Rutgers star freshmen embrace Steve Pikiell's coaching tough love

Everything about Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper is different than what Rutgers is used to, except the way they like to be coached.

Close friends Bailey and Harper — the No. 2 and No. 3 recruits in the class of 2024 — sent shockwaves across the college basketball landscape by discouraging countless bluebloods from joining forces at Rutgers.

It's a strange matchup of two potential one-time NBA lottery picks with a program that has one NCAA Tournament win since 1984 and a defensive-minded coach in Steve Pikiell who has earned a reputation for turning overlooked recruits into stars with a chip to make her shoulder.

The key to making it work is that Bailey and Harper — along with three other freshmen in Rutgers' highest-rated recruiting class ever — say they want to be coached hard.

“I don’t want any sugarcoating,” Bailey told the Post. “I don't want anything nice to be given to me. I want to work for it and earn it, and that's what He asks of us. I want it to be real and loyal.”

Bailey signed on first, but Harper's family ties and New Jersey roots – plus independent NIL endorsements – made this unique situation possible.

One of Pikiell's hidden gems was Ron Harper Jr., Dylan's older brother and a star on the team that ended a 30-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2021.

Nowadays the goals are much bigger.

“I'm committed to changing the culture and the narrative and I know you can win anywhere,” said Dylan Harper. “It doesn’t all have to be these (same) schools. Ace and I, along with the rest of our boys, are going to take the world by storm.”

First things first.

Bailey and Harper glided across the floor at a recent practice, making plays with ease leading up to Wednesday's season opener against Wagner in Piscataway.

“You don’t see these types of dunks every day in practice in the Ivy League,” quipped transfer Zach Martini, a member of Princeton’s Sweet 16 team in 2023. “Ace has unwavering confidence and Dylan is such a great passer.”

But Pikiell's film sessions are limitless.

“Who doesn’t want to be trained hard?” Harper said. “If someone keeps telling you things you want to hear, how do you get better? We go to film sessions and he yells at us, but we take it to mean he just wants us to get better. He wants to win like us.”

It won't be easy for the teenagers to ignore expectations when the practice crowd regularly includes NBA scouts and general managers – one of whom stopped by for a week at a time.

“We’re not worried about the outside noise,” Bailey said. “We know what we have and we're trying to achieve our goals: focus on making each other better, win the Big Ten and then win the whole thing.”

Since June, every home game has been sold out for the chance to see the dynamic duo, and Pikiell promises to be a more up-tempo brand of basketball.

“They’re big enough to hang but I can isolate them, but they also work really well in pick-and-rolls,” Pikiell said. “It was fun to pair her with guys who complemented her talents. They also pass the ball very well. Sometimes I have to bring them in and say, “Wow, now it’s time for you to score.” ”

If Bailey and Harper stay healthy, Rutgers has a chance to score big in March.

Why Rutgers will make the NCAA Tournament

The talent level in Piscataway is the best it has been in decades. Four transfers fit like pieces into a puzzle around Harper and Bailey: a ball defender (Jordan Derkack), a sniper (PJ Hayes IV), a volume scorer (Tyson Acuff) and a leader who has been there before (Martini). ). Gone are the days of trying to achieve victories by keeping results in the 50s.

Why Rutgers will miss the NCAA tournament

How quickly can a team come together with nine newcomers and three returnees? Non-Blue players with No. 1 NBA draft picks have failed before (see: Ben Simmons at LSU, Markelle Fultz at Washington and Anthony Edwards at Georgia). The Big Ten is a robust, defense-oriented league. Rutgers could come up short on this end of the floor.

3 key questions

Is there enough defense and rebounding?

Emmanuel Ogbole gets the first crack at center, replacing one of the country's best shot blockers, outgoing transfer Cliff Omoruyi. Freshman Lathan Sommerville is waiting in the starting blocks. Martini is only 6-foot-8. “I don’t love sitting in a room trying to figure out why we can’t score,” Pikiell said. “I love finding out we need to get better defensively and rebounding.”

Can Rutgers live in a fishbowl?

Stars attract attention. The athletic department is already terminating its apparel deal with Adidas, a move that coincides with the arrival of Nike-endorsed brands Harper and Bailey. Every game is over-analyzed. Each break-in increased in size. Only one of the twelve rotation players has played a full season at the highest level (Jamichael Davis) to know what to expect. “Our youth helps us because we have an infectious belief that our standard is something we should not run away from but run toward,” Martini said.

What role does Jeremiah Williams play?

Williams was unrealistically viewed as the savior of a failed 2023-24 season when he became eligible after an NCAA suspension, scoring a team-high 12.2 points per game. This season he is co-captain. But will he voluntarily retreat to the offensive? “The three guys we brought back into our program were our three toughest players,” Pikiell said of Williams, Davis and Ogbole.

X factor

PJ Hayes IV

The San Diego transfer was the final player added to the roster. Last season, he hit 73 3-pointers in 32 starts at a rate of 39.7 percent. After coming off the Rutgers bench, he made all seven of his shots against St. John's in a scrimmage (two 2s, two 3s, three free throws). “He’s a distance player and a guy who gives Dylan and Ace room to go downhill,” Pikiell said.

Games to watch

No. 2 Alabama at Las Vegas (November 27)

Often criticized for his soft non-conference scheduling, Pikiell raised the bar to meet expectations. The second of three games at the Players Era Festival is an opportunity to make a national statement against the Crimson Tide, who reached the 2024 Final Four and then poached Omoruyi in the portal. The tournament prize is a big zero check.

Seton Hall (Dec. 14)

The Garden State Hardwood Classic is an annual, high-intensity competition. The reigning NIT champions have modest expectations, but don't underestimate Seton Hall's desire to eclipse all of Rutgers' preseason advertising. The game will air on Fox for the first time. The last six meetings have been divided, and spoilers often emerge.

No. 22 UCLA (Jan. 13)

In the new-look Big Ten, this game comes four days after facing preseason conference favorite Purdue and two weeks before facing Michigan State (possibly at Madison Square Garden). But these programs haven't met since a Rutgers win in 1981 – and most notably, they met in the 1976 Final Four third-place game.

forecast

22-9, fifth place in Big Ten, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

Reaching Rutgers' first Sweet 16 since 1979 is a bare minimum for this ticket to be considered a success. There will be bumps in the rollercoaster ride, as is to be expected with any freshman-led team, but one of the best home-court advantages in the Big Ten should steady the ship.