Bruce Johnson's Blog

A huge task ahead for the new Rutgers Athletic Director

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:59:30 GMT

It makes a catchy headline to say that Julie Hermann is the first female athletic director in Rutgers history. But it doesn't matter what's her gender. What matters is the set of credentials Hermann brings from the University of Louisville where she was the number-two person to one of the top a-d's in the nation, Tom Jurich. There are some who are questioning her qualifications because she was "only" second-in-command. But, in reality, those are the executives who do much of the heavy lifting in Fortune 500 companies while the CEO and President operates as the titular head or the "idea guy." I, for one, have no problem with Hermann's resume. If she was number-two at Louisville, based on that school's track record in competition, fund-raising and vision, that's good enough for me. What I'm more concerned about is if Hermann is able to successfully do the following which immediately ...

Right man for the job...right now

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:47:27 GMT

Well played by Rutgers University. In an attempt to drag the school out of the embarrassing depths of the Mike Rice basketball scandal, RU accomplished what it needed to do right now---restore credibility. And, there's no better way to do it than to reach back into the Scarlet Knights' glorious past and hire the point guard from the 1976 Final Four team, Eddie Jordan. To use a political phrase, the move will excite the older segment of the Rutgers' fan base and alumni and begin to move the school away from the Rice debacle. Nationally, it also shows that RU officials were serious about the coaching aspect of the job by hiring the former head coach of three NBA franchises. However, what remains to be seen if Jordan can get the job done over the long haul. The last time he had to recruit high school players was ...

Dr. Barchi should be the next to go

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 21:02:10 GMT

Whether you agree or disagree over Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti's role in the Mike Rice debacle, you have to respect the fact that Pernetti "fell on the sword" Friday and took responsibility for his actions by resigning. The same can not be said for first-year RU President Dr. Robert Barchi who was less than impressive the same day on the big stage of a media-packed news conference that officially announced Pernetti's resignation. Dr. Barchi looked like a small-time politician trying to wriggle off the hook when the question of why he didn't look at the explosive video of Rice's physical and verbal abuse at Scarlet Knight basketball practices before signing off on Pernetti's plan to discipline Rice instead of firing him back in December was repeatedly asked by the media. His basic answer that, if he had to do it again, he would have looked at the ...

Rice has got to go immediately; Pernetti and Barchi have some serious questions to answer

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:55:44 GMT

By now, just about every Rutgers basketball fan, most alums and many curious bystanders have seen the video on ESPN showing Scarlet Knight coach Mike Rice physically and verbally abusing his players. We knew it was coming as early as last December but hardly any of us thought it would be so bad. In fact, it's reprehensible. Rice's behavior is abhorrent. So, even though he's already served a three-game suspension and paid a $50,000 fine, Rice must be fired immediately. His actions have given the State University of New Jersey a large black eye; making the school a national embarrassment. But firing Rice is the easy part and certainly no great basketball loss when you look at his losing record over three years. The hard part concerns Athletic Director Tim Pernetti and new President Dr. Robert Barchi. Both saw the video tape last year; both signed off on ...

Good riddance to the Rutgers women's basketball season

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 22:07:15 GMT

If there was any more need for evidence that this was one of the worst seasons in Vivian Stringer's 18-year tenure as head coach of the women's basketball program, then this week in Hartford, Connecticut provided it. To begin with, when the Big East began handing out its individual post-season awards on Thursday, no Scarlet Knights were on All-League First Team...no Scarlet Knights were on All-League Second Team...and only one was on the Honorable Mention list (senior guard Erica Wheeler) and one of the All-Freshman Team (guard Kahleah Copper.) That's only two RU players listed among the top 38 in the Big East. Not very good for a team laden with McDonald's All-Americans and all-staters. Then, in Saturday's second round of the Big East Tournament, Stringer's ninth-seeded team blew an eleven-point lead in the first half and a five-point lead in the final five minutes to lose ...

