Rutgers Scarlet Knights men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell has experienced tremendous success since being named the head coach in March of 2016.
Pikiell has gone 132-123 in his time in Piscataway and took the Scarlet Knights to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2021 and 2022, marking Rutgers’s first back-to-back trips to the Big Dance since the mid-1970s.
If Pikiell wants to return the Scarlet Knights to the promised land this season, he’ll likely rely heavily on freshmen standouts Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.
Unfortunately for Rutgers, the duo won’t get a chance to show what they can do. At least, not yet. The school announced Wednesday that Bailey would miss the season opener against the Wagner Seahawks with an injury he suffered in practice this week. His status is currently day-to-day.
Freshman guard Ace Bailey is out for tonight’s game against Wagner due to an injury in practice on Monday. Bailey will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis.#TheKnighthood🛡️⚔️ pic.twitter.com/6YoZT4PtWT
— Rutgers Men’s Basketball 🏀 (@RutgersMBB) November 6, 2024
Bailey is a projected top-five pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The big man from Georgia is the second-ranked player in the class of 2024 behind Duke phenom Cooper Flagg. He committed to the program at Rutgers in January 2023 over Texas, Memphis, Kansas, and a host of other schools.
The Scarlet Knights’ next game will be November 11 against the Saint Peter’s Peacocks.
