2025-26 Team Preview: Rutgers

We’re back!!!!

It is Preview SZN here on Hoopla, where I will be bringing you 18 team previews in (hopefully) 18 weeks. For those new to Hoopla, these will be in order of how I project the Big Ten standings to look at the end of the regular season, and I’ll do my best to give as much in-depth info for each team no matter where I expect them to finish.

A few notes before we fully jump in:

1. Shoutout to the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever for pulling off that stunner against the Minnesota Lynx to win the Commissioner’s Cup. They completely shut down a dominant Lynx team and truly looked like the title contender that was promised.

2. All of my Substack posts should now be moved over onto the main site here on Beehiiv (https://hooplanewsletter.beehiiv.com), so if you’re looking for any old info from those, please check them out on this site!

Table of Contents

• 2024-25 Overview

• Departures

• Returnees

• Incoming Players

• Outlook

2024-25 Overview

Last year was Rutgers’ fourth since the departure of coach C. Vivian Stringer, who ended her tenure with four straight years winning 60-plus percent of her games. Since then, the Scarlet Knights have failed to win even half of their contests, and just finished up a fourth consecutive 20-loss campaign.

After a 2024 offseason that offered more upside than the few before it, the results ended up being mostly the same, even with an improved non-conference campaign.

There were marginal improvements here in Coquese Washington’s third season as head coach, with the Scarlet Knights finding five more wins overall and one more in conference. That was partially in thanks to modest improvements on both sides of the ball (+2.0 PPG for, -1.8 PPG against compared to 23-24). Rutgers also won a pair of games in the WNIT before falling to Buffalo in the Great 8.

Washington has maintained a much faster pace of play compared to Stringer’s teams, but this Rutgers unit was also a worse shooting (-1.8 FG% and -1.9% 3PT%) and rebounding team (-1%) than the year prior. If there was a key strength with this team, though, it came on the offensive glass: Rutgers averaged 13.8 offensive rebounds per game, 35th best in the NCAA.

Overall, Her Hoop Stats rated Rutgers 8.1 points better overall as a team compared to last year, a sign of incremental progress being made despite another record that left something to be desired.

Here's last year’s Rutgers roster, sorted by Her Hoop Stats win shares:

Departures

For Washington and Co. to keep making positive progress, Rutgers is going to have to do it with a completely fresh core of contributors. The Scarlet Knights’ top six players in win shares are all gone, including star wing Destiny Adams, who was one of the most impressive high-impact players among the Big Ten teams toward the bottom of the standings.

Adams was a tenacious rebounder and consistently found her way to the rim. She was also a terrific defender and was able to keep the Scarlet Knights afloat in her two seasons with the team. She is one of four graduates from the team, and losing her along with Chyna Cornwell takes 7.4 offensive rebounds per game off the board. JoJo Lacey is also a difficult loss, as she led the team in minutes and was a solid contributor on both ends.

Of course, the big-name loss is Kiyomi McMiller, who entered the portal after a tumultuous freshman season that included a suspension and a second absence. Despite that, the 21 games we did see of McMiller showed a sky-high ceiling as a truly elite scorer, but also a player that is willing to fire away regardless of the game situation. Her departure leaves a major scoring void, but the five-star prospect didn’t appear to mesh well with the team or coaching staff from my view anyway.

Returnees

The Scarlet Knights are returning five players from last year’s team whose combined 23-24 win shares come out to 0.0. This includes the bottom four in total minutes played from last season, as well as rising sophomore Zachara Perkins.

Perkins started 28 games for Rutgers as a freshman and put up solid contributing numbers overall. She was a low-volume option, but showed significant potential as a shooter as the season went on (42.9 3PT% in Big Ten play). She has solid size and averaged nearly a block per game, and with the holes on the roster, it feels like she has a real opportunity to carve out a big role.

Antonia Bates is the other key returnee to watch for. She started all five games she played in before going down to injury and averaged nearly 30 minutes per game in 23-24. Like Perkins, she has never been asked to be a primary scorer (career-high of 3.7 FGA per game), but she has been one of Rutgers’ best defenders over the past three seasons.

With such little production returning, Janae Walker, Kennedy Brandt and Deja Young all have real chances to earn a spot in the rotation. Walker may be able to step in for offensive rebounding help, while Brandt has proven she will shoot from the perimeter in limited action.

Incoming Players

Six transfers and a pair of freshmen are coming to Piscataway, with Faith Blackstone being the major get from the bunch.

Blackstone’s career has gone from Syracuse → North Carolina A&T → Coppin State → Stephen F. Austin, and she’s seen her numbers improve at each preceding location. Last year’s run with SFA was a great one, as Blackstone led the team in scoring and got into the NCAA Tournament. It was also her most efficient year by far, improving her field goal percentage from 32.9 to 46.5%. I expect Blackstone to be the focal point of this year’s Rutgers attack, and if this upward trajectory can continue, she could put up some significant numbers.

Lauryn Swann is another name I am excited to see for the Scarlet Knights. She had a very promising freshman season for Arizona and has already delivered as a more-than-capable three-point shooter. Kaylah Ivey also will shoot it from deep and brings an experienced facilitator that Rutgers could really use (326th in NCAA in assist rate last season).

Imani Lester didn’t get extended run at Kansas State, but comes with two years of experience on a tournament team and more than doubled her field goal percentage across two seasons (24.1 → 49.3 FG%). Nené Ndiaye and Yacine N’Diaye are also a pair of third-years who came off the bench as underclassmen, with N’Diaye specifically boasting an impressive rebounding rate when utilized (18.5% rate, 67th in NCAA).

Rutgers has proven to not be shy when it comes to playing its freshmen early, so watch for Makylah Moore to get involved sooner rather than later. She is a volume scorer coming into a team that could use one to go with Blackstone. Precious Gem Wheeler will also have that opportunity and comes in with solid size for a forward at 6-3. Her high school numbers don’t fly off the page on offensive, but she averaged multiple blocks per game each of her last two seasons and could help solve some interior defense concerns.

Outlook

Projected Starters

• Kaylah Ivey - G

• Makylah Moore - G

• Faith Blackstone - G

• Zachara Perkins - F

• Antonia Bates - F

Big Ten Finish: 18th

On the whole, Rutgers was a better than last year than it was the season prior, but the Scarlet Knights still struggled mightily in Big Ten play and ended up losing its top six contributors. There were some intriguing additions made this offseason, but I still would expect this unit to rank at or toward the bottom of the conference.

Without a great traditional center option, I have Washington going with a mix of veterans at guard with Ivey and Blackstone leading the helm, while Moore and Perkins get great opportunities to find their offensive rhythm. I think Swann also has a strong chance to earn a starting role, but Moore makes sense for a Scarlet Knights team looking to find a spark.

A last-place finish would certainly be a disappointment in Washington’s fourth season, but the roster, on paper, appears to still be missing what it would need to get Rutgers back out of the basement. I’m excited to watch Blackstone in the Big Ten and to see if Perkins can get more involved as a sophomore, but it’s hard to see a wildly different result for this group than the one we’ve seen each of the past four years.

Photo Credit: Dakota Moyer, Rutgers Athletics

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