Rutgers Basketball officially kicked off practices this week as they prepare for the highly anticipated 2024-25 season. On Tuesday afternoon, the program hosted their annual Media Day event and The Knight Report was on the scene.

With that being said, let's dive right in to some of the highlights from the practice.

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– Entire team looks a lot more athletic and in better shape compared to the summer time. Two names specifically that look better are PJ Hayes and Zach Martini, the two have slimmed down quite a bit. Also Emmanuel Ogbole looks like he’s in better shape as well, he’s always been muscular, but he is just able to get up and down the court much better.

- The free throw shooting was another question mark for this team as they ran a pressure drill from the charity stripe and it took them about 10 tries to hit two free throws in a row. Something to monitor this season.

– Five on five drills were pretty interesting today, as the defense for both teams won the day, which is no surprise when it comes to a Steve Pikiell coached team.