2024-25 Team Preview: Rutgers
What can a five-star and a returning star do to get the Scarlet Knights back on track?
For those interested, I was on a podcast! I joined Mark Schindler on his They’ve Got Now podcast to talk all things Big Ten heading into the season. I also gave some preliminary rankings or tiers for the higher teams that I am writing in the lightest pencil I can find to potentially change later.
You can listen to the episode on Apple Music or Spotify with the links Mark provided, or watch the episode on YouTube below:
Last Week’s Preview:
Overview
It’s been such a strange past decade for Rutgers women’s basketball.
After years of success in the Big East under the legendary C. Vivian Stringer, the Scarlet Knights moved to the Big Ten where they immediately returned to the NCAA Tournament and finished top five in the conference. A few down years followed, but by 2021 Rutgers had three straight years of tourney-level teams and seemed to be one of the most competitive programs in the conference.
Then Stringer retired, and Rutgers is still working on picking up the pieces from that as it enters its fourth season without her.
In 2023-24, the record hit a new low in the post-Stringer era, with Rutgers winning just a quarter of its games. Despite that, this team actually improved in most metrics from the prior season, and that’s despite losing star sophomore Kaylene Smikle to injury early on.
Both the scoring (63.2 PPG in 22-23) and defense (73.7 PPG allowed) were better, the rebounding improved, the shooting efficiency improved, but Rutgers lost four more games and finished dead last in the Big Ten.
Head coach Coquese Washington was almost certainly always going to have a long-term rebuild on her hands, so these losses are not some major red flag. In fact, it’s promising to see the Scarlet Knights have some modest areas of growth despite the record last year.
Here's last year’s Rutgers roster, sorted by Her Hoop Stats win shares:
Of note: Rutgers is one of three current teams in the Big Ten (Ohio State, UCLA) to not have their updated 2024-25 roster live on the site, so the departing/returning info above and additions below were based on information from their press releases or other websites.
I’m making this note to let you know in case there’s an error, and also to complain to these three programs in a formal setting. Hello, please update your websites. It’s almost August and the other 15 schools did it. Thanks <3
Departures
Rutgers only loses four players from last season, three of which were through the portal.
The largest loss here is definitely Smikle, who was dominant as a freshman and started her second year very well before falling to injury. She will now get to face the Scarlet Knights once per season as a Terrapin.
Smikle was a terrific shot creator and solid on-ball defender, but she was asked to do it all even as an underclassmen. The Kassondra Brown loss is also notable, though not one Rutgers could have avoided. She was a very serviceable center who contributed to the team’s overall rebounding improvements a season ago.
I’ll be very curious to see how Jillian Huerter continues to grow in her move to Fairfield. Huerter showed real ability as a volume shooter in her freshman season, and the Stags are coming off a historic 30-win season. There’s a chance she could have a big role on a tournament team.
Returnees
Destiny Adams went from a promising role player at North Carolina to a do-it-all wing for the Scarlet Knights in her first year with the program, averaging 15.6 PPG with nearly 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals per contest to boot.
Adams was key for Rutgers all season, but she elevated it further during Big Ten play, with 17.8 PPG and 8.3 RPG against heightened competition. Adams just has that ability to out hustle and outwork opponents, which is shown with her 3.1 offensive rebounds per game. She lacks a three-point threat, but was able to shoot over 50 percent from the field and consistently get to the line in spite of that.
The returns of Chyna Cornwell and Awa Sidibe will give Rutgers some more experience to combine with what could be an exciting youth movement elsewhere. Cornwell, like Adams, is a great interior scorer and rebounder, and the duo were huge in giving the Scarlet Knights a little bit of an identity last season.
Sidibe was a do-it-all player in 22-23, with 9.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.4 SPG and 0.7 BPG. That skillset left a void as she missed all of last season with a knee injury, but she’s back and should see ample playing time upon her return.
Mya Petticord and Lisa Thompson both had highs and lows during their first seasons in Piscataway (Petticord as a transfer), but both hold a lot of potential and Rutgers had no reason to avoid giving that potential a lot of minutes. That should be useful as both continue to grow under Washington’s system.
Incoming Players
Even with the roster looking quite stable overall, Rutgers’ ceiling this season is likely in the hands of a newcomer.
The name that jumps off the page here is Kiyomi McMiller, the five-star guard from Maryland who has the potential to jumpstart this Scarlet Knights program.
McMiller is clearly used to a high-volume role from her stats at Life Center Academy, and it feels like a safe bet that she will be given an opportunity to get a pretty large role at Rutgers pretty quickly.
The Scarlet Knights have seen both the highs and lows that can come with an early talent emerging very recently with Smikle, but now she’s going to be playing for an in-conference foe. I’m excited to see exactly what McMiller will be able to do in year one, but I’m also hoping to see a Rutgers team that works well around her potential.
McMiller is joined by Zachara Perkins, who was a solid scorer, rebounder and shot blocker in high school. There might be more of an opportunity to ease Perkins in based on the returnees for Rutgers, but there’s a lot of talent to watch for there as well.
I like the addition of JoJo Lacey out of Boston College. She had solid numbers last year, but her 22-23 campaign was excellent for the Eagles, averaging 10.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.5 SPG while starting all 33 contests. The ACC to Big Ten transition should be comparable, and I think Lacey should be a solid part of the core rotation.
Janae Walker is the final new face for the Scarlet Knights, and it’s hard to gauge much from her to this point because she had a small role on what ended up being a very bad Kentucky team. This is another potential piece for Washington to work with, as Walker put up monstrous numbers in high school and could be yet another dominant rebounder to add to the picture.
Outlook
Projected Starters
Kiyomi McMiller - G
Mya Petticord - G
JoJo Lacey - G/F
Destiny Adams - F
Chyna Cornwell - C
Projected Big Ten Finish: 16th
Rutgers took a step back record wise, but in my eyes they took a small step forward overall. That said, the program needs to take a larger step forward this season with the returning experience combining with some legitimate new talent.
I would be very surprised if McMiller wasn’t a Day One starter, both based on her talent and on the roster surrounding her. Petticord did well last season, and I would love to see what this backcourt can do as a duo. Adams and Cornwell are no-doubt starters in my mind, and the Scarlet Knights should establish themselves as interior threats that can dominate the glass. That’s their best identity and it could be useful combatting the new Pac-12 additions in particular.
Lacey, Sidibe, Thompson, Antonia Bates and Kennedy Brandt may all be battling for this fifth starting spot, and I think Sidibe could ultimately get it for experience with the team. But I think Lacey’s work with Boston College in the ACC should be noticed and it’s where I lean slightly for now.
It’s hard to find a path for Rutgers to become a tournament hopeful in the near future unless McMiller blossoms into a program-changing-level star. She’s got the capability, but it’s a lot to ask, but having Adams here to take some of the burden will help.
I’m hopeful that we see some growth that gets reflected in the wins column, but it won’t be easy in this conference as this team continues to battle growing pains. That said, there’s reasons to watch for the growth more than the past two seasons, and that’s really what the Scarlet Knights needed to move forward from the Stringer era.
Photo Credit: Rutgers Athletics
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