Steve Pikiell

As Steve Pikiell enters his third season at the helm of the Rutgers basketball program and his vision for its future continues to be molded, there is one constant that’s remained from the moment he coached his first game in Piscataway — he’s doing it with the same group of people.

The Scarlet Knights return every member of their staff, including assistant coaches Jay Young, Karl Hobbs and Brandin Knight, for a third straight season in 2018-19.

That continuity within the coaching staff is something Rutgers has not had in quite some time. Eddie Jordan and Mike Rice, the two head coaches prior to Pikiell, saw at least one assistant spot change during their tenures on the Banks, both of which lasted three seasons.

For the type of program Pikiell wants to build, one which consists of developing four-year players who believe in his philosophy of “playing hard and defending like crazy,” that continuity is vital.

“Looking back through the history of programs here at Rutgers, they haven’t had a lot of continuity,” Pikiell told Scarlet Nation. “I don’t think that bodes well for building programs, so to have them all here (is great). They’ve all had chances to leave. ... The guys know them, they’re great at what they do and to have them stay on board when they’ve had other chances says a lot about Rutgers and where we are as a program. I’m just thrilled to have them. I won’t have them forever because they’re really good, but if we can keep them together for as long as possible, it bodes well for our guys and bodes well for continuity in our program.”

It was a feat that took some effort.

“They tried to steal them all,” Pikiell said in his media day press conference. “But we retained them.”

The fruits of the staff’s labor is evident in a quick glance of the roster.

Take Eugene Omoruyi, for example.

The junior forward was lightly recruited out of Ontario, Canada, after he switched from playing soccer to basketball in the 10th grade. He received an offer from Pikiell at the 11th hour in the summer following his senior year of high school, quickly committed and signed on to the coach’s first class with the Scarlet Knights.

Omoruyi had a reasonable freshman season, averaging 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 12 minutes a game. But as the program took a jump in 2017-18, so too did Omoruyi. He improved drastically in nearly every statistical category while becoming a vital member of a defensive unit which ranked 17th in the nation in scoring defense.

Pikiell said Omoruyi is again the most improved member of the Scarlet Knights as he enters his junior season and much of the credit goes to the coaching staff which developed him.

“Knowing that they care and having the same trust in them as they have in me to step on the court and do what I do, it’s been great,” Omoruyi said. “I feel like the coaches have brought me in and gave me the courage to lead the team in different ways. For example, the younger guys, talking to them, bringing them together, keeping everyone together, the type bond has helped everyone a lot.”

The trust is shared among different members of the roster, including sophomore guard Geo Baker. The New Hampshire native showed growth as his freshman season went along in 2017-18, with the peak coming in his breakout performance against Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament.

The 414th ranked prospect in the class of 2017 , Baker outplayed his ranking as a freshman and earned a role as a leader for Rutgers this season. Along the way, he had a coaching staff pushing him forward.

“They’ve helped me a lot,” Baker said. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot, not just as a player, but as a person. I think they’ve helped me with a lot of stuff. Just knowing they believe in me and believe in the team, I think that every coach that we have believes we can do something special here. That’s the most important thing.”

Perhaps the player who most benefits from the continuity is Issa Thiam, a junior forward with loads of potential he is just scratching the surface of. He works with the coaching staff constantly to develop his game and they are always available to provide help.

“That makes me more confident because they help me,” Thiam said of the coaching continuity. “I go to them, I have someone to help me work on my shot or something like that. I go to them to ask them what I’m going to do on the court, what I’m going to do as a leader of the young team. They’re good coaches. They’re the same like a father (figure). When I need something, I ask them and they tell me ‘you have to do this, you have to do that.’ That is good for everybody and good to help a young team ... It feels like a family.”

Thiam’s relationship is strongest with the longest tenured coach on staff.

Director of Player Development Greg “Shoes” Vetrone was a member of Eddie Jordan’s staff and was kept on staff by Pikiell. But before he arrived on the Banks, he worked as a player development consultant with the Canarias Basketball Academy in Tenerife, Spain, per his bio . It was there Thiam met Vetrone and the two developed a bond, one played a role in Thiam committing to Rutgers not once, but twice — once under Jordan and then again under Pikiell after he decommitted following Jordan’s firing.

“Coach Shoes is like a father to me,” Thiam said. “When I first started playing in Spain, I met him there. I was young. I just knew from there he saw me as a son and now he takes care of me, anything I need and he helps me. Sometimes he helps me with my English, helped me (adapt to basketball) here, how it’s different in the USA, everything like that.”

Like Omoruyi and Baker and the number of other players who remain from Pikiell’s first two seasons at Rutgers, Thiam took strides forward in his development this offseason and projects to have his best season yet with a familiar group of coaches on the sideline.

That’s no coincidence.

“I think (the coaching continuity) has been crucial (to our development),” Pikiell said. “You see it even with (head football coach) Chris Ash. Nine offensive coordinators in nine years, that’s hard. Every year you’re trying to start over with philosophy, with language, with playcalls, with those kind of things. That’s an obstacle I’m sure he faces. To have the same guys and the voice and, for me too, a comfort in that they know exactly what I want to do. If I’m out recruiting, they know exactly what to do here. I think it’s invaluable, especially when you have good people who are good role models for our student-athletes, teaching the same lessons that I want these guys to hear. That’s been huge and hopefully we can keep it that way.”