The Rutgers men’s basketball program languished from a lack of support and commitment by the University and administration for decades. The results were obvious. Inadequate facilities, a lack of cohesion within the administration meant plenty of losing followed. Hope was not only absent, the idea of it was a cruel joke for fans who suffered in spite of it.
Over the previous three decades, Rutgers really only had two close calls to making the NCAA Tournament. In 1999, the Scarlet Knights were 17-7 but the bubble blew up in their face, losing the final four regular season games.