Point guard Tai Strickland lands Rutgers offer
Rutgers head men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell went down to Florida Thursday night to watch St. Petersburg guard Tai Strickland play in a first-round state tournament contest.
It was the second time the Scarlet Knights were in to watch Strickland — associate head coach Karl Hobbs watched him play in his district championship game last week — but it was Pikiell’s first time witnessing the three-star guard in action.
He liked what he saw from Strickland enough to offer the guard a scholarship the next night.
“It means a lot,” Strickland, who also sports offers from Wisconsin, Boston College and USF, said of his offer. “I’ve watched them play a little bit since they contacted me (two weeks ago) and they run a very guard friendly system. Corey Sanders and Geo Baker, they let them play so that’s something I would really like to look into. It’s a good situation.”
Pikiell’s teams thrive playing tough, hard-nosed basketball on both ends of the floor.
Those are the characteristics he saw in Strickland’s play Thursday night impressed him the most, Strickland said. The feeling goes both ways.
“He just loved my demeanor on the court,” Strickland said of Pikiell’s message to him. “He talked about my toughness. I was missing free throws in the first half and I went straight to the free throw line during halftime to work on it and I came back and I think I hit four of them in a row. It’s stuff like that he said will really take my game to the next level and the program to the next level …
“They preach toughness and working hard and that stuff I really pride myself in. I play hard, I play tough and that’s probably one of my signature abilities and that’s what really separates me from other people.”
Along with style of play, comfortability with the coaching staff is a major factor for Strickland when making his college decision.
While the interaction with the Rutgers coaching staff has been a recent development, it’s been positive.
“They’re great,” Strickland said of the Scarlet Knights’ coaching staff. “I want someone I’ll be comfortable playing with. Those coaches, they’re all former point guards, they went to UConn (Pikiell) and Pittsburgh (assistant coach Brandin Knight), so that’s another big (factor).”
With St. Petersburg team in the thick of the playoffs, Strickland is currently focused on the end of his high school basketball career. He plans on setting visits once the seasons comes to an end, with Piscataway among his priorities to see.
For now, Strickland is focused on winning — which Pikiell surely appreciates.
“I haven’t planned anything yet,” he said. “We’re in the playoffs so it’s really getting crunchtime. I’m really focused on getting to the state championship, getting a ring and after that, I’ll start planning visits.”