# 2015–16 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights, led by third year head coach Eddie Jordan, played their home games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center as second year members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 7–25, 1–17 in Big Ten play to finishing in last place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to Nebraska.
Following the season, head coach Eddie Jordan was fired. He finished at Rutgers with a three-year record of 29–68.

## Previous season

The Scarlet Knights finished the 2014-15 Season 10–22, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to Minnesota.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Malick Kone | 0 | F | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Conakry, Guiena | Graduated |
| Kervin Okoro | 3 | G/F | 6'5" | 215 | RS Junior | Bronx, NY | Graduate transferred to Norfolk State |
| Myles Mack | 4 | G | 5'10" | 175 | Senior | Paterson, NJ | Graduated |
| Junior Etou | 10 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Sophomore | Congo | Transferred to Tulsa |
| Kadeem Jack | 11 | F/C | 6'9" | 235 | RS Senior | Queens, NY | Graduated |
| Ryan Johnson | 13 | G/F | 6'6" | 190 | Freshman | Greensboro, NC | Transferred to Tallahassee Community College |
| Stephen Zurich | 21 | F | 6'5" | 205 | Junior | Montvale, NJ | Walk-on; didn't return |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Nigel Johnson | 22 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Junior | Ashburn, VA | Transferred from Kansas State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Johnson will have to sit out for the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Omari Grier | 31 | G | 6'4" | 180 | RS Senior | Erial, NJ | Transferred from Bradley. Will be eligible to play immediately since Grier graduated from Bradley. |
| Deshawn Freeman | 33 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Junior | Rocky Mount, NC | Junior college transfer from Hutchinson Community College |

## 2015 signing class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Corey Sanders PG | Lakeland, FL | Faith Baptist Christian Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 4, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Jonathan Jean Laurent PF | Orlando, FL | Dr. Phillips High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 192 lb (87 kg) | Apr 2, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Justin Goode PF | Daleville, VA | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Nov 10, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov. 13, 2015* 7:00 pm | | Rutgers–Newark‡ | W 72–59 | 1–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,945) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 15, 2015* 1:00 pm | | Howard MGM Grand Main Event | W 82–70 | 2–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,537) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 19, 2015* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at St. John's Gavitt Tipoff | L 59–61 | 2–1 | Madison Square Garden (4,540) New York City, NY |
| Nov 21, 2015* 5:00 pm | | Central Arkansas MGM Grand Main Event | W 87–84 | 3–1 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,113) Piscataway, NJ |
| Nov 23, 2015* 11:59 pm, YouTube | | vs. Creighton MGM Grand Main Event Heavyweight semifinals | L 75–85 | 3–2 | MGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise, NV |
| Nov 25, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Clemson MGM Grand Main Event Heavyweight 3rd place game | L 58–76 | 3–3 | MGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise, NV |
| Nov 30, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Wake Forest ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 68–69 | 3–4 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,817) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 5, 2015* Noon, ESPNews | | Seton Hall Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic | L 55–84 | 3–5 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,631) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 8, 2015* 6:00 pm, BTN | | Central Connecticut | W 75–59 | 4–5 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,131) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 12, 2015* 4:30 pm, CBSSN | | at George Washington | L 49–83 | 4–6 | Charles E. Smith Center (3,172) Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 20, 2015* 1:00 pm, BTN | | Monmouth | L 67–73 | 4–7 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,637) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 23, 2015* 7:00 pm | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 72–64 | 5–7 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,624) Piscataway, NJ |
| Dec 28, 2015* 7:00 pm, BTN | | UMass Lowell | W 89–66 | 6–7 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,075) Piscataway, NJ |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| Dec 30, 2015 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Indiana | L 72–79 | 6–8 (0–1) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,002) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 2, 2016 2:00 pm, BTN | | at Wisconsin | L 57–79 | 6–9 (0–2) | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Jan 6, 2016 7:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 3 Maryland | L 63–88 | 6–10 (0–3) | Xfinity Center (17,950) College Park, MD |
| Jan 9, 2016 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | Nebraska | L 56–90 | 6–11 (0–4) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,454) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 13, 2016 6:30 pm, BTN | | at Ohio State | L 68–94 | 6–12 (0–5) | Value City Arena (11,635) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 18, 2016 7:00 pm, BTN | | No. 22 Purdue | L 57–107 | 6–13 (0–6) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,085) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 21, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 9 Iowa | L 76–90 | 6–14 (0–7) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,209) Piscataway, NJ |
| Jan 27, 2016 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Michigan | L 57–68 | 6–15 (0–8) | Crisler Center (11,519) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 31, 2016 5:15 pm, BTN | | at No. 12 Michigan State | L 62–96 | 6–16 (0–9) | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 3, 2016 6:30 pm, BTN | | Illinois | L 101–110 $^{3OT}$ | 6–17 (0–10) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,500) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 6, 2016 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Nebraska | L 63–87 | 6–18 (0–11) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,695) Lincoln, NE |
| Feb 13, 2016 4:00 pm, BTN | | Ohio State | L 69–79 | 6–19 (0–12) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,658) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 16, 2016 9:00 pm, BTN | | at Illinois | L 66–82 | 6–20 (0–13) | State Farm Center (11,323) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 20, 2016 1:00 pm, ESPNU | | Penn State | L 58–70 | 6–21 (0–14) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,307) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 23, 2016 8:30 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 61–83 | 6–22 (0–15) | Williams Arena (10,333) Minneapolis, MN |
| Feb 27, 2016 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Northwestern | L 59–98 | 6–23 (0–16) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,833) Evanston, IL |
| Mar 2, 2016 7:00 pm, BTN | | No. 2 Michigan State | L 66–97 | 6–24 (0–17) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,561) Piscataway, NJ |
| Mar 5, 2016 1:00 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | W 75–52 | 7–24 (1–17) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,473) Piscataway, NJ |
| Big Ten Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 9, 2016 7:00 pm, BTN | (14) | vs. (11) Nebraska First round | L 72–89 | 7–25 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (16,528) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time ‡: Although Rutgers counts this as a regular season game, Rutgers-Newark does not and considers it an exhibition game for their schedule.. ||||||