2009-2010 Preview, Rutgers News

2009-2010 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 12) RUTGERS

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There was a lot of hemming and hawing done when crafting this season’s Big East preseason countdown of the 16 teams. One perplexing team was the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and when the Big East coaches poll was released placing Fred Hill’s squad 15th, I really began wondering if I had this team too high.

One thing is certain, it is time for Fred Hill to show us something, anything, to indicate he has the program headed in the right direction. Hill enters his fourth season as the RU head coach and the first reporting to a new boss as Tim Pernetti was named Rutgers’ sixth Director of Intercollegiate of Athletics on February 26, 2009.

With a coaching record of 8-45 in Big East conference games (including last year’s Big East Tournament loss), it has taken three full years for Hill to win as many Big East contests as predecessor Gary Waters did in his final season (2005-2006) when RU went 8-10 and advanced to the second round of the NIT Tournament.

In a bit of irony, the 2005-2006 basketball season saw Seton Hall make the NCAA Tournament and the Scarlet Knights play into the NIT, and then both let their coaches go after the season. Neither has been back to the post-season since. While the Pirates under, Bobby Gonzalez, are seriously entertaining NCAA hopes in 2009-2010, even Fred Hill is not that optimistic for his squad this year.

“Now that we’ve been through it for three years my sense is that we’re much closer,” Hill recently told Jerry Carino of the excellent Hoops Haven blog on making the NCAA Tournament . “I think that’s a very realistic goal now in the next two seasons.”

Coming off a two-win conference season in 2008-2009, and expectations of another lower-third finish this year, a trip to the NCAA Tournament in the next two years is quite an aggressive goal. However, for a coach that must show progress and results in a hurry, it might be more of an ultimatum for the security of his job.

Fred Hill made some early news in his coaching tenure with Rutgers by securing a commitment from Newark (NJ) shooting guard Corey Chandler while an assistant to Gary Watters and then by adding McDonald’s All-American Mike Rosario and the highly regarded Greg Echenique in the 2008 class. However, the 11-21 disaster of 2008-2009 has quickly diminished any recruiting momentum Hill had gained and his recruiting acumen in his home state, a major reason he was promoted to head coach despite any previous head coaching experience at the 1-A level, is quickly disappearing.

2009-2010 Outlook

It was, to be honest, a tumultuous offseason for Fred Hill and the Rutgers program. While his job never seemed to be in jeopardy despite three straight losing seasons, there was a coaching staff re-organization that ruffled some feathers in the fertile recruiting grounds of NYC/NJ and a messy separation with former prized Hill recruit Corey Chandler that has also done some damage to the local recruiting ties. Also transferring was useful, and versatile, guard Earl Pettis. Now, just one senior returns in 2009-2010 on a roster of just 11 scholarship players that had to add three late spring signees to get to that number, things are not expected to get significantly better this year. A strong sophomore class definitely has promise and that is where the hope is in 2009-2010.

The Frontcourt

One of those highly regarded sophomores is 6-foot-9, 265-lb Venezuelan native Greg Echenique. Fred Hill pulled out a major recruiting victory when the St. Benedict’s product picked RU over heavy interest from programs such as Duke, Villanova, Pittsburgh and many others. As a freshman Echenique averaged 8.4 points and 8.6 rebounds a game. For Rutgers to improve and eclipse expectations this season, Echenique will need to take a major step forward in production, which will call for his teammates to better understand getting him involved and for him to be more aggressive in establishing position in the paint against Big East big men.

“He’s got to be a little more aggressive offensively,” Hill told Carino in a preseason Q&A this month. “Last year he averaged eight and eight. We’re hoping quite honestly he can average a double-double for us this year.”

Joining Echenique in the paint is senior Hamady N’Diaye, an athletic, but still offensively raw, 6-foot-11, 235-lb senior center. N’Diaye averaged about 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks a game, usually starting alongside Echenique in the paint. While his playing time remained consistent in league play, his numbers decreased drastically. It is expected N’Diaye will play a reserve role as a senior.

The player RU is also expecting a lot of help from this year is Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell. Named as a preseason 2nd team 2008-2009 Impact Transfer by the NBE Basketball Report, the Mount Vernon (NY) native hopes to add consistency to a position that has hurt RU for a long time. Mitchell comes closer to home and reunites with former high school teammate Mike Coburn on the Rutgers roster. Mitchell appeared in 35 games as a sophomore, averaging 3 points in 11 minutes of action. The 6-foot-7, 225-lb forward earned a championship ring as a freshman with the Florida Gators.

Also backing up the frontcourt positions will be 6-foot-8 freshman Austin Johnson and 7-foot classmate Brian Okam. A hard-worker, Johnson is not likely to make a major impact as a freshman, but should develop into a solid role player throughout his career at RU. Okam, who originally hails from Nigeria, spent a season under the tutelage of Jeff Turner at Lake Highland (FL). Turner was a former all-SEC player at Vanderbilt University and a member of the 1984 gold medal winning USA Basketball team.

“His size and physical strength are a big plus,” Turner previous told NBE when asked about the impact Okam will have in the Big East in the future. “I think he could add another 20 pounds to his frame! As I said before, he is a true center which, from watching the Big East this season, seems like a must to be competitive. He needs to play to improve which is something he has not had the opportunity to do, unfortunately, but I believe he will improve quickly when he gets that chance. It’s up to him!”

The small forward position is an interesting one as well. Sophomore Patrick Jackson, widely regarded as a non-stop worker, was buried on the bench for much of the season a year ago. The NYC native appeared in just 17 of the 32 games and scored one field goal from the field all year (he was 8-10 from the line), yet, when the team took a trip this offseason to the Canary Islands to play a series of exhibition games, reports came back on how impressive Jackson was time and time again. The 6-foot-6, 195-lb wing is a tough New Yorker that should be able to provide a scoring touch to a team that desperately needs it.

Also in the mix at small forward is do-everything freshman Dane Miller, a 6-foot-7 native of Rochester (NY). Miller can play inside and out, handle and pass, and expectations are high for him in his RU career. Miller does not possess the perimeter shooting skills that Jackson potentially has, but the duo could develop into an effective tandem at the small forward position for RU.

The Backcourt

The Rutgers backcourt is home to sophomore Mike Rosario who burst on the scene for the Scarlet Knights last season following a McDonald’s All-American at Jersey City (NJ) St. Anthony’s under legendary coach Bob Hurley. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard averaged a team-high 16.2 points a game last season. He definitely showed the ability to shoot the Scarlet Knights into almost any contest, but evidenced by his 27% three-point shooting percentage in 18 league games (37% overall from the floor in conference contests), Rosario could also shoot the Knights out of a game as they relied almost solely on him for their offense.

“Mike should shoot the ball better percentage-wise, he should have a better shot selection, and we’re looking for him to get to the free-throw line more often, to be more aggressive to the basket,” coach Hill told Jerry Carino in the above referenced Q&A prior to the season’s opening practice.

The loss of would-be juniors Corey Chandler and Earl Pettis sap the backcourt of depth and much of it’s experience. Both players could play, and defend, multiple positions in the backcourt. Chandler had some well documented off-court problems with the program and was dismissed late in the summer. Pettis opted to move on for a bigger role at the mid-major level, although in light of Chandler’s departure, a bigger role might have been found right at RU had he stayed.

Fred Hill also had a year-long quest to find a point guard to add to the mix. It took into the summer before Miami-Dade College point guard James Beatty ended up making a college decision and much to the relief of the RU staff, he chose Rutgers.

“James is a very good player and does a great job of running a team,” Beatty’s coach at Miami Dade, Matt Eisele, told NBE last June. “He does so many little things to help a team win.”

Helping a team win and understanding that offense needs to be ran from the inside out more often are traits the Scarlet Knights will very much need to improve upon in 2009-2010. Beatty, a native of Wilmington (NC), set a Miami-Dade school record with 16 assists in a game and finished the 2008-2009 season averaging 13.4 Points, 7.9 Assists, and 2.7 Steals per game. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound point guard also shot 39% from three-point range.

Also returning for his junior season in the backcourt mix is Jonathan Mitchell’s former Mount Vernon (NY) High School teammate Mike Coburn. As a sophomore, Coburn seemed to fall out of favor with the coaching staff and saw limited opportunity as the season wore on. He had a productive freshman season but was unable to build positively upon that last season. In a very thin backcourt, which will also include Kosovo native Muhamed Husani, Coburn will likely be called upon to fill the role of the third guard.

Husani was added to the roster not long after Chandler was removed. He played for the national team in Kosovo and RU took a no-risk flier on a player they saw a few times on tape. It will be interesting to see what type of impact he has on the program once he gets acclimated to American basketball.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the clock is running out on Fred Hill to make Rutgers competitive in the Big East. Following a step-back in 2008-2009 the pressure will be on for the Scarlet Knights to show significant improvement. Hill seems to be asking for two years to show the direction the program is moving since they have just one senior this season, but a big start in a move up in the standings better begin in the 09-10 season.

However, that step up is going to be tough. RU is thin in experience all around and the backcourt, outside of Rosario, is largely untested at this level. There seems to have been some turmoil with coaching and player changes that leads to additional questions about the future direction of the program. Still, this team does have some pieces, but in year #4 of a coaching tenure, there is an expectation of much more to be in place.

2009-2010 Big East Prediction: 6-12

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