Everything about Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper is different from what Rutgers is accustomed to except the way they want to be coached.
Bailey and Harper, who are close friends and ranked second and third in the Class of 2024, shocked the college basketball world by summoning countless bluebloods to team up at Rutgers.
This is a one-shot with a program that has won one NCAA Tournament since 1984 and a defensive-minded coach in Steve Pikiell who has made a name for himself by turning overlooked rookies into chips and stars. It's an odd combination of two potential NBA lottery picks. their shoulders.
The key to that success is that Bailey, Harper and three other freshmen from the highest-rated freshman class in Rutgers history insist on being coached rigorously.
“I don't want to sugarcoat anything,” Bailey told the Post. “I don't want anything good handed to me. I want to work for it and earn it, and that's what He makes us do. That's what's authentic and true. I want it to be.”
Although Bailey was the first to commit, Harper's family ties and New Jersey roots, as well as NIL's independently garnered support, made this once-in-a-generation situation possible.
One of Pikiell's hidden gems was Ron Harper Jr., Dylan's older brother and star of the team that ended a 30-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2021.
Today's goal is much bigger.
“I keep changing the culture and narrative in the back of my mind, and I know I can win no matter where I am,” Dylan Harper said. “It doesn’t have to be all of these things. [same] school. Ace and I, along with the rest of our friends, are going to take the world by storm. ”
First things first.
Bailey and Harper skated the floor in recent practices and easily made plays for Wednesday's season opener against Wagner in Piscataway.
“You don't see dunks like this every day in Ivy League practice,” said Zach Martini, a 2023 transfer to Princeton's Sweet 16 team. “Ace has unwavering confidence and Dylan is a very good passer.” he quipped.
But there are no restrictions on Pikiell's movie sessions.
“Who doesn't want to be coached hard?” Harper said. “How would you feel good if someone was always telling you what you wanted to hear? We'd go to a photo session and he'd yell at us, but we'd say, I take it that he just wants us to get better. He wants to win just like we do.”
The practice audience regularly includes NBA scouts and general managers, one of whom showed up one week in a row, so it won't be easy for the teenager to shut down expectations.
“I don't mind outside noise,” Bailey said. “We know what we have and we’re trying to accomplish our goals, which is to focus on making each other better, winning the Big Ten and winning it all.”
Every home game since June has been sold out for a chance to see the dynamic duo and the more up-tempo brand of basketball that Pikiell has vowed.
“He's big enough to post up, but he can also isolate and he's very good in the pick-and-roll,” Pikiell said. “It was a fun exercise to run them with guys that complement their talent. They make passes off the ball as well. Sometimes I bring them in and say, 'Whoa, whoa, now You have to say, “It's time for you to score.'' ”
If Bailey and Harper can stay healthy, Rutgers will have a chance to score big in March.
Why Rutgers is in the NCAA Tournament
The talent level is the highest in Piscataway in decades. The four transfers fit around Harper and Bailey like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. On-ball defender (Jordan Delkac), sharpshooter (PJ Hayes IV), volume scorer (Tyson Acuff), former leader (Martini)). Gone are the days of trying to keep your score in the 50s and rack up wins.
Why Rutgers will miss the NCAA Tournament
How quickly can a team with nine rookies and three returning players gel? Something that non-blue bloods with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft have failed to do before (LSU's Ben Simmons , Washington's Markelle Fultz, Georgia's Anthony Edwards). The Big Ten is a solid, defensive-minded league. Rutgers may not be as good on that end of the floor.
3 important questions
Is the defense and rebounding good enough?
Emmanuel Ogbolu gets his first crack at center, replacing the transferred Cliff Omoruyi, one of the best shot blockers in the country. Freshman Lathan Somerville is waiting in the wings. Martini is only 6 feet 8 inches tall. “I don't like to sit in a room and keep thinking why I can't score,” Pikiell said. “I love thinking we have to improve defensively and rebounding.”
Can Rutgers survive in a fishbowl?
Stars get a lot of attention. The sports division has already pulled out of its apparel deal with Adidas, a move that coincides with the arrival of Nike-approved Harper and Bailey. Every game will be overanalyzed. Every slump widened. Of the 12 players in the rotation, only one (JaMichael Davis) lasted a full season at the high-major level to see what was in store. “Our youth helps us in that we have a contagious belief that our standards are not something to run away from, but something to be run from,” Martini said. .
What is Jeremiah Williams' role?
Unrealistically cast as the savior of a wayward 2023-24 season in which he was eligible following an NCAA suspension, Williams scored a team-high 12.2 points per game. He is serving as vice captain this season. But will he be willing to take an aggressive stance? “The three guys we brought back to the program were the toughest players we brought back,” Pikiell said of Williams, Davis and Ogbor.
X factor
PJ Hayes IV
The transfer to San Diego was the last player added to the roster. He started 32 games last season and made 73 3-pointers, hitting 39.7 percent. He came off the bench at Rutgers and made all seven shots (2 2, 2 3, 3 free throws) in the scrimmage against St. John's. “He's a spacing guy, a guy who gives Dylan and Ace room downhill,” Pikiell said.
Featured games
2nd place Las Vegas, Alabama (November 27th)
Often criticized for his lax non-conference scheduling, Pikiell has raised the bar to meet expectations. The second of three games at the Players Era Festival is a national statement opportunity against the Crimson Tide, who reached the Final Four in 2024 and then took Omoruyi in the portal. The tournament prize is a large NIL check.
Seton Hall (12/14)
The Garden State Hardwood Classic is a fiercely competitive event held each year. The defending NIT champions have modest expectations, but don't underestimate Seton Hall's desire to get all the preseason hype for Rutgers. The game will be broadcast for the first time on Fox. The past six meetings have been divisive, and spoilers often appear.
No. 22 UCLA (January 13)
In the new Big Ten, this game will be played four days after a matchup with preseason conference favorite Purdue and two weeks before a matchup with Michigan State (presumably at Madison Square Garden). But these programs hadn't played each other since Rutgers won in 1981. Most notably, they faced each other in the 1976 Final Four third-place match.
prediction
22 wins, 9 losses, 5th place in the Big Ten, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
For Rutgers to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1979 is the minimum requirement for this lottery to be considered a success. There's bound to be some ups and downs on a team full of freshmen, but one of the best home court advantages in the Big Ten should steady the ship.