Congratulations to Vivian Stringer on #900

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 05:12:06 GMT

It took her five agonizing tries but Rutgers women's basketball coach Vivia Stringer has become just the fourth female to hit the coveted 900 career-win plateau. Stringer achieved that status Tuesday night at the RAC with a 68-56 Big East victory over USF as heard on the new talk radio, 1450 WCTC and WCTCAM.com. One thing to remember, though...and I really don't want to "rain on her parade""...but this is a personal milestone for a Hall of Fame coach who has left an indelible mark on the women's...not something that erases the questions about her struggling Scarlet Knight program. More on that in weeks to come. But, for now, Vivian, pat yourself on the back for #900.

Why has the Rutgers women's basketball team fallen so far behind UConn?

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:36:27 GMT

Forget about Vivian Stringer's search for her 900th win. That will inevitably come. Forget about that 14-4 run Saturday afternoon to open the game at the RAC against number-three Connecticut. To be honest, the Scarlet Knights could have played the Huskies until next Friday without winning...and, truthfully, this isn't one of Geno Auriemma's better teams in recent memory. The real story here...and the telling question here...is why has the Rutgers women's basketball team fallen hopelessly behind UConn...and the rest of the nation. For historical perspective, let's go back to the 2007 and 2008 seasons...the last times Rutgers beat Connecticut...and the Scarlet Knights did it in back-to-back years....'07 in the Big East Tournament championship game in Hartford and '08 at the RAC to spoil the Huskies' undefeated season. Since then...with the same two head coaches...with the same set of arenas...in the same league...Rutgers has fallen woefully behind UConn in ...

22 straight seasons...and counting

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:56:13 GMT

Look in the dictionary for the definition of "futility" and you see a photo of the RAC basketball court. That's because the Scarlet Knight men's program now has clinched its 22nd consecutive non-winning conference regular season. Thanks to Saturday's 75-69 loss at DePaul (against a last-place team on a nine-game losing streak), head coach Mike Rice and Company are 4-9 in conference with only five regular season games left. The best RU can do is 9-9...a non-winning record. So, make that eighteen straight non-winning records in the Big East (in 18 seasons in that league) preceded by non-winning marks in its last four seasons in the Atlantic-10. The last time, the Scarlet had a winning regular-season record in a conference was in 1990-91 when it won the A-10 title en route to its last appearance in the NCAA Tournament. But, Scarlet Knight fans, don't despair, even if next ...

Stringer's off-the-court antics are far more interesting than what's on it

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 05:13:38 GMT

The most exciting thing that happened to the Rutgers women's basketball program at the RAC this weekend wasn't Saturday evening's lackluster 55-46 victory over a Cincinnati team that's winless in the Big East. (How about that comeback from nine points down in the second half to beat the 0-10 Bearcats!) No, it was when head coach Vivian Stringer imploded before the media Friday afternoon, calling out reporters for recently pointing out the Hall of Fame head coach has been performing below that level in recent years (1-28 against Top Ten teams since 2009), basically imploring athletic director Tim Pernetti to step up and renegotiate her contract (which expires after next season), criticizing, in unprecedented fashion, RU's other major revenue coaches for not winning enough AND shockingly saying that the talent on her team (laden with seven McDonald's All-Americans that SHE recruited) is not at the level she needs ...

It's like Groundhog Day for the Rutgers basketball team

bjohnson@greatermedianj.com (Bruce Johnson's Blog) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 20:20:11 GMT

You have to wonder why any Rutgers basketball fan would have any ounce of optimism about the program. Certainly it wouldn't be based on recent history. The Scarlet Knights lost their sixth straight game of the season Saturday afternoon to 20th-ranked Georgetown 69-63 in a Big East game heard on the new talk radio, 1450 WCTC and WCTCAM.com. That means RU is 3-8 in league with seven games left. The Knights would have to run the table to avoid a 22nd straight season of a non-winning record in a conference. That would be 18 out of 18 years in the Big East and the previous four in the Atlantic-10. The last time Rutgers had a winning mark in a league was in the 1990-91 season when it won the Atlantic-10 title en route to its last appearance in the NCAA Tournament. How long ago was that? The FIRST ...