Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell gets 3-year contract extension
Rutgers has given coach Steve Pikiell a three-year contract extension through the 2023-24 season.
Athletic director Patrick Hobbs announced the extension on Wednesday with Pikiell in his second season with the program.
Under terms of the deal, Pikiell will be guaranteed $15.05 million over the next five seasons, plus performance bonuses.
Pikielll enters Wednesday evening's game at No. 4 Michigan State with a 26-24 overall record at Rutgers, including an 11-6 mark this season. The Scarlet Knights are third nationally in offensive rebounding (14.82 per game), sixth in overall rebounding (42.59), ninth in scoring defense (60.9), 13th in turnover margin (4.6) and 14th in field goal percentage defense (38.1).
''Steve is doing a fantastic job and it's our intent to do everything we can to keep him at Rutgers for a very long time,'' Hobbs said in a statement. ''There is incredible excitement around our program. We are going to compete with the very best because of Steve's leadership. Our program could not be in better hands.''
Rutgers had another strong classroom performance under Pikiell this past fall semester, posting a 2.9 cumulative team grade point average. Three student-athletes earned recognition on the dean's list with GPAs of 3.5 and above, while seven achieved GPAs of 3.0 or greater.
Pikiell began his tenure at Rutgers with a 9-1 start, the best coaching debut in history of the men's program. The Scarlet Knights more than doubled their overall win total in 2016-17, while tripling their conference victory total.
The 2016 America East Conference Coach of the Year, Pikiell led Stony Brook to six postseason appearances over his last seven years in Long Island before arriving at Rutgers. He played point guard at Connecticut under Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun and has 27 years of coaching experience, including 13 as a Division I head coach. His career record is 218-179.
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