# 2023–24 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights were led by eighth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and played their home games at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for 12th place. As the No. 13 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost Maryland in the first round.

## Previous season

The Scarlet Knights finished the 2022–23 season 18–13, 10–10 in Big Ten play to finish a tie for ninth place. As the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Michigan in the quarterfinals before losing to Purdue in the quarterfinals. The Knights received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 1 seed. They were upset in the first round by Hofstra.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jalen Miller | 2 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Sophomore | Frederick, MD | Transferred to Oral Roberts |
| Paul Mulcahy | 4 | G | 6'6" | 213 | Senior | Bayonne, NJ | Graduate transferred to Washington |
| Cam Spencer | 10 | G | 6'4" | 207 | Senior | Davidsonville, MD | Graduate transferred to UConn |
| Dean Reiber | 21 | F | 6'10" | 225 | Junior | Greensboro, NC | Transferred to Charlotte |
| Caleb McConnell | 22 | G | 6'7" | 200 | RS Senior | Jacksonville, FL | Graduated |
| Andrew Fulin | 23 | F | 6'6" | 195 | Senior | Demarest, NJ | Walk-on; graduated |
| Logan Stephens | 30 | G | 6'2" | 197 | Sophomore | Decatur, GA | Walk-on; transferred to Tulane |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous college |
| Noah Fernandes | 2 | G | 5'11" | 180 | GS Senior | Mattapoisett, MA | UMass |
| Jacob Morales | 15 | F | 6'4" | 190 | Sophomore | Montvale, NJ | Walk-on; Springfield College |
| Emmanuel Ogbole | 22 | C | 6'10" | | Sophomore | Aune-Adoka, Nigeria | Monroe College |
| Austin Williams | 24 | G | 6'4' | 200 | GS Senior | Roseland, NJ | FIU |
| Jeremiah Williams | 25 | G | 6'4" | 177 | RS Junior | Chicago, IL | Iowa State |
| Zach Hayn | 53 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Walk-on; Hartwick College |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2023 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Gavin Griffiths #12 PF | West Hartford, CT | Kingswood-Oxford Wyverns High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 2, 2022 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Jamichael Davis PG | Powder Springs, GA | McEachern High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 155 lb (70 kg) | Jun 2, 2022 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 4, 2023. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 21, 2023* 2:00 p.m., – | | at St. John's Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Game | L 78–89 $^{2OT}$ | – | 16 – Davis | 9 – Omoruyi | 5 – Simpson | Carnesecca Arena (3,011) Queens, NY |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:00 p.m., Peacock | | vs. Princeton Rivalry | L 61–68 | 0–1 | 12 – Omoruyi | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | CURE Insurance Arena (6,103) Trenton, NJ |
| November 10, 2023* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Boston University | W 69–45 | 1–1 | 25 – Griffiths | 8 – Woolfolk | 5 – Simpson | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 12, 2023* 12:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Bryant | W 66–57 | 2–1 | 19 – Hyatt | 15 – Omoruyi | 4 – Simpson | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 15, 2023* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | Georgetown Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 71–60 | 3–1 | 15 – Simpson | 7 – Hyatt | 4 – Simpson | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 18, 2023* 6:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Howard | W 85–63 | 4–1 | 23 – Simpson | 14 – Omoruyi | 4 – Tied | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 27, 2023* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Saint Peter's | W 71–40 | 5–1 | 19 – Fernandes | 8 – Omoruyi | 4 – Davis | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 2, 2023 4:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 24 Illinois | L 58–76 | 5–2 (0–1) | 9 – Tied | 9 – Omoruyi | 3 – A. Williams | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 6, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Wake Forest | L 57–76 | 5–3 | 13 – Tied | 5 – Tied | 4 – Davis | LJVM Coliseum (7,692) Winston-Salem, NC |
