Rutgers’ season ended a month ago, but the Scarlet Knights are still receiving kudos for what many believe was a corner-turning campaign.

Rutgers was named the nation’s most improved team by Sports Illustrated in its end-of-year national college basketball roundup.

Rutgers was the laughingstock of the Big Ten in its first four years in the conference, with nine league wins over that span, but no one laughed this year—especially in trips to the RAC. After a 1–6 start to Big Ten play, the Scarlet Knights started to put things together under third-year coach Steve Pikiell, despite playing in the nation’s most competitive conference. They closed the regular season winning six of 13 games, and their seven overall Big Ten wins matched their combined total of the last three years. Those victories included wins over tournament teams Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa, as well as NIT teams Nebraska and Indiana. With only one rotation player graduating (Shaquille Doorson), sunnier skies finally look to be on the way in Piscataway.

The Scarlet Knights faded down the stretch, losing their last three games and failing to win a Big Ten Tournament game for the first time under Pikiell, but they still finished with a school-record seven conference wins and a 14-17 overall mark. Rutgers improved 70 spots from its preseason KenPom.com ranking to its final ranking, the biggest jump of any team in the country, and avoided a last-place Big Ten finish for the first time since joining the league. The Scarlet Knights beat two ranked teams - Ohio State at home and Iowa on the road.

“I’m proud of this group," Pikiell told NJ Advance Media after the season ended. “We had six players out of my 11 that had never played a minute in the Big Ten. This is the best year of the league, by far, from 1 to 14. We moved up; everyone picked us last. We won some great road games. Better days ahead. This was just a step."

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.