Rutgers Basketball 2025-26 Season Preview: Projected starting lineup, impact players and rotation explored
- Thread starter Tango Two
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Wow ... basically projects RU's starting line-up as:
PG - Mark
2G - Powers
WF - Zrno
PF - Nwuli
C - Ogbole
Mentions as "rotational players": Francis, Buchanan, Badalau, Ware (mentioned ahead of Fall) ... and other players as returnees, Davis Grant and Dortch.
Mention potential "impact" players as Francis, Nwuli and Zrno.
Needless to say, I see it somewhat differently:
PG - Davis
2G - Zrb\no
WF - Buchanan
PF - Grant
C - Ogbole.
Nwuli, Fall, Mark
PG - Mark
2G - Powers
WF - Zrno
PF - Nwuli
C - Ogbole
Mentions as "rotational players": Francis, Buchanan, Badalau, Ware (mentioned ahead of Fall) ... and other players as returnees, Davis Grant and Dortch.
Mention potential "impact" players as Francis, Nwuli and Zrno.
Needless to say, I see it somewhat differently:
PG - Davis
2G - Zrb\no
WF - Buchanan
PF - Grant
C - Ogbole.
Nwuli, Fall, Mark
I don't think this guy Geoff has a clue. If we start that team we won't win 3 Big 10 games, if that. I think SBP's starters are about right.
Starters are irrelevant, it's who's likely to improve the most from today to November/December 2026. That's an 18 month runway.
The writers starting lineup may not be 100% correct, but if the roster develops as expected, Mark and Powers is the go to backcourt going into next summer, Nwuli is playing 20 to 25 minutes a game (along with Grant and Buchanan) and both Euros are filling in the lineup.
Ogbole and Fall should be a decent defense and rebounding duo, but I fully expect Fall to be a more realistic option at center. Certain players are not likely to improve with upside, just because they play more minutes. Ogbole is in that category.
If the lineup of Davis, Zrno, Buchanan, Grant and Ogbole are all playing over 20 Minutes per game, it is certainly possible or likely we finish last and it won't be possible to jump from last to NCAA bubble team by 2026-27.....the signs of progress are with Mark, Powers, Fall and Nwuli at a combined 90 to 95 minutes per game. I have to assume Zrno, Buchanan and Grant account for another 60 to 65 minutes on the floor in some sort of combination with Mark,Powers, Fall and Nwuli.
How the other combined 40 to 50 minutes of play per game and production shakes out, is up for debate. I do feel much better about the bench for these 40 to 50 minutes for this year with Davis/Francis/Mark/Powers/Badalau, mixed with Dortch, Ware/Ogbole, in terms being able to defend, rebound one on one, vs last years bench.
Davis, Ogbole are really better suited in a 12 to 14 minutes a game roles, in order for RU to improve as this season progresses. Playing Davis and Ogbole 22 to 24 minutes a game, is repeating the same mistakes as last year with Martini and Derkack.....having players overexposed without much upside, limits the entire rosters development.
The writers starting lineup may not be 100% correct, but if the roster develops as expected, Mark and Powers is the go to backcourt going into next summer, Nwuli is playing 20 to 25 minutes a game (along with Grant and Buchanan) and both Euros are filling in the lineup.
Ogbole and Fall should be a decent defense and rebounding duo, but I fully expect Fall to be a more realistic option at center. Certain players are not likely to improve with upside, just because they play more minutes. Ogbole is in that category.
If the lineup of Davis, Zrno, Buchanan, Grant and Ogbole are all playing over 20 Minutes per game, it is certainly possible or likely we finish last and it won't be possible to jump from last to NCAA bubble team by 2026-27.....the signs of progress are with Mark, Powers, Fall and Nwuli at a combined 90 to 95 minutes per game. I have to assume Zrno, Buchanan and Grant account for another 60 to 65 minutes on the floor in some sort of combination with Mark,Powers, Fall and Nwuli.
How the other combined 40 to 50 minutes of play per game and production shakes out, is up for debate. I do feel much better about the bench for these 40 to 50 minutes for this year with Davis/Francis/Mark/Powers/Badalau, mixed with Dortch, Ware/Ogbole, in terms being able to defend, rebound one on one, vs last years bench.
Davis, Ogbole are really better suited in a 12 to 14 minutes a game roles, in order for RU to improve as this season progresses. Playing Davis and Ogbole 22 to 24 minutes a game, is repeating the same mistakes as last year with Martini and Derkack.....having players overexposed without much upside, limits the entire rosters development.
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What's the 2026-27 projected lineup?
4 guys we have never heard of
4 guys we have never heard of
This roster is 11.5 wins at best. Pike tried to add cupcakes in the OOC schedule but it’s going to be bad. The bright side it will be his last season on the banks.
The year should be focused on who we can bring in as the next HC on the banks.
How have you not learned to stop thinking a year forward yet? We have zero idea what 2026 will look like.
Was this article written by Baghdad Bob?
“Bosnian prospect Harun Zrno looks to surprise the college basketball world this season and playing for Rutgers, which is known to give ample playing time for aspiring NBA players, is the best place to be for the 6-foot-7 forward.“
Come on - in what universe is Rutgers “known” for anything in relation to anything related to the NBA?
And has anyone else on the planet mentioned the NBA in relation to this kid?
