In his introductory press conference 19 months ago, Steve Pikiell danced around a question of how long he believed it would take him to transform the Rutgers men’s basketball program into an NCAA Tournament contender.
“That question’s been asked at five of the stops — I think (that's) going to happen here,’’ he said before pumping the brakes a bit.
"It takes time and it takes patience,’’ he added.
Heading into his second season, Pikiell was asked last week whether the NCAA Tournament is a realistic goal.
“That’s always our goal — our goal is the NCAA Tournament,’’ Pikiell told NJ Advance Media.