Legendary Michigan State Basketball Head Coach Tom Izzo Encourages Rutgers Freshman Not to Transfer
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Roster turnover is a constant reality in the new age of NIL and the transfer portal. Dozens of college basketball teams are forced to trot out new lineups year in and year out because of additions and subtractions that have come via the transfer portal. That constant turnover makes it hard to develop prospects to properly fit a team's system/ philosophy, especially if that teams system is more complex.
Rutgers is no stranger to this roster turnover, however recently it has been for different reasons. Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey leaving for the NBA draft, along with a few other pieces graduating, forced the Scarlet Knights to hit the transfer portal hard. Some of those transfer portal additions have shined so far for Rutgers, mainly Tariq Francis and Darren Buchanan Jr., while others have struggled
However, the freshman have also been a welcome surprise for the Knights. For all of the teams struggles this season, the younger talents have provided energy and a relentless tenacity that Rutgers needs for its lockerroom. Retaining them will be one of the Knights top priorities in the off season.
A few words uttered by Michigan State's legendary head coach, Tom Izzo, might help Rutgers in that effort. After the Spartans took down the Knights 88-79 in overtime last Tuesday, Izzo encouraged the Rutgers freshman not to transfer and to continue to learn under head coach Steve Pikiell, whom he believes is a very good coach. The four freshmen he addressed in particular are Guards Harun Zrno, Lino Mark, and Kaden Powers, and Forward Chris Nwuli.
"If he keeps those four freshmen, they’ll be like Jaxon Kohler, (Carson) Cooper, Jeremy (Fears Jr.), and Coen (Carr). That’s what makes great teams. So I’m gonna publicly tell those kids stay put, you’ve got a good coach, fans were awesome tonight. That team is gonna get better. We had a veteran team, and they had a rookie team, and those rookies played their tail off.”
Izzo had high praise for Pikiell's game plan as well.
"I thought it was a brilliant move the way he played those guys and the way they ran things. I was really impressed,” Izzo said in regards to Pikiell opting to run a smaller lineup.
Rutgers and Michigan State will face off one more time this season on March 5th in East Lansing. The Knights next game will be this Saturday as they are set to travel to Los Angeles to take on USC.
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Andrew Rice has covered Rutgers athletics for two years for the Rutgers site, OnTheBanks.com. In February of 2025, he took over as the site manager of OnTheBanks and has been running the site ever since. His other professional journalism experiences include being a Rutgers beat reporter for GridironHeroics.com, along with being a general New York sports journalist for Sports Radio America.