Rutgers basketball has packed up and moved out of the Big Ten basement to the surprise of many folks in the hardwood universe.

You know who’s not surprised? Fran Fraschilla.

The widely respected ESPN analyst has been watching Scarlet Knights coach Steve Pikiell for a long time. From the day Pikiell was hired away from Stony Brook, he loved the marriage.

“Steve was not born with a silver basketball spoon in his mouth,” Fraschilla said via phone Thursday. “He earned everything.”

The Scarlet Knights are 12-12 overall and 5-9 in the Big Ten heading into Saturday’s home sellout against 21st-ranked Iowa (6 p.m., Fox Sports 1). The five Big Ten triumphs already represent a breakthrough, but Rutgers really has a chance to send a message over the final six regular-season games — both to recruits and the rest of the league about where the once-downtrodden program is headed.

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“These are small milestones they’re having in the Big Ten, the kind of thing you can build on,” Fraschilla sad. “I was in that league (as an Ohio State assistant), and it’s a great, tough league. It’s a job that will hurt your soul, because just when you think you’re getting over the hump, you’ll lose a buzzer-beater or you’ll lose a 12-point lead to a team at the top of the league.”

Coming off a stepping-stone season like this, Fraschilla said, “I do think he can get them to the middle of the league, to the point where they can get an at-large bid. If that happens, then it’s been a miraculous building job.”

Fraschilla’s insight is significant because he walked the walk as a head coach, guiding both Manhattan and St. John’s to NCAA Tournament appearances in the 1990s. He’s known as a straight talker who provides valuable insight into the college coaching profession.

Fraschilla first encountered Pikiell as an Ohio State assistant, when his team faced Connecticut and Pikiell played point guard for Jim Calhoun. As an analyst, he spent some time around Stony Brook prepping for an ESPN game against Rider.

“Steve has Calhoun’s toughness,” Fraschilla said. “He’s got a little more humanity than Jim, but he certainly has Jim’s competitiveness.”

Having grown up in New York City and coached in the metropolitan area, Fraschilla knows all about Rutgers’ success in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and its struggles over the past quarter-century.

“Very few (established coaches) would jeopardize their career to go to a place like Rutgers, but Steve had already done everything he could at Stony Brook,” he said. “You and I know there’s basketball tradition at Rutgers, even though it hasn’t been recent, but they’re sort of a stepchild in the Big Ten geographically. But overall I always thought they found the right guy. I thought Steve would do well there with equal amounts of toughness and class.”

Fraschilla also can speak to the difference between running successful programs at the mid-major and high-major levels. One is the caliber coach coaches. Instead of facing younger, up-and-coming guys on a regular basis, you’re going against pillars of the sport like Tom Izzo and John Beilein.

“I also think recruiting changes because it’s easier for mid-major coaches to convince kids, ‘You can come here and help turn this around and get this team to the NCAA Tournament,’” Fraschilla said. “When a kid looks at Rutgers, they’re looking at a mountain that’s like climbing the Himalayas. So with every bit of success they’re having that will give them more credibility with the next talented Jersey kid or the next kid from the New York City Catholic League.”

The next six games could burnish the sales pitch to those kids. They also could put Pikiell in position to win Big Ten Coach of the Year.

“To finish 3-3 looks like it’s possible; if they finish 8-12 that would be a great coaching job and he’d get votes,” Fraschilla said. “If they were able to go 4-2 and get to 9-11, he would get serious consideration.”

Either way, he said, “I know the coaches already respect him.”

Matching up with Iowa

In Big Ten play, Iowa (19-5, 8-5) leads the league in scoring (77.8 points per game), free-throw shooting (75.7 percent), and 3-point shooting (.389).

“They’re deep and offensively skilled, different than anybody in the league in that they’re so good at that end and have so many guys who can beat you,” Pikiell said. “It’s a two-day prep time; probably need five days. Iowa has had a whole week to prepare for us.”

Perimeter defense will be crucial. Pikiell would like a repeat of sophomore guard Geo Baker’s performance in Wednesday’s win at Northwestern.

“When he defends, we’re like a different basketball team,” the coach said.

Baker knows it.

“One of the things he (Pikiell) has been stressing to me, even if I’m shooting bad there are other things I can do to help the team win," Baker said. "Defending is a big part of that.”

Rutgers is 1-5 all-time against Iowa, having beaten the Hawkeyes at home last season.

Staff Writer Jerry Carino: jcarino@gannettnj.com.