3/16/2023 basketball Edit

Steve Pikiell sadly bids farewell to McConnell, maybe others

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

The press conference was 26 minutes long. Rutgers men’s basketball head coach Steve Pikiell and seniors Caleb McConnell and Paul Mulcahy would have sat in front of the microphones all night if they could get to spend more time together.

Tears flowed. Voices cracked. So much raw emotion filled the room.

The top-seeded Scarlet Knights had just fallen in overtime to Hofstra, 88-86, but the game itself was talked about for maybe a total of a single minute, and that’s even a stretch.

“These guys came to our program and we didn’t have a winning season four years ago,” Pikiell said trying to compose himself. “There were no sellouts, there was no practice facility. These guys have done nothing but win. We had four postseason bids. Caleb is the National Defensive Player of the Year. He came to me as a young kid who wasn’t quite sure of himself. He leaves here as our all-time leading steals guy. That record was forever with coach Jordan. He graduates. You guys have no idea. This kid has been in the training room. He’s had four surgeries and came in every day for five years. If you saw what I saw for five years. He’s unbelievable and couldn’t be more proud of him. He comes from a great family. He’s special and leaves here as one of the great winners and all-time great defenders. He’ll guard anybody.

“Paul came here and we didn’t have a winning record. In 32 years of coaching, no senior has ever given out gift certificates to managers, the band, and everybody. For him to be thinking of those things. He started his own foundation. He’s one of the leading assist guys in the country. He just wins. He’s had a broken nose, broken ribs, broken finger. You can only imagine. Paul graduated in three years and he’s in grad school.”

Pikiell finally broke when he looked up and spotted his son in the back. McConnell, Mulcahy and others became a family.

“They’re great kids,” Pikeill said. “I’m blessed to be here and blessed they took a chance. I wasn’t selling what we’re selling now. It wasn’t like this. We hadn’t had a winning season in a long time. We were 3-33 in the Big Ten. It takes someone to start it up. They fought through COVID. They did all the right things. One thing about coaching is how you see them grow and how they treat my son. I wish you guys could really understand. Blessed to do the job that I have. Thankful they all came back. We wanted to build a family. Geo (Baker) comes back, Ron (Harper Jr.) comes back, Myles (Johnson) comes back. Couldn’t be more proud. It wasn’t like that. That’s what makes a good basketball program. Very thankful.”

Pikiell and the coaches helped turn McConnell into a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and finalist for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Award. Pikiell dished out loving words to his players and McConnell gave it right back.

He also shared that two had rough moments throughout the years, but it was all with good intentions. McConnell opted to return to Rutgers for a fifth season instead of choosing to go elsewhere.

“It’s stuff I hear every day, so it’s nothing new. It just hurts more because it was my last game here. I just know the love we have for each other. It’s unbreakable,” said McConnell, who put his head down and cried earlier in the presser. “I talked about this with my dad and my family, the choices you make, sometimes they’re right or wrong. I could have gone to another school and played for another coach. I look back and this coach got fired or players transferred. I came here. Coach embraced me right away. We built a bond. The love has grown over the years. Me and him got into plenty of arguments. One time I hated him, but it’s all love. On and off the court, coach has our back and that goes for anybody who puts on a Rutgers jersey, even if it’s for one year or four. It’s amazing. I told (Athletic Director) Pat Hobbs he got the right coach for sure. Not every coach cares and can turn around a university and put it on a pedestal. Sometimes you guys (the media) blame Pike, but really it was our fault. Pike is one of my favorite coaches ever. He takes it all on the chin for us. The love goes deeper beyond basketball.”

Mulcahy, red in the face and sniffling, reflected on what Pikiell has meant to him.

“Pike’s the best coach in the country. He’s an incredible person,” Mulcahy said. “You play a year for him or however long, he’s got you for life. He believed in me when a lot of others didn’t. He’s taken a lot of heat because of me. He does it for everybody. He believes in all of us. He deserves all the things he worked for. He’s going to get us to higher places. I’m so thankful that I got to play for him. There’s a lot going on in college basketball, but he’s the best coach. I’m so grateful for him.”

McConnell is the lone senior on the roster who no doubt about it exhausted his eligibility. Mulcahy could return for a fifth year while Oskar Palmquist and Aundre Hyatt, two others who previously walked on Senior Night could be back, too.

From the sound of it, Mulcahy worded his comments in the past tense. However, it looked like McConnell was finished after his emotional press conference last year at this time in Dayton and he made his way back to Piscataway.

“Aundre Hyatt, same thing. He sacrificed. Oskar came from Sweden and didn’t play much. He stayed the course and kept working and graduated. We needed him this year and helped us and didn’t flinch. I’m thankful to Rutgers nation that came out to appreciate these guys,” Pikiell said. “We’re a player program. It’s about the players. I take the ‘L’s’. They win games and they win on and off the court. We had no success in the Big Ten before they arrived.

“I’m proud of them for how they handled themselves with class. They are all great examples and have huge shoes to fill. They’re the best, and when they got knocked down they got up. Huge thank you. Parents should be proud. They’re truly Scarlet Knights. I love them. I loved this whole team this year. I know we didn’t win enough games, but they’ve been unbelieve to coach. It’s sad I won’t be able to do that any more.”

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McConnell is proud of how he and his current and former teammates left the program. Rutgers nearly made the NCAA Tournament for the third -- or fourth depending if you count 2020-21 that never happened -- year in a row.

“This program is left in great hands,” he said. “He’ll get more great kids in here that will lay it all on the line. I’m excited to see what this program is going to be like, especially in his hands.”