while Darin Smith was NEC Player of the Year with Central Connecticut and has a real chance to blossom into a starring role. It’ll be interesting to see Will Sydnor back on the court after sitting out last season at Manhattan alongside 7-footer Dorin Buca, who didn’t get a ton of run at Kansas State.
All about Gurdak
The fifth and final name in that transfer class is the one we’re deep diving into in Christian Gurdak. He’s a 6-10 center from West Virginia who just spent his first collegiate campaign in the ACCC at Virginia Tech. Gurdak showed signs of potential, averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while starting a handful of games for the Hokies.
Gurdak’s importance stems from the positional need with the Scarlet Knight, who are really depending on him becoming reliable at the 5. There’s every possibility with his size and frame that he can take that next step forward in a bigger role, though we’ll see how he handles life in the Big Ten. Rutgers does have some insurance at center in Buca but Gurdak certainly looks like the more complete player at this point.
If he can take a measured step forward into his sophomore season, there’s potential for Gurdak to be a special talent here. The success of the Scarlet Knights will likely depend on Francis and what his senior seasons look like but we couldn’t ignore those holes in the frontcourt. On paper, Gurdak nicely fills that major hole under the basket but it’s all about execution if the Scarlet Knights want to crawl back into Big Ten contention.
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