| December 9, 2023* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Seton Hall Garden State Hardwood Classic | W 70–63 | 6–3 | 19 – Fernandes | 13 – Omoruyi | 6 – Davis | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| December 16, 2023* 1:00 p.m., B1G+ | | LIU | W 83–61 | 7–3 | 25 – Omoruyi | 12 – Hyatt | 4 – Fernandes | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 23, 2023* 12:00 p.m., BTN | | vs. Mississippi State Gotham Classic | L 60–70 | 7–4 | 18 – Hyatt | 6 – Hyatt | 6 – Simpson | Prudential Center (5,169) Newark, NJ |
| December 30, 2023* 12:00 p.m., BTN | | Stonehill | W 59–58 | 8–4 | 17 – Omoruyi | 17 – Omoruyi | 4 – Tied | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 3, 2024 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at Ohio State | L 72–76 | 8–5 (0–2) | 23 – Simpson | 10 – Hyatt | 2 – Tied | Value City Arena (10,614) Columbus, OH |
| January 6, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN | | at Iowa | L 77–86 | 8–6 (0–3) | 24 – Mag | 10 – Mag | 3 – Davis | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,273) Iowa City, IA |
| January 9, 2024 7:00 p.m., Peacock | | Indiana | W 66–57 | 9–6 (1–3) | 13 – Mag | 11 – Omoruyi | 4 – Mag | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 14, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN | | at Michigan State | L 55–73 | 9–7 (1–4) | 14 – Hyatt | 8 – Omoruyi | 3 – Tied | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| January 17, 2024 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Nebraska | W 87–82 $^{OT}$ | 10–7 (2–4) | 17 – Hyatt | 15 – Omoruyi | 8 – Simpson | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 21, 2024 1:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 14 Illinois | L 63–86 | 10–8 (2–5) | 22 – Omoruyi | 9 – Omoruyi | 2 – Tied | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| January 28, 2024 1:00 p.m., FOX | | No. 2 Purdue | L 60–68 | 10–9 (2–6) | 15 – Hyatt | 6 – Tied | 4 – Davis | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 31, 2024 8:30 p.m., BTN | | Penn State | L 46–61 | 10–10 (2–7) | 11 – Griffiths | 8 – Simpson | 3 – Tied | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 3, 2024 4:00 p.m., BTN | | at Michigan | W 69–59 | 11–10 (3–7) | 19 – Simpson | 11 – Omoruyi | 6 – Simpson | Crisler Center (11,863) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 6, 2024 6:30 p.m., BTN | | at Maryland | W 56–53 | 12–10 (4–7) | 15 – Mag | 5 – Tied | 3 – Simpson | Xfinity Center (12,866) College Park, MD |
| February 10, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 11 Wisconsin | W 78–56 | 13–10 (5–7) | 18 – J. Williams | 13 – Omoruyi | 7 – J. Williams | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 15, 2024 6:30 p.m., BTN | | Northwestern | W 63–60 | 14–10 (6–7) | 15 – J. Williams | 9 – Omoruyi | 5 – J. Williams | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 18, 2024 6:30 p.m., BTN | | at Minnesota | L 70–81 | 14–11 (6–8) | 19 – Tied | 8 – Omoruyi | 4 – Tied | Williams Arena (9,680) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 22, 2024 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 3 Purdue | L 68–96 | 14–12 (6–9) | 12 – J. Williams | 6 – Griffiths | 3 – Griffiths | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| February 25, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN | | Maryland | L 46–63 | 14–13 (6–10) | 13 – Hyatt | 5 – Griffiths | 3 – J. Williams | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 29, 2024 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | Michigan | W 82–52 | 15–13 (7–10) | 19 – Tied | 15 – Omoruyi | 3 – Tied | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 3, 2024 6:30 p.m., BTN | | at Nebraska | L 56–67 | 15–14 (7–11) | 14 – J. Williams | 9 – Woolfolk | 3 – Tied | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,854) Lincoln, NE |
| March 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Wisconsin | L 66–78 | 15–15 (7–12) | 16 – Williams | 6 – Davis | 3 – Fernandes | Kohl Center (15,431) Madison, WI |
| March 10, 2024 2:00 p.m., BTN | | Ohio State | L 51–73 | 15–16 (7–13) | 11 – Hyatt | 7 – Omoruyi | 2 – Tied | Jersey Mike's Arena (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2024 6:30 p.m., Peacock | (13) | vs. (12) Maryland First round | L 51–65 | 15–17 | 16 – Griffiths | 6 – Hyatt | 4 – Simpson | Target Center (12,379) Minneapolis, MN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |