Rutgers star freshmen embracing Steve Pikiell’s tough coaching love
Everything about Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper is different than what Rutgers is used to except the way that they want to be coached.
Close friends Bailey and Harper — the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked recruits in the class of 2024 — sent shock waves through the college basketball landscape by spurning countless blue bloods to team up together at Rutgers.
It is an odd match of two potential one-and-done NBA lottery picks with a program that has one NCAA Tournament win since 1984 and a defensive-minded coach in Steve Pikiell who made his reputation on developing overlooked recruits into stars carrying a chip on their shoulder.
The key to making it work is that Bailey and Harper — along with three other freshmen in Rutgers’ highest-ever-rated recruiting class — say they want to be coached hard.
“I don’t want any sugarcoating,” Bailey told The Post. “I don’t want anything handed to me nice. I want to work for it and earn it, and that’s what he’s making us do. I want it to be real and loyal.”
Bailey committed first, but Harper’s family ties and New Jersey roots — plus independently earned NIL endorsements — made this once-in-a-generation situation possible.
One of Pikiell’s hidden gems was Ron Harper Jr., Dylan’s older brother and a star of the team that ended a 30-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2021.
The goals nowadays are much bigger.
“I have it in the back of my mind to change the culture and the narrative and know you can win anywhere,” Dylan Harper said. “It doesn’t have to be all these [same] schools. Me and Ace, coming in with the rest of our guys, we’re going to take the world by storm.”
First things first.
Bailey and Harper glided around the floor at a recent practice, making plays with ease leading up to Wednesday’s season opener against Wagner in Piscataway.
“You don’t see these types of dunks every day in practice in the Ivy League,” quipped transfer Zach Martini, a member of Princeton’s Sweet 16 team in 2023. “Ace has unwavering confidence and Dylan is such a great passer.”
But Pikiell’s film sessions are no-holds-barred.
“Who wouldn’t want to be coached hard?” Harper said. “If someone is telling you stuff you want to hear all the time, how are you going to get better? We go to film sessions and he’s yelling at us, but we take it as he just wants us to be better. He wants to win like us.”
It won’t be easy for the teenagers to block out expectations when the audience for practices regularly includes NBA scouts and general managers — one of whom showed up for a week straight.
“We aren’t worried about the outside noise,” Bailey said. “We know what we have and we’re trying to reach our goals: Focus on getting each other better, win the Big Ten and then win the whole thing.”
Every home game has been sold out since June for the chance to see the dynamic duo and what Pikiell vows is a more up-tempo brand of basketball.
“They are big enough to post up, yet I can iso them, yet they are really good in pick-and-rolls, too,” Pikiell said. “Moving them around with the guys that complement their talents has been a fun exercise. They pass the heck out of the ball, too. Sometimes I have to bring them in and say, ‘Whoa, whoa, it’s time for you to score now.’ ”
If Bailey and Harper stay healthy, it will be Rutgers with the chance to score big in March.
Why Rutgers will make the NCAA Tournament
The talent level is the best in Piscataway in decades. Four transfers fit around Harper and Bailey like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle: An on-ball defender (Jordan Derkack), a sharpshooter (PJ Hayes IV), a volume scorer (Tyson Acuff) a been-there-done-that leader (Martini). Gone are the days of trying to grind out wins by keeping scores in the 50s.
Why Rutgers will miss the NCAA Tournament
How quickly can a team with nine newcomers and three returners gel? Non-blue bloods with No. 1 overall NBA draft picks have failed before (see: Ben Simmons at LSU, Markelle Fultz at Washington and Anthony Edwards at Georgia). The Big Ten is a rugged, defensive-oriented league. Rutgers might fall short at that end of the floor.
3 Key Questions
Is there enough defense and rebounding?
Emmanuel Ogbole gets the first crack at center replacing one of the nation’s best shot blockers, outgoing transfer Cliff Omoruyi. Freshman Lathan Sommerville is waiting in the wings. Martini is only 6-foot-8. “I don’t love sitting in a room and trying to figure out why we can’t score,” Pikiell said. “I love figuring out we have to get better on the defensive end and rebounding.”
Can Rutgers live in a fish bowl?
Stars draw scrutiny. Already the athletic department is moving away from its apparel deal with Adidas — a move timed with the arrival of the Nike-endorsed Harper and Bailey. Every game will be overanalyzed. Every slump magnified. Only one of 12 rotation players has endured a full season at the high-major level (Jamichael Davis) to know what’s in store. “Our youth helps us in that we have this contagious belief that our standard is something we shouldn’t run from but run to,” Martini said.
What is Jeremiah Williams’ role?
Cast unrealistically as the savior for a wayward 2023-24 season when he became eligible after an NCAA suspension, Williams scored a team-high 12.2 points per game. He is a cocaptain this season. But is he going to willingly take an offensive back seat? “The three guys that we brought back in our program were our three toughest players,” Pikiell said of Williams, Davis and Ogbole.
X Factor
PJ Hayes IV
The San Diego transfer was the last player added to the roster. He knocked down 73 3-pointers at a 39.7 percent clip in 32 starts last season. Coming off Rutgers bench, he made all seven of his shots against St. John’s in a scrimmage (two 2s, two 3s, three free throws). “He is a spacing guy and a guy that gives Dylan and Ace room to go downhill,” Pikiell said.
Games to watch
No. 2 Alabama in Las Vegas (Nov. 27)
Often criticized for soft nonconference scheduling, Pikiell 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 went to the 2024 Final Four and then poached Omoruyi in the portal. The tournament prize is a big NIL check.
Seton Hall (Dec. 14)
The Garden State Hardwood Classic is an annual high-intensity rivalry. The defending NIT champions carry modest expectations, but don’t underestimate Seton Hall’s desire to upstage all of Rutgers’ preseason publicity. The game will air on Fox for the first time. The last six meetings were a split, and spoilers often emerge.
No. 22 UCLA (Jan. 13)
In the new-look Big Ten, this game comes four days after facing preseason conference favorite Purdue and two weeks before facing Michigan State (possibly at Madison Square Garden). But these programs haven’t met since a Rutgers win in 1981 — and most notably met in the 1976 Final Four third-place game.
Prediction
22-9, fifth place in Big Ten, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
Advancing to Rutgers’ first Sweet 16 since 1979 is a bare minimum for this lottery ticket to be considered a success. There will be bumps on the roller coaster ride, as is to be expected with any freshmen-driven team, but one of the best home-court advantages in the Big Ten should steady the ship.
