A father of four who has led the resurgence of Rutgers Basketball, both on and off the court, Steve Pikiell has spent five seasons as head coach of the Scarlet Knights. Under Pikiell's leadership, the team returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991.
With 30 years of coaching experience, the Bristol (Conn.) native is under contract to remain courtside at the RAC through 2025-26. The 19th head coach in the history of Rutgers men’s basketball, Pikiell has been instrumental in turnarounds throughout his playing and coaching career that have resulted in conference championships and NCAA berths.
The 2020-21 Season
- Recipient of the Peter A. Carlesimo Award, presented by the Met Basketball Writers Association to the top coach in the Metropolitan Area. Pikiell earned the accolade for the second straight season and became the first coach to win the accolade from the MBWA four times in his career.
- Led the program to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991.
- Guided the Scarlet Knights to an opening round victory over No. 7 seed Clemson that marked RU's first NCAA Tournament win since 1983.
- The Scarlet Knights' win over No. 7 seed Clemson in the opening round marked the highest seeded team defeated in the NCAA Tournament since 1979, before falling to an eventual Final Four team in No. 2 seed Houston.
- While facing a strength of schedule ranked as the second toughest in the nation by ESPN.com, Rutgers went 16-12 overall, ensuring back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 29 years.
- Under Pikiell's leadership, Rutgers won 10 Big Ten Conference games, and has earned 21 Big Ten wins over the past two seasons. RU finished tied for sixth in the nation's top-rated conference.
- The team spent 11 weeks nationally ranked or receiving votes in the AP Poll, peaking at No. 11 in the nation.
- In the regular season, RU earned wins over five teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament - No. 1 seed Illinois, No. 4 seed Purdue, No. 10 seed Maryland, No. 11 seed Michigan State and No. 11 seed Syracuse.
Full bio: https://scarletknights.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/steve-pikiell/4342
