Welcome to “Big Ten offseason at a glance,” a team-by-team look at the conference at the start of the summer. We’ll examine roster movement for each Big Ten roster and give an early outlook for each Big Ten program for the 2026-27 season.
Up next: Rutgers (14-20 overall in 2025-26, 6-14 in Big Ten play)
Previously: Penn State
For the third consecutive season, Rutgers finished under .500 in the Big Ten and overall, further deepening the Scarlet Knights’ collapse under Steve Pikiell.
Hired in 2016 from Stony Brook, Pikiell took the Scarlet Knights from a bottom-feeder of the Big Ten to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022. Since then, Rutgers has failed to make it back to the Big Dance, making only an NIT appearance in 2023. The Scarlet Knights were below the .500 threshold in 2024-25 with a pair of lottery picks in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.
Though his contract runs through the 2031 season, Pikiell won’t start the season on the hot seat, but a fourth-straight losing season will warm the seat at the minimum.
Rutgers roster movement
Players returning with eligibility: Tariq Francis, Jamichael Davis, Kaden Powers, Darren Buchanan Jr., Gevonte Ware, Angelino Mark
Players departing due to exhausted eligibility: None
Players who departed via transfer portal: Baye Fall (to Fresno State), Bryce Dortch (to Notre Dame), Chris Nwuli (to Seton Hall), Denis Badalau (to Towson), Dorian Jones (to Kent State), Dylan Grant (to Charlotte), Emmanuel Ogbole, Harun Zrno
Players arriving via transfer portal: Lewis Duarte (from New Mexico State), Darin Smith Jr. (from Central Connecticut State), Christian Gurdak (from Virginia Tech), Will Sydnor (from Manhattan), Dorin Buca (from Kansas State), Rasheed Jones (from Coastal Carolina)
Player arriving from high school: Imahri Wooten
Like most Big Ten teams, Rutgers saw roster turnover via the portal, losing eight players. It brought in six players, but only two of the Scarlet Knights’ transfers have power-conference experience.
What to like about Rutgers
Despite its new-look roster, Rutgers retains three of its most impactful players in Tariq Francis, Jamichael Davis and Darren Buchanan Jr. The Scarlet Knights retain 55 percent of their scoring from last season.
In his first season after transferring from NJIT, Francis led the Scarlet Knights with 17 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The Pittsburgh native shot 35.1 percent from distance on four attempts per game. He will be their number one option beginning in November.
After not having a rotational player above 6-foot-10, the Scarlet Knights brought in height with Dorin Buca, who stands 7-foot-2 and Christian Gurdak from Virginia Tech.
Gurdak, the biggest name from the portal, is the only incoming player who has played in a power conference. He appeared in 31 games in his freshman season in Blacksburg, averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.
What to question with Rutgers
Though returning players are plentiful, there aren’t many quality options after Tariq Francis. There won’t be enough power conference experience on the floor for Rutgers to compete in the Big Ten.
The Scarlet Knights finished at 117 in Torvik’s end-of-season rankings, coming in a grim 139th in offensive efficiency. Without sizeable contributions from Buca and Gurdak, Rutgers could once again find itself at the bottom of the conference.
If the streak of losing seasons persists, the main question will be surrounding how hot Pikiell’s seat will be in March.
Rutgers’ outlook for the 2026-27 season
Here’s Rutgers’ Big Ten schedule for next season:
Home: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
Away: Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington
Home/Away: Maryland, Penn State, Purdue
Expectations have fallen drastically in recent seasons in Piscataway. Once a formidable Big Ten program, Rutgers was a contender in the first half of the 2020s but has fizzled out over the last three seasons.
It is crowded at the top of the conference and even more competitive in the middle, but it will likely be an uphill battle for Rutgers to finish outside the bottom five of the Big Ten for the second straight season.
See More: Commentary, 2026-27 Big Ten preview, Rutgers Scarlet Knights