# 2016–17 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights, led by first-year head coach Steve Pikiell, played their home games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey as third-year members of the Big Ten Conference.
They finished the season 15–18, 3–15 in Big Ten play to finish in last place. As the No. 14 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Ohio State in the first round, marking their first ever Big Ten tournament win. However, they lost to Northwestern in the second round.
The Knights began the season 6–0 for the first time since 1975. On February 4, 2017, with a win at Penn State, Rutgers got its first ever road win in Big Ten play.

## Previous season

The Scarlet Knights finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 7–25, 1–17 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in conference. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to Nebraska.
On March 20, 2016, the school fired head coach Eddie Jordan after three years at Rutgers. On March 19, the school hired Steve Pikiell, former head coach at Stony Brook, as head coach.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| D. J. Foreman | 1 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Sophomore | Spring Valley, NY | Transferred to Saint Louis |
| Bishop Daniels | 2 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Raleigh, NC | Graduated |
| Justin Goode | 10 | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS Freshman | Daleville, VA | Transferred to Broward College |
| Jalen Hyde | 23 | G | 5'8" | 165 | Senior | Somerset, NJ | Walk-on; graduated |
| Omari Grier | 31 | G | 6'4" | 180 | RS Senior | Erial, NJ | Graduated |
| Greg Lewis | 35 | F/C | 6'9" | 240 | RS Senior | Baltimore, MD | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Candido Sa | 21 | F | 6'9" | 215 | Junior | Lisbon, Portugal | Junior college transfer from San Jacinto College |
| C. J. Gettys | 50 | C | 7'0" | 275 | RS Senior | Findlay, OH | Transferred from UNC Wilmington. Will be eligible to play immediately since Gettys graduated from UNC Wilmington. |

## 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Issa Thiam #35 SF | Jacksonville, FL | Arlington Country Day School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Feb 1, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Matt Bullock #86 PF | Elizabeth, NJ | Roselle Catholic High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Mar 26, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Eugene Omoruyi SF | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Orangeville Prep | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Aug 2, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Future recruits
### 2017–18 team recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Geo Baker CG | Boston, MA | Proctor Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Jul 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Souf Mensah PG | Nantes, France | Marshalltown Community College | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Jan 5, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 2, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | | Molloy | W 86–57 | 1–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,755) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 13, 2016* 4:00 pm, BTN | | Drexel Scarlet Knight Showcase | W 87–66 | 2–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,056) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 17, 2016* 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 66–59 | 3–0 | Allstate Arena (4,057) Rosemont, IL |
| Nov 20, 2016* 12:00 pm, BTN | | Niagara Scarlet Knight Showcase | W 78–65 | 4–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,572) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 23, 2016* 7:30 pm, BTN+ | | North Texas Scarlet Knight Showcase | W 66–53 | 5–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,351) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 25, 2016* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Hartford Scarlet Knight Showcase | W 77–75 | 6–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,028) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 30, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Miami (FL) ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 61–73 | 6–1 | Watsco Center (7,064) Coral Gables, FL |
| Dec 3, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | | Morgan State | W 72–58 | 7–1 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,081) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 6, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Central Connecticut | W 79–37 | 8–1 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,811) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 10, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stony Brook | W 71–66 | 9–1 | Island Federal Credit Union Arena (4,009) Stony Brook, NY |
| Dec 14, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 82–69 | 10–1 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,635) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 18, 2016* 1:00 pm | | vs. Fordham Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival | W 68–53 | 11–1 | Madison Square Garden (8,200) New York City, NY |
| Dec 23, 2016* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at Seton Hall Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic | L 61–72 | 11–2 | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Dec 27, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 14 Wisconsin | L 52–72 | 11–3 (0–1) | Kohl Center (17,287) Wisconsin, WI |
| Jan 1, 2017 2:30 pm, ESPNU | | Penn State | L 47–60 | 11–4 (0–2) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,079) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 4, 2017 6:30 pm, BTN | | at Michigan State | L 65–93 | 11–5 (0–3) | Breslin Center (17,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Jan 8, 2017 4:30 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | L 62–68 | 11–6 (0–4) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,347) Iowa, IA |
| Jan 12, 2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Northwestern | L 60–69 | 11–7 (0–5) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,723) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 15, 2017 12:00 pm, BTN | | at Indiana | L 57–76 | 11–8 (0–6) | Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 21, 2017 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Nebraska | W 65–64 | 12–8 (1–6) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,294) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 24, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 22 Maryland | L 55–67 | 12–9 (1–7) | Xfinity Center (17,950) College Park, MD |
| Jan 28, 2017 12:00 pm, BTN | | vs. No. 15 Wisconsin B1G Super Saturday | L 54–61 $^{OT}$ | 12–10 (1–8) | Madison Square Garden (8,531) New York City, NY |
| Jan 31, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | Iowa | L 63–83 | 12–11 (1–9) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,389) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 4, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Penn State | W 70–68 | 13–11 (2–9) | Bryce Jordan Center (9,529) University Park, PA |
| Feb 8, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Ohio State | L 64–70 | 13–12 (2–10) | Value City Arena (11,077) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 11, 2017 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Minnesota | L 63–72 | 13–13 (2–11) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,008) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 14, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 16 Purdue | L 55–74 | 13–14 (2–12) | Mackey Arena (14,534) West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 18, 2017 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Northwestern | L 65–69 | 13–15 (2–13) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| Feb 22, 2017 6:30 pm, BTN | | Michigan | L 64–68 | 13–16 (2–14) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,369) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 28, 2017 6:30 pm, BTN | | Maryland | L 59–79 | 13–17 (2–15) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,017) Piscataway, NJ |
| Mar 4, 2017 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Illinois | W 62–59 | 14–17 (3–15) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,706) Piscataway, NJ |
| Big Ten Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2017 4:30 pm, BTN | (14) | vs. (11) Ohio State First round | W 66–57 | 15–17 | Verizon Center Washington, D.C. |
| Mar 9, 2017 8:30 pm, BTN | (14) | vs. (6) Northwestern Second round | L 61-83 | 15–18 | Verizon Center (12,408) Washington, D.C. |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||