“Bosnian prospect Harun Zrno looks to surprise the college basketball world this season and playing for Rutgers, which is known to give ample playing time for aspiring NBA players, is the best place to be for the 6-foot-7 forward.“
Come on - in what universe is Rutgers “known” for anything in relation to anything related to the NBA?
And has anyone else on the planet mentioned the NBA in relation to this kid?
I’ll take the under. This team probably won’t be .500 vs the cupcakes. There’s always lots of mid-major upper classmen who have stayed put on the cupcakes and playing them early with this group is not an advantage.
Perhaps this group can develop an identity and some players play over their heads, but this is like starting from scratch this season.
Until proven otherwise, we don’t have a single B1G starter on the roster. ..and I know Grant started games by default last season.
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This kid - and many others who will write stuff from a national perspective have no clue. But if they guess correctly, they look smart; we watch this closely in real time and don't know (at least not yet). Actually we probably do... but still want to be optimistic.
JaMike is not a point guard. Doesn’t facilitate or make others better on offense. Has a scorer mentality and he’s not a #2 at this level because of size and inconsistent shot. Love his athleticism and effort but gets taken advantage of by bigger players on defense.
Hoping Grant and Ware take another step while Ogbole is serviceable for 15-20 mins. The succes or failure of the team next season is dependent on the mature Euro players scoring buckets and the young kids like Nwuli and Marks getting up to speed with steady contributions from the transfers for hopefully a stronger bench than last season.
Seeing a 15-19 win type season.
GO RU
Hoping Grant and Ware take another step while Ogbole is serviceable for 15-20 mins. The succes or failure of the team next season is dependent on the mature Euro players scoring buckets and the young kids like Nwuli and Marks getting up to speed with steady contributions from the transfers for hopefully a stronger bench than last season.
Seeing a 15-19 win type season.
GO RU
The starting lineup is 5 players, a roster that can compete over 33 to 35 games, requires 9 solid players who are capable of playing starter minutes any given night.
We will know more on how that looks in the next 4 months of recruiting, but I'm VERY confident on what I am hearing behind the scenes. Am I putting stock on results only for 2025-26??? Not really but I'm very sure the 2025 freshman class, provides more answers to fixing things.
Because we are fixing the problem by signing HS players who will more than likely to stick with the program.
Taking a 1 year at a time approach in spring of 2022, 2023 and 2024 via the portal is taking your 1 year at a time path....and the program has declined each and every year that we continue down the portal path.
2022 Cam Spencer.....lightning in a bottle but not supported with much out of HS (Derek Simpson, Antione Woolfork)
2023- Gavin Griffiths, Noah Fernandes, a late addition of Jeremiah Williams off an Achilles tear, and some injured Austin Williams.....only J Mike Davis is still here as a HS recruit.
2024-Dylan Grant, Bryce Dortch and Lathan Sommerville, mixed with 3 senior and 1 junior portal additions......Martini, Acuff, Hayes and Derkack ALL departed......and none provided any consistent impact or were overall a net negative.
if we recruited 2 more freshman to support in either of the 2022 and 2023 classes and did not go to the portal for patchwork, we are better off in 2024 and certainly in 2025.
It is not a guarantee that ALL freshman stick, but the majority of classes DO stay at a school and not everyone transfers every year.
I would rather have 2 kids or more in the program every 4 years, who go through the 4 year cycle of freshman to senior. That means 8 of the 13 players SHOULD be in the program for 2 to 4 years in a consistent basis.
We are losing because we got involved with one year rentals via the portal and I could argue, that despite what fans may think, even having a complimentary player like Derek Simpson for this past season was a better option than Derkack, PJ Hayes or Acuff. He is a better defender and could handle the ball and makes FTs......And yes, he is not the shooter than we are hoping for, but is he a better overall player than JMike Davis AND Tariq Francis in all phases??? I could argue, other than 3 point shooting, the answer is yes.
The next 4 months (or so) is going to make things a lot better IMO and its not flashy or grabs headlines.....it is just boring and sticking to the fundamentals of program building.
I agree with you on how the roster needs to be built, and that you'll be in better shape down the road by bringing more kids in through the progam as opposed to rentals, I just don't see any point to looking ahead to the following years because you don't know which pieces will still be around and there is nothing that tells you a future season will be better.
I can't say that I agree but I sure hope you're right.
In theory this makes sense. Building the program the right way given our limited resources in NIL and buying players. However, there is 2 big concerns here.
1- Player retention. Every kid is a free agent at seasons end. 90 percent of them are looking for a better opportunity with playing time and money each year. No guarantee in ANY player staying.
2- A New AD will look to make his name known with a big coaching hire. Basketball is that hire. I’m not sure Pikes survives a poor 12-19 year, after last years disaster and no tourney appearance again. 12-19 will result in more players leaving, and it will be hard to say there’s hope in a Lino Mark, Kaden Powers, Dylan Grant, Chris Nwuli lineup. Maybe in 27-28, if they were still here. I hope Pikes proves me wrong.
He did improve significantly in the second half of last season. He started finding players instead of forcing shots. I think he can be the point, especially because he defends like crazy and Pike will need to find him minutes.
Disagree. JMike is a PG and he does make other players better, plus his assist to turnover ratio is outstanding and he had the best handle on last year's team. He does struggle defensively against bigger guards.