Rutgers Basketball Head Coach Steve Pikiell talks with the media to recap his program's 75-52 win over Wagner to start the 2024-25 season.
JOIN TODAY AND GET 30 DAYS FREE! | THE ROUND TABLE FORUM | RUTGERS FOOTBALL 2025 RECRUITING CLASS | RUTGERS HOOPS RECRUITING
Opening statement: “It’s great to be back for year 9. I am thankful for Rutgers. I am thankful for an opportunity to coach these guys. The fans were awesome. It was great to see everybody today. I thought we did great. Our bench came and gave us a lift. We have a lot of work to do, but it’s a great start. The band, the cheerleaders, the dance team; they make this place rock and I appreciate it very much. I am looking forward to a great ninth year here on the banks”.
Coach on what he learned about his team today:
“Well, I say this every game. There’s a lot of obstacles. We had the Ace Bailey injury right before the game. The season is always very interesting, there’s nothing that you can predict in college basketball. So, we just try to go at it. From the last time we took the court, I thought our defense was much improved. We have to rebound better. We have to do a lot of things better. But, I have a lot more players to decide from. Our bench was outstanding tonight. Lathan (Sommerville) came in and gave us great minutes. PJ Hayes was amazing. Also, Jamichael (Davis) had 2 blocks, 5 assists, 0 turnovers and he guarded Wagner’s best player. We changed the pace of the game and Jamichael has done a great job. It was great to have Zach Martini out there. Jordan Dercack gave us a lot too. So, we’ve got some different combinations. Hopefully we get Ace (Bailey) back soon, it would give us another dimension”.
Dylan Harper on his first time playing at JMA:
“It was a dream come true to be honest. I remember coming here when I was little, watching my brother and all the other guys play. Now getting my chance to play in front of this crowd, in front of the Riot Squad, it is crazy and honestly a blessing”.
Coach Steve Pikiell on Dylan Harper’s Debut at JMA:
“It’s a blessing for me too. All of these guys came and took on the challenge that we put forth. They have a lot of choices nowadays in college athletics. They picked us. I’m proud Dylan (Harper) did, and the rest of our freshman class. But, Zach (Martini) Tyson (Acuff), all those guys picked us too. So, it’s great to have them. We saw today, Dylan (Harper) is multi-positioned, can do a lot on the court, and his best days are ahead of him too. So it’s an exciting thing for Dylan Harper”.
Lathan Sommerville on his Performance:
“I felt great, like Dylan said it’s a blessing to be able to play in this environment. It was great to play with my teammates; my brothers. I felt great out there, I tried to bring as much energy as I could, and just play as hard as I can”.
Coach Steve Pikiell on Lathan's Performance:
“Lathan (Sommerville)was rock solid from the beginning. He is improving every day. College is not an easy adjustment. He has lost weight, gotten into better shape. He’s learning he can do a lot more things. He can pass, he can rebound, his best days are ahead of him too. He’s got that new haircut which is going to keep him going too”.
Coach Steve Pikiell on his optimism going into this season:
“Every year is exciting in it’s own way. But, every year is challenging in it’s own way too. Quick reminder with Ace (Bailey) and the challenges that come during the season. Having guys ready is always a challenge. There's all new rosters. You don’t know how anyone is going to play together. But, I have a great staff. No one went into the portal, I’m excited that they’re back. These guys (Athletes) wanted to be here. They’ve done a really good job at working and we still got a long way to go. But, we’re excited about the season and how the fans showed up today. We’re going to continue to get better”.
Coach Pikiell on importance on having the veteran experience:
“It’s really important. Our blend of veterans and rookies, we have five freshmen playing for the first time and those [veteran] guys have been around a little bit. Tyson Acuff has been a good leader too with that group. Jordan’s been around. Martini, obviously, has been around, so to have PJ in that role, and he’s played some awesome basketball last year at San Diego. If you watched the films of him, he could really do a lot of things, and he’s improving too. He’s improving his defense, his rebounding, so I’m real pleased to have him, he gives us a real big time weapon, and we need that.
Coach Pikiell on Ace injury:
“Day-to-day. Got hurt in practice the other day and so precaution, we always want to make sure we take care of our guys, but day-to-day.”
Coach Pikiell on any specifics on the injury:
“It’s just an injury that he got during practice and I’m not anticipating this to be a long journey, but when he’s ready to play, we’ll play again. It’s a basketball injury.”
Coach Pikiell on how great is it to look down the bench and see the number of options you have and is it fun experimenting with lineups:
“These game minutes are really valuable. It’s hard to experiment sometimes when you’re trying to win every game, but to have options, and I’m going to have to plug them in the right places, but we can fight through injuries. We already proved that today. If we get in foul trouble, we have enough guys. Tyson Acuff, as he continues to improve his injury, he’s gonna be real viable, he’s the seventh leading scorer in the country, so he can do some things too. So it's nice to look down the bench and have options, it’s nice to look down the bench and have size, it’s nice to look down the bench and have guys that can get a bucket, and drivers, and the most important thing we got to continue to do is just share the game and get our defense up to snuff, and these guys have a chance to be really good defensively too. I’m excited about the options.”
Coach Pikiell on thoughts on the defense tonight:
“We had a stretch there where we were as good as you can do. 20-0 run, they didn’t score for 10 minutes I think was the minute mark, so improving. We got a long way to go in that area, we’ll break down film and that’s the other great part about this group. They learn and they try to incorporate what we’re teaching them, and film is a great teacher, and these guys are going to do a great job devouring that. And where can we go if we really devour film and these guys stay steadfast on being a good rebounding and defensive team? We could do a lot of things, and offensively I could do a lot of things with them too so it’s exciting to me.”
Coach Pikiell on most important play from Sommerville tonight:
“He’s an excellent passer but what I was most excited about was that he went up and grabbed eight rebounds, and he grabbed them in traffic too, so I like seeing those things but if he can rebound like that, he’s going to be in a good place. So I'm proud of him and how he attacked the rebounds today.”
Coach Pikiell on thoughts on rebounding overall:
“We got to offensive rebound better. That hurt us, but we’ve done a much better and I’ll watch the film, but we’re blocking out and we’re doing things that we didn’t do against St. John’s, so it’s a work in progress. Got to find a couple guys now. Ace is a guy who can get you 10-15 rebounds too, so we got to get him back in and add another weapon, but everyone’s got to do their job. I think we’re going to be more of a team rebounding. Dylan’s going to stick his nose in there, he’s going to get eight a couple times, [Martini] is as good a blockout guy as there is in the country. Jordan’s a good rebounder too so we got to put it all together and make sure teams aren’t getting second looks."
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
