Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell on Friday announced the departures of two seldom-used reserves, a pair of transfers that could lead to a highly regarded point guard prospect to join the 2018 incoming recruiting class.

Rutgers University sophomore forward Matt Bullock and junior guard Souf Mensah were granted scholarship releases. According to a Rutgers press release, Bullock intends to transfer to another program while Mensah plans to pursue professional opportunities.

"Matt and Souf have been great representatives of Rutgers Basketball," Pikiell said in a statement. "We appreciate very much their contributions to our program. We support their decisions and wish them future success.''

A 6-4 sophomore guard-forward out of Roselle Catholic, Bullock was the first recruit to commit to Rutgers after Pikiell landed the job in March 2016. After playing in just two games as a true freshman, NJ.com's 2015-16 Union County Player of the Year saw action in only nine games this season, averaging 2.4 points in 8.0 minutes-per-game.

A native of France, Mensah arrived last August after playing point guard on the junior-college level in Iowa. He played in 27 games, averaging .6 points in 6.7 minutes-per-game during a 15-19 campaign.

The departures open up two scholarship that Rutgers can use next month when the spring signing period begins.

One of the openings could be earmarked for Tai Strickland, a 6-2 point guard from St. Petersburg, Fla., who is visiting Rutgers this weekend. Strickland, who is the son of former NBA point guard Rod Strickland, will reportedly choose between Rutgers and two other Big Ten programs -- Minnesota and Wisconsin -- next month.

New Brunswick📍 — Tai Strickland (@taistrickland13) March 23, 2018

Rutgers' 2018 recruiting class includes three players who signed last fall -- suburban Baltimore guard Montez Mathis, Don Bosco Prep guard Ronald Harper and Florida junior-college power forward Shaq Carter.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.