Watch: Rutgers’ 1976 Final Four team is honored, 50 years later
Watch: Rutgers’ 1976 Final Four team is honored, 50 years later
The Rutgers basketball team’s rotation, which is going to be enormous early on this season as head coach Steve Pikiell figures out everyone’s roles, has gotten a bit more manageable thanks to an unsurprising redshirt.
Dorian Jones, who joined the program in late August after decommitting from Ohio State in June, will not suit up for the Scarlet Knights in 2025-26, the Asbury Park Press has learned. He will practice with the team.
The 6-foot-4, 160-pound freshman guard from Cleveland – a former four-star recruiting prospect – had a lot going against him.
At the time of his decommitment from the Buckeyes, The Columbus Dispatch reported that academics were an issue and Jones would head to prep school as a result. When he committed to Rutgers, it was uncertain if his transcripts would pass muster with the NCAA.
He also missed the entire summer session, a crucial part of acclimation to the program and its system. He’s underweight for his height. And Rutgers has five other guards, four of whom were definitively ahead of him on the depth chart.
The Scarlet Knights have 14 scholarship players and Pikiell intends to use a big rotation, but no team in college basketball has a 14-man rotation. Even 13 is a stretch. Rutgers still has plenty of depth, but one fewer guy to find minutes for.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
