A successful night at the NBA Draft for Rutgers was the latest reminder of the massive missed opportunity that will haunt the program and coach Steve Pikiell for years to come.
With former Scarlet Knight stars Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey being selected second and fifth overall by the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz, respectively, at the 2025 NBA Draft, they cemented a spot in an unwanted category for the college they represented for one year.
Rutgers is now the first — and, likely for the foreseeable future, the only — program in college basketball history to miss the NCAA Tournament while having two players who were picked in the top five of the subsequent NBA Draft.
Despite having the two elite talents, the Scarlet Knights were out of the March Madness conversation by mid-January, eventually finishing with a 15-17 record in a season that ended with a first-round exit in the Big Ten Tournament.
The highest draft pick in program history, Harper lived up to expectations individually during his single season in Piscataway, setting a program record for points in a single season by a true freshman (564) and finishing with the 20th-highest scoring average (19.4) by any Scarlet Knight in a single season.
Across 29 appearances — some of which came as he dealt with illness and an ankle sprain — Harper averaged 19.4 points on 48.4% shooting (57.4% on twos, 33.3% on threes, 75% on free throws), 4.6 rebounds, four assists, 1.4 steals and 0.6 blocks in 32.6 minutes per game.
Bailey, the draft’s mystery man, was a bit more mercurial as a Scarlet Knight.
The forward displayed his elite shot-making abilities during a mercurial year at Rutgers, where he averaged 17.6 points on 46% shooting (51.1% on twos, 34.6% on threes, 69.2% on free throws) across 30 appearances, including a 39-point outburst against Indiana and a 37-point showing against Northwestern.
But he also showed a number of the question marks that gave NBA personnel pause when evaluating his future prospects. While he averaged 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals, Bailey struggled to remain focused defensively for stretches; he averaged just 1.3 assists despite 15 field goal attempts per game.
Still, Utah took a shot on him with the fifth pick, giving him a landing spot to start his college career while cementing his alma mater’s place in college basketball infamy.
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Brian Fonseca may be reached atbfonseca@njadvancemedia.com.