PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- On display in Steve Pikiell's office on the fourth floor of Rutgers' Athletic Performance Center are three basketball-sized glass display cases.
The bottom one, on the wall behind where the Rutgers men's basketball coach sits, is labeled "NCAA Tournament." There's a ball inside commemorating Rutgers' win over Clemson in the 2021 tournament, the program's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1991 and their first win since 1983.
The other two cases are empty. One is marked "Final Four"; the other, "National Championship."
Pikiell had them built when he took over the program in 2016, when the Scarlet Knights hadn't had a winning season in more than a decade and hadn't finished above .