Welcome to Glass Slipper! Joe Burrow is going to enter Week 1 at full strength. That’s a win in itself; please enjoy the show.

- Jacob Rhee

Rutgers is going to the Final Four. I said it. I’m sure some of you just snorted with laughter; trust me, it felt weird even typing out such a blistering hot take. The Scarlet Knights have been to the Sweet Sixteen twice in their 110-year history. That is not a joke. They’ve made eight total appearances in the tournament. For a little bit of context, Kansas has participated in March Madness 34 consecutive times.

So what makes this Rutgers group different? Well, let’s start with the obvious part. After eight straight recruiting classes that finished outside of the top 30 nationally, Steve Pikiell came out of nowhere and landed two five-stars in the 2024 cycle. These aren’t just any elite prospects that are headed to Piscataway, either. Ace Bailey is the No. 2 overall player in the country, and Dylan Harper is one spot behind him. If Cooper Flagg hadn’t reclassified, it would be the top two recruits in America committed to the Scarlet Knights. That’s Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist kind of stuff, from a program with zero history of being competent.

Bailey is a freak athlete, and a really confident kid. He’s still a bit raw, and everything will depend on his outside shot. It looks nice mechanically, but I can tell it doesn’t fall at an elite rate without even glancing at the percentages. If it did, we’d be talking about Ace as a generational recruit. When he’s clicking from distance, Bailey looks like a bouncier Brandon Miller to me.

I think Harper - the son of five-time NBA champion Ron Harper and the younger brother of Rutgers great Ron Jr. - is the true gem here. Turn on the film, and you essentially see a left-handed Cade Cunningham; a jumbo do-it-all point guard that dictates the tempo, makes good decisions, and scores in crafty ways. Cade earned a No. 4 seed in the tournament with literally zero other NBA players on the roster at Oklahoma State. Why can’t Harper do a little better with Ace playing alongside him?

The two freshman superstars have a real team around them, too. Tyson Acuff transfers in from Eastern Michigan, where he posted a 22-4-3 line last year. I’m usually skeptical of guards with big numbers from small schools; those guys often have padded stats because they’re ball-hogging. Acuff has a little bit of that in him, but he also seems to possess the right attitude. I trust him to adapt to a smaller role, and work to approach the 39% mark that he shot from three as a sophomore. Meanwhile, Zach Martini joins Bailey in the frontcourt. The stretch four brings valuable floor spacing and March Madness experience with him from Princeton.

The options at center aren’t necessarily the best, but they’re enough. Emmanuel Ogbole began to get minutes at the end of last season after returning from a knee injury, and freshman Lathan Sommerville - the third-best player from Illinois in the 2024 class - also enters the mix. But even if neither guy is a standout, I’m not sure that it matters a whole lot. Ace and Dylan are both fantastic rebounders, and everyone in this starting lineup is going to be at least 6-foot-4. Plus, Bailey is a brilliant weak side shot blocker; there’s no urgent need for a dominant rim protector at the five.

This is an awesome college basketball team on paper. It’s a great balance of talent and experience, as well as shooting and slashing. The Big Ten looks extremely weak this year. Zach Edey is gone, and everyone seems to be retooling. As crazy as it may sound, I have the Scarlet Knights both winning this conference and cutting down the nets in March.

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