6/3/2020 basketball Edit

Steve Pikiell talks volunteer workouts/return to campus, start of season

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

The Rutgers men’s basketball team saw its remarkable season cut short thanks to COVID-19, and head coach Steve Pikiell, his staff, and the players have all been off campus and at home since the middle of March.

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Iching to return to Piscataway, Pikiell is hoping to return on June 22, which is when New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy ordered that sports activities can return with restrictions.

“From a basketball and pandemic standpoint, we are hoping to get our players back soon,” Pikiell said during a call on Monday. “The second summer session is expected to start back up soon on June 22nd. We are kind of targeting that date with our guys A, because it’s an academic start and B, I think the state is starting to open up. We had a great talk today with the governor and between Pat Hobbs and our governor. Their leadership has been really tremendous because there is no real playbook on how to attack these issues of the pandemic. We are in constant contact with our team doctor, putting together the steps to put our team back on campus and do it safely.”

While the Scarlet Knights won’t be practicing together as a team for some time, Pikiell hopes he can get a player or two together with him for workouts starting on that June 22 date, though they are voluntary, and the new RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center next to the RAC allows easier ability to do so outside.

“They are volunteer workouts,” Pikiell said. “We can work out one player. I'm hoping on July 1, which hasn't been established yet either, that they go back to eight hours with us, but maybe we can really adjust our numbers to whatever we need. We can actually push the weights outside, we have a window that opens. We have a lot more things available to us and our numbers are just going to be smaller. We may have 10 guys on campus. We can work out in groups of two, we could work out three, we can group work out in groups of one and I'm not so worried about contact right now. That's gonna have to come later. We can do things individually when there's no contact. We're gonna do everything that we can through the guidelines. But we can really shift our numbers around - we're not a football program with those kinds of numbers -- and we have plenty of room in our facility to make sure we lift weights in small numbers. I feel really good about that. I wouldn't feel as good if it was just the RAC, but I feel really good. We have way more space in our facility now. We have way more ways to workout outside and I hope that we can do some workouts outside.”

Once the coaches and players do finally come back to Rutgers, precautions will take place and so will constant testing and cleaning.

“Yeah, I mean we're gonna test them a lot. I mean we're still kind of working on details, I just know that it's going to be constant while they're there on campus. That's to keep everybody safe, especially our players and the staff too, and we are going to do a really good job of trying to keep them socially distancing,” Pikiell said. “There's going to be ways to come in the building, there's going to be temperature checks when you come in, you're going to have to fill out forms about how you feel today. Just a lot of different things from the cleaning of the basketballs to how many people will be in the weight room. We want to try to do a really good job and go to the nth degree to make sure nothing happens to our player so a lot of testing. A lot of structure to who comes in the building and when, and a lot of detail checking temperatures and knowing how they're feeling when they leave and when they get to campus. Having meetings outdoors, too.

“I think those are the nice things nowadays with the APC. We have an outdoor set up where we could have meetings in places that we didn't have in the past with the RAC. Our facility I feel now was well more equipped for dealing with this pandemic than the RAC would have been. So, I feel really good about that and the different things that we're putting in place to keep our guy safe. It's a continual thing. You have to remind them about their responsibilities, and what I like about my team is they are responsible.”

Safety is the utmost concern for Pikiell regarding his team, and he understands the worries from players and their parents one of his daughters, Brooke, plays on the Northwestern women’s basketball team and is in the same boat.

“I mean it really changes things because I look at everything from a coaching and from a parent lens. My daughter just went back to Chicago and that's why I'm very conscious of bringing kids back in as long as they want to and as long as we explain what the guidelines are getting them back to playing and getting them back to safety,” Pikiell said. “But I think being a parent and being a parent of a daughter who was recruited and my other daughter and son, who goes to Rutgers as a freshman -- he's looking forward to getting back to campus and getting back is like just as a regular student -- I see it firsthand and I think it helps me make decisions. I think that's been a good thing for me as I get older and I can use that as a tool how I approach things. It's the same way and I'll tell parents this all the time, my daughter goes away to school and I want to make sure she's safe. That's the number one thing for her and when she's not I want to know and I want her home. This is just new times for everybody and we're fighting a virus that no one can see, and it's not easy.”

Over the last few months, the players have shot hoops and worked out on the their own, though Van Dyke gave them a plan and the team is in touch with Pikiell all the time.

“We have calls every week with them. Coach Van Dyke's doing a really good job of trying to stay on top as best he can. I trust my players and that's a big part of this. I know they like to play and when I talk to them, they're out there shooting, they're working out with their parents or working out with one other person, or in a gym alone. They're doing stuff outdoors. They're finding ways to do pull ups and sit ups maybe. My guys like to work out,” Pikiell said. “Every day I get the text on the phone when is the APC open? Can I just go in there myself? I'm gonna workout outside today, but it's raining. I get those all the time. I'm hoping at some point in time we can get back into APC even if it's just one person working out and shooting. But those kinds of things and those decisions are made at a higher place than me. I am confident my guys are working.”

Workouts and getting back to campus are one thing, but what about the start of a much anticipated season? It’s still too early to tell, according to Pikiell.

“Like you guys I've heard everything. I don't really know if anyone has any idea,” Pikiell said. “I think it's a good thing that the NFL and NBA [and NHL] are starting back up. I think that's a good sign for college athletics, but I think they're gonna have to make decisions on football season before us. I've heard anything from pushing things back and then I heard we're starting on time. I don't think anyone quite knows that today on June 1.

“I think it's gonna be a change by the month as we get a little bit closer and get a better feel for everything. I've talked on these WebEx and Zoom calls and everyone talks and there's a lot of different models. I think until the states start opening up, until you know we have a real good control over this virus, I think you're gonna just continue to speculate on everything coming across the board. But we're counting on having a great season and I want to prepare that way. That's why I want to get my guys back to campus and get them back to what they kind of know.”

In 2019-20, Rutgers joined the AP Poll for the first time in 41 when it was ranked No. 24 on Jan. 20 and No. 25 on Jan. 27. It captured its first 20-win regular season in 37 years and first 20-win season overall since 2003-04. The Scarlet Knights, which were picked 12th in the preseason, ended up in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten and had the most conference wins (11) in 29 years. Rutgers sold out a record 10 games at the RAC, including the final nine of the regular season, notched four double-digit victories over ranked opponents, and ranked sixth nationally in defensive efficiency (90.6) and eighth in the country in field goal percentage defense (38.3). It also suffered just one Big Ten loss by double digits, which was tied for the fewest with Michigan State.

The Scarlet Knights tallied home-and-home series sweeps over Purdue and Nebraska after never having done so in Big ten play. They were four games over .500 in conference play (7-3) for the first time in 21 seasons, held opponents to 65 points or fewer in nine straight games, it’s longest such stretch in 70 years, and the 12-3 start to the year was its best through 15 games in 44 years.

Geo Baker earned Third Team All-Big Ten honors to become the first Rutgers player elected to a first, second, or third team since it joined the league in 2014-15. He was also the first Scarlet Knight ince 2006 to be named First Team All-Met. Ron Harper Jr. was selected to the Second Team All-Met and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten squads and Pikiell was awarded the 2019-20 Jim Phelan Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I coach.