Hi all, Lafayette alum (and fan) but grew up a big Rutgers fan and still am. Sad to hear Lafayette freshman player, Joshua Rivera, entered the transfer portal. He is from New Brunswick. I watched him play every game this year. His development was incredible. Crazy athlete. Hoping he lands with Rutgers. I think (know) he can play at that level.
Lafayette Freshman forward Rivera (from New Brunswick) enters the transfer portal
- Thread starter jonnymo21
- Start date
Lol I seriously doubt Reiber and Miller are back next year. Hyatt may be 50/50 if he comes back as I doubt the guy wants to play off the bench in his last year of eligibility.
I don't know about Hyatt. Didn't Pike say he was the only recruit he ever interviewed that didn't ask about starting and minutes? He may like that role too.
I think Rieber and Miller and Oskar are all real possibilities. And then there is Paul?
Yeah things will change for sure but Pike doesn't seem like the type to show kids the door for not living up to expectations so I think it will be on the kids to decide if they want to leave which as you said is a real possibility.
That said he does limit playing time a la Kiss so the message does get delivered.
I was certain that he was rated pretty well last year, but the lack of offers may have been that way for a reason.
Looking at his highlights, sign me up … he is a tall quick player, can shoot (and looks good shooting) and dunk all over the place .. this guy will be in the P5 no doubt, go grab him
I wonder if he already has a landing spot. Seems strange to enter the portal from a lower level school without something lined up.
Looks like he has range too. He started the season 1-15 from three and finished the second half 19-46. His last few games he was really confident from three.
At the beginning of the season, I could not figure out how we (Lafayette) got him. Then he started air balling free throws and it sort of made sense. But his shooting form is solid. And he got better. Way better. The threes caught everyone off guard. Just hope he gets a look by RU.
Has the athleticism for sure. Who knows about the skills.
There should be a portal combine.
There should be a portal combine.
With the way 2024 recruiting is trending, I don't think we would want to offer this kid, as it would take up a scholarship that could go to Teng, Sommerville, Betsey, etc.
We need a 1-year rental, not a kid with 3 YOE.
We need a 1-year rental, not a kid with 3 YOE.
I think the OP is not paying attention to the talent level of players we're getting interest from. Nothing against this kid, just saying
He gets paid a lot of money to learn to do that and make Rutgers better. He's in the big leagues not in the CAA. In the time of players getting paid the kiddie gloves come off. If feelings get hurt, then they don't belong at this level anyway.
Do folks think Matt Bullock, Souf Mensah, Peter Kiss, and Mamadou Doucoure all came to their decision to leave completely on their own with no input from the coaching staff? Even Montez Mathis is a borderline case for this.
I think this kid is a similar kid we passed up on last year, RJ Luis....Luis was one of the finalists for A-10 Freshman of the Year.
OP (me) just has a feeling this young man is going to be very, very good and wanted to raise to this forum given the hometown connection. St. John's fans were asking where this kid came from when he dropped 17 in his second game. Does he need more development? Absolutely. But he has a chip on his shoulder. I like that as a Rutgers fan.
He played 25 minutes/game last year.
I'm not saying we shouldn't want him, but I think other teams can promise him more opportunities.
With Chol redshirting, he'd make it 3 sophs next year, a good fit in that way
We need shooters. We have enough athletic guys who can play defense and dunk.
Lehigh grad transfer Evan Taylor would be more likely if we dip into Patriot League.
That's a good point and I think it's something that will be more common in the future with NIL. This stuff is getting arranged much earlier than we ever knew in the past.
Lol. If this year taught us anything, having weak role players can cost us a season when a player goes down. We need depth, and it’s time for certain players to move on. I can name at least 3 players that don’t belong on a BIG team that were asked to provide minutes once injuries set in. There needs to be some turnover in the offseason. Pike bragging that we didn’t lose anyone to the portal again this year would be a bad thing.
