Vincent Garrett, a 6-foot-6 wing from Lee College (TX), has committed to Rutgers.

The former Chicago Marshall star, who visited Rutgers two weeks ago, had offers from Oregon State, UNLV and Iowa and interest from UConn, according to Lee assistant Marcus King. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

“Signing Vincent was a priority for us this recruiting period, and we are thrilled to welcome him into the program,” said head coach Mike Rice. “He is a very gifted athlete with the ability to score the ball at many levels. Vincent is also a mature young man who has developed and excelled due to a tremendous work ethic.”

“He’ll be an impact player for Rutgers,” King told SNY.tv, adding that Garrett had the potential to compare to Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder, both former junior college players. (more…)

NEW ORLEANS — Jimmy Carr may be the only basketball fan in America rooting for a tie in Monday night’s NCAA championship game.

More specifically, Carr says the angel of his late son, Brayden, is hoping Kansas and Kentucky tie and both teams walk away as equals.

“A little angel is watching over their season,” Carr told SNY.tv by text. “He is rooting for a tie tonight.” (more…)

Gilvydas Biruta, the most consistent and effective frontcourt player at Rutgers, has decided to transfer.

“Gilvydas is a fine young man and we appreciate his contributions to the program,” said head coach Mike Rice. “We wish him the best in his future endeavors, both on and off the court.”

The 6-foot-8 sophomore from Lithuania averaged 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds last season for the Scarlet Knights, who finished 14-18, 6-12 in the Big East. (more…)

NEW YORK — When Mike Rice looked out on the Madison Square Garden floor Tuesday night, he saw a whole lot of Maalik Wayns.

The Villanova junior guard sliced through the Scarlet Knights’ defense for 28 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists en route to a 70-49 pasting in the first round of the Big East Tournament.

Rice has three talented freshmen guards of his own in Eli Carter, Myles Mack and Jerome Seagears and he’s banking on them evolving into something approximating what Wayns is now: a rugged veteran of Big East battles and a Second-Team All-Big East performer.

“I am very confident,” a clearly flustered Rice said after his team managed just 3-for-25 shooting and 15 points in the second half. “It’s going to happen. Rutgers is going to happen.” (more…)

NEWARK – Dane Miller didn’t need any added motivation for Saturday’s Garden State showdown between Rutgers and Seton Hall.

But he found it Friday in a tragic place when he learned during practice that a close friend of his from his hometown of Rochester, Siaquan Moore, had been stabbed three times in the upper torso following an incident outside of a nightclub early Monday morning.

Miller was under the impression that Moore, 21, had died Friday. Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester confirmed the death in a statement on Saturday.

“I just broke down [Friday],” Miller told SNY.tv and the New York Post after pouring in a season-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds as Rutgers beat Seton Hall, 77-72 in overtime, at The Prudential Center.

“I couldn’t really pull myself together. I felt like I had to come out and play for him.” (more…)

Rutgers coach Mike Rice saw St. John’s make the NCAA Tournament last season in Steve Lavin’s first year at the helm.

Now it appears it could be in-state rival Seton Hall’s turn in Kevin Willard’s second year.

Rice, who is also in his second year running a program that hasn’t gone dancing since 1991, concedes he is a little bit envious of his local Big East rivals.

“The motivation to turn this thing around and get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in maybe 20, 21 years, yeah, we look at St. John’s last year and maybe Seton Hall this year and look at a little bit of envy and how their upperclassmen seniors are leading them to where they want to go,” Rice said Thursday. (more…)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – It’s been quite a week for Herb Pope.

In the span of of nine days, the Seton Hall forward bruised his ribs, sat out a game against UConn, appeared to head butt Eli Carter down the stretch of a hotly contested rivalry game and then hit a huge 3-pointer in the Pirates’ 59-54 victory at the Rutgers Athletic Center that came in front of Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz.

“They’re a great team, it’s just that we needed that win,” Pope said after going for 12 points and 12 rebounds to help snap a six-game losing streak for Seton Hall (16-8, 5-7 Big East).

With 3:26 left in the game and Seton Hall ahead 48-44, the video replay showed Pope appearing to head butt Carter and Carter then pushing back.

“He definitely did, but it’s no hard feelings,” Carter (13 points) said when asked if Pope head-butted him. (more…)

Seton Hall will visit Rutgers Wednesday night in a Big East basketball game in the Soprano State.

The matchup of old rivals will take place in Piscataway, N.J., but it might as well be a celebration of the Silk City of Paterson — the birthplace of Larry Doby, Lou Costello, Tim Thomas, Marquis Webb, Essence Carson and Nicole Louden.

Some five players across both teams have Paterson roots and the most talked-about Patersonian on the airwaves these days — Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz — is expected to be in attendance at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

Rutgers freshmen Myles Mack and Derrick Randall both attended Paterson Catholic, Cruz’s alma mater, as did Seton Hall senior Jordan Theodore and sophomore Fuquan Edwin. Rutgers freshman Eli Carter also grew up in Paterson. (more…)

Seton Hall is ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in more than a decade.

Rutgers has knocked off two Top 10 opponents in the last two weeks.

All of that is good news for New Jersey’s Big East programs in terms of recruiting, but they must keep up the winning.

“In my opinion, the best kids in the state will start looking at Rutgers and Seton Hall when they start winning consistently,” said Roselle (N.J.) Catholic coach Dave Boff, whose team has one of the top juniors in the state in 6-foot-7 forward Tyler Roberson. (Read his player blog here.) (more…)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It was only a small sample size.

Two games in five days.

But No. 8 UConn — the defending NCAA champs — got a taste of what New Jersey hoops could be during their Big East sojourn this week.

In a nightmare span of five says, the Huskies lost to both Seton Hall and Rutgers, falling to the Scarlet Knights, 67-60, on Saturday night at a rockin’ RAC five nights after being throttled by the Pirates, 75-63, at The Rock. (more…)