Following Tuesday night’s loss to Hofstra in the NIT, Rutgers basketball clearly needs to be active in the transfer portal. Tuesday night showed that head coach Steve Pikiell needs to make the transfer portal a priority and add at least one starting veteran piece this offseason.
Things don’t need to be blown up when it comes to the roster construct as there are some strong returning pieces to the program. A healthy Mawot Mag and a growing Derek Simpson are an encouraging core, to say the least. Add incoming four-star forward Gavin Griffiths and a season of Big Ten experience for Cam Spencer and that is a nice core for Rutgers basketball to build in around.
If Cliff Omoruyi should return, then it would obviously be great news for Rutgers. And don’t forget about Paul Mulcahy, who could potentially return to Rutgers as well for a final season.
While Rutgers should and will continue to build via their high school recruiting, the transfer portal has changed the college game.
If Rutgers wants to return to the NCAA Tournament next year, then here are some names in the transfer portal that could help the Scarlet Knights go dancing again. Scroll down to check out seven transfer portal candidates who could help Rutgers basketball.
This one has been touched on earlier, but Battle makes a lot of sense for Rutgers. A shooting guard who can score in multiple ways, Battle has the potential to be a game-changer for whatever team he picks out of the transfer portal. A former four-star recruit from New Jersey who was recruited by Rutgers, Battle could benefit from a season in the Big Ten to up his NBA draft stock.
A four who can spread the court, Cohen is another New Jersey product who has the potential to be an impact starter at Rutgers. At 6-foot-10, he averaged 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He had strong performances in out-of-conference games earlier this season at Ohio State (18 points, 10 rebounds) and at Miami (30 points, nine rebounds).
Cohen is a good passer and a solid defender. He fits a position of definite need for Rutgers.
Were Omoruyi to return, he would combine with Cohen to make an impressive one-two punch in the paint for Rutgers. That’s something the Scarlet Knights haven’t truly had during the Steve Pikiell era.
Another guard, Fernandes is coming off a very strong season at UMass where he had 13.4 points and 4.1 assists per game. The knock against Fernandes…
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