Carli Lloyd has made headlines recently over revelations in her new autobiography that she has no relationship with her family. But is the bond between the New Jersey soccer star and her alma mater any better?

Lloyd, one of the most successful athletes in Rutgers history, cast some doubt on that in an interview with NJ Advance Media. She said the instability within the athletic department, with three different athletic directors in the past three and a half years, has contributed to a fractured relationship.

"It's been a little different because they've had so many AD switches," Lloyd said in a phone interview. "When Tim (Pernetti) was there, I was going to games, I got honored at a football game, and after that, (the relationship) was just kind of not really existent anymore.

"There's really not much communication going on."

That distance is hard to explain, because a good relationship would seem to benefit both sides. Lloyd, 34, is already thinking about her post-soccer future that could include camps and other business interests that would benefit from a connection to New Jersey's largest university.

Rutgers, meanwhile, doesn't have any former athletes with a higher profile than the internationally known Lloyd. The school has shown its support over the past few years, sending several buses filled with fans to support her during the ticker-tape parade in lower Manhattan following the 2015 World Cup victory.

Lloyd denied that there was any specific incident with Rutgers that has bothered her over the past few years. But when asked about another potential issue -- her absence from the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame -- she admitted to some confusion.

"I have no idea," she said when asked about her omission. "I don't even know if they came up with a Hall of Fame list. I don't know if it's because I'm still playing or ... I have no idea."

Inducting Lloyd into the Hall of Fame is a "no brainer," athletic director Patrick Hobbs told NJ Advance Media. He added that Rutgers "wants that to happen at a time that makes sense for Carli."

"We're very proud of Carli," Hobbs said. "I'm looking forward to getting to sit down with her at a time convenient to her, because I want Rutgers to have a strong relationship with her down the road. She is one of our all-time greats."

Lloyd is touring the country with her autobiography "When Nobody Was Watching," which chronicles her rise from a college player who nearly quit the sport to one of the all-time greats.

Her time in Piscataway was a success for her and the Scarlet Knights, but she details in the book how being cut from the U.S. under-21 national team led her to seriously think about giving the sport.

Instead, she met James Galanis, an Australian-born coach who challenged her to "treat every training session, every game, as if it were a World Cup final." She developed into a mainstay and, eventually, the star for the U.S. Women's National Team, but that came at a steep price with her family.

She said the decision to write about the rift with her parents -- the byproduct of their "difficult time letting go" from making the decisions related to her career -- wasn't an easy one.

"I was actually not going to do it," Lloyd said. "I thought this is strictly going to be about my journey, about James and I and what we accomplished, the ups and downs."

She said her ghostwriter, Wayne Coffey, convinced her that the obstacles at home made what she accomplished in her career even more impressive -- and a possible source of inspiration for other young athletes.

"After that, I kind of thought to myself that maybe this could help other people. It is part of my journey and I'd be lying to everybody if I didn't include this," Lloyd said. "I haven't publicly talked about it, and as we were getting closer to the book being finalized and finished, I started to say to myself, 'Wow. Everything's out there. This is permanent. There's no going back now.'

"Once it came out and I fully read it again, I couldn't be more proud of it. I think Wayne did a phenomenal job and it's an amazing book."

Lloyd has been greeted by huge crowds during the book tour, including a stop at a Barnes & Noble in Cherry Hill, where more than 900 copies were sold and the line stretched out the door. Lloyd said she feels the impact from the young athletes by "just the look in their eyes."

"They come up to me and stare at me," she said. "I had one girl tell me last night that I'm the greatest thing ever, that she wants to aspire to be me. Just stuff like, 'You're my idol. I love you.' It's awesome. It's what it's all about."

LISTEN: Episode 3 of NJ.com's Rutgers Football podcast

Rebuilding Rutgers: From The Ashes takes you inside the new football regime. This episode dives into Ash's recruiting efforts his first year on the job.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.