PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers basketball spent the offseason in a place it hasn’t always been: building on a foundation that already had some weight to it.
The biggest change is not just that the Scarlet Knights brought back most of their production from last season. They also added more size, more rebounding and more experience, all of it aimed at making the roster sturdier around head coach Steve Pikiell’s priorities.
That shift has been obvious to veterans already in the program. Forward Darren Buchanan Jr., now entering his second season after transferring from George Washington, said the competition inside practice has taken on a different edge.
"It's way more competitive. I mean, like seniors like me, JMic (Jamichael Davis), Tariq (Francis) - even like 'Smitty' (forward Darin Smith from Central Connecticut) coming in (with) him being a junior - practices are way more competitive than last year," Buchanan said after practice on Tuesday.
"And I feel like it is just a lot more to prove, like we know we got a lot more to prove this season.
"I like our chances this year. I definitely like our chances.
I feel like in the summer last year, around this time, it was kind of up in the air about how we were going to be, but I feel like now - I mean, we still got a ways to go, but I definitely like our chances. I feel like we're going to compete with anybody for sure."
Pikiell sees the same thing from the outside. After coaching a team that leaned on seven freshmen and still managed to overachieve in the Big Ten, he believes this version of Rutgers has a different kind of balance.
The transfer additions matter here. Center Christian Gurdak and forward Will Sydnor give Rutgers more legitimate depth, and they join returning pieces such as Lino Mark and leading scorer Tariq Francis. Pikiell said the roster now has more ways to score and more bodies to throw around.
"I'm excited about this group. I think we got more weapons, we got more size, we got older, got more.
I think we can really score. I mean, 'Smitty' can really score," Pikiell said on Tuesday.
"Lino's better. I mean, so the returning guys have gotten better.
That was a big part of our game plan. They've gotten stronger.
We brought in some guys that have some resumes behind them. We brought in size, and we're adding more size.
We filled a lot of voids."
Gurdak, who comes to Rutgers after appearing in 31 games with 10 starts last season at Virginia Tech, sounds just as confident about what this group can become. The Hokies finished 19-13 and 8-10 in the ACC last season.
"I'm excited to play Syracuse in February, get them again," Gurdak said.
"But I do think we can be with anybody. Obviously, the Big Ten was really good last year.
This year, I think we have a really good chance to be one of the top teams in the Big Ten, just because of our skill, and we're putting the work in, and we have great coaching. And the (Rutgers) fans get behind the program, and that's a huge thing - home court advantage.
I think we are going to compete with a lot teams."
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