NEW YORK -- Pat Hobbs spent his career building connections in law, in politics and in the sports world, but the Rutgers Athletics Director has leaned on one person in particular since assuming the post nearly 14 months ago.

"He's my senior advisor -- there's no question about that,'' Hobbs said, pointing to David Stern, the former NBA Commissioner who graduated from Rutgers in 1963.

"He has been tremendous. Any time I call or reach out, we get to talk. He's one of the top 5 legends in sports, in my view, and certainly in terms of where we are in professional sports today, I would argue David Stern created that world. If you can draw on his advice and counsel, I don't need many more than David Stern.''

Stern and Hobbs took in Rutgers' basketball game against Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, cheering on the Scarlet Knights as they cruised to a 9-point lead with just over three minutes to play and lauding the effort after the Badgers rallied for a 61-54 overtime win.

"To have Commissioner Stern here,'' Hobbs said, "it was really something special for our team.''

In an interview with NJ Advance Media at halftime Saturday, Stern lauded Hobbs' impact on the Rutgers athletics program.

"The die is cast,'' said Stern, who has followed Rutgers' progress on its $100 million R B1G Build fundraising effort. "They have gone into the Big Ten for, I think, good and sufficient reasons, although I understand there are different views of that. And so you have to keep up with the competition, and they seem to be very much on track.''

Stern, who retired as NBA Commissioner in 2014 after a 30-year tenure, is regarded as one of the most influential figures in professional basketball history.

"One thing our guys know is the NBA,'' Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said, "and everybody knows David Stern.''

Four years after graduating Rutgers, Stern started his association with the NBA by joining a law firm that represented the league.

But it wasn't until Feb. 1, 1984, that Stern was elected as the NBA's fourth commissioner. Over his three decades presiding over league matters, Stern was credited with rescuing the NBA's financial fortunes by unlocking the value in TV and media and by implementing rule changes that made for an exciting brand of basketball.

In addition to increasing the NBA's revenues to a reported $5 billion at the time of his retirement, Stern launched the WNBA and the NBDL minor-league circuit. An international initiative that led to the televising of NBA games in more than 200 countries in 40-plus languages is another reason why he's regarded as one of the most influential figures in sports business.

"He's a wonderful person, and he loves Rutgers,'' Hobbs said. "He can still sing the fight song. I know he'll be at future Rutgers games. He feels really good, and he was very impressed with Coach Pikiell and what he's doing. He's a great asset for Rutgers, and I intend to call on him at every opportunity that I need counsel.''

In an interview with NJ Advance Media at halftime Saturday, Stern lauded Hobbs' impact on the Rutgers athletics program.

"Pat Hobbs was brought in to stabilize what's been a lot of turmoil inside athletics,'' Stern said, "and they seem now to be headed in the right direction.''

A class of 1999 Rutgers Hall of Fame inductee, Stern says he has supported New Jersey's state university in a variety of ways over the last five decades.

"The answer to that is yes, I contribute to Rutgers,'' Stern said, munching on a candy bar while being interviewed in a quiet corner of a MSG luxury suite. "I have two alma maters - Columbia, where I was chairman of the Board and Rutgers. But this is a little bit closer to the AD than I have been previously at Rutgers.''

After graduating from Teaneck High, Stern became a Dean's List history student and a Henry Rutgers Scholar. A member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, Stern has fond memories of rooting for a Rutgers football team that completed a perfect season (9-0 in 1961) during his time on the New Brunswick campus.

"Some Princeton kid still has my Rutgers beanie that they grabbed at the Rutgers-Princeton game,'' Stern said. "We played a much more subdued schedule. I remember when we played Colgate, we went up and stayed at the (Sigma Alpha Mu) house at Syracuse. So I've followed it. The things you remember is the Grease Trucks. In an address I gave to the graduating class, I told them the big issue for us was whether they would put lights in the Douglass (campus) parking lot.''

Tongue firmly planted in cheek, he quipped, "Those were the big issues of our time.''

Stern keeps in touch with Hobbs on a regular basis, lending advice, he says, "on some of the experience I've had in negotiating and the whole issue of commercial stuff.''

"I don't have an opinion on the basketball side,'' added Stern, who has served on Rutgers' Board of Overseers, a chief fundraising arm for the university. "That's for Pat and the Coach. But on the commercial side it's nice to see what's going on there.''

So what's his best piece of advice for Hobbs?

"Really just to keep on doing what he's doing,'' Stern said. "He's very supportive of the coaching staffs and in their recruiting efforts. He's the voice of the athletic program to the Board and to the President. And he seems to be very intense on that.

"My advice always is make sure you get adequate resources to not just on the athletics side but on the business side. If you have a good transaction, make sure you have a quick contract to lock it up. And think of yourselves as the metropolitan team. Those of us who went there when it was Rutgers, the State University understand that it's really now trying to appeal to a broader segment. And actually, given the number of Rutgers grads working in the metropolitan area, particularly here in New York, it does have the potential to appeal to a much broader base to get the support that they're trying to get.''

The advice, Hobbs said, has been well-received.

"When you see a decision or a move that has to be made, do it,'' Hobbs said, providing an inside look at his counsel sessions with Stern. "We've had the challenges we've had because at times there's been a failure of decision making and so sometimes I'll run things by him and he'll say, 'If that's what you see and that's where you think you have to go, then make those choices and move forward.' And it's great to hear that kind of counsel from somebody like him.''

Born and raised in Teaneck, Stern, 74, resides in Westchester County, N.Y. He says he's "busier than I've ever been in'' in his retirement, pointing to his involvement in venture-capital, investment-banking and strategic-consulting firms in addition to serving as an advisor to a handful of start-up companies.

"So,'' he said, "I'm having a ball.''

Not long after taking the AD job, Hobbs made it a point to bring Stern back into the Rutgers athletics fold.

"To the extent that somebody in the past didn't take advantage of having a David Stern available to give you guidance and counsel, I can't help that,'' he said. "But I know I need all the help I can get and he loves Rutgers. So to be able to pick up the phone ... if I send him an email, we'll set up a time the next day and go through something.

"He really is the senior advisor to Rutgers athletics right now. And who better than David Stern?''

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