Rutgers resorts to taking credit for NBA players from other schools
Rutgers hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in a quarter century, hasn’t produced a winning season in a decade and hasn’t landed a player in the NBA since little-known Hamady N’Diaye was taken 56th overall in 2010.
Given that dearth of basketball pedigree, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Scarlet Knights are borrowing from another program’s history.
On Tuesday night, Rutgers basketball sent out a red-and-black-tinted tweet noting that players coached by current Scarlet Knights staffers have earned $1.1 billion dollars playing in the NBA or overseas. Among the players prominently featured are Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Andre Drummond and Shabazz Napier, all of whom have one thing in common: They attended UConn, not Rutgers.
Cha-Ching ????????????
????⚔ #KnightAndDay pic.twitter.com/VniZuwZVk2
— Rutgers Basketball (@RutgersMBB) August 31, 2016
Granted new Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell and assistant Karl Hobbs did both coach at UConn and play a role in grooming those players. Nonetheless, just because the tweet is accurate does not make it less of a reach.
You don’t see Fresno State claiming Kevin Durant’s scoring titles or all-star appearances just because Rodney Terry coached him at Texas. Or South Florida taking credit for the earnings of Kentucky’s stable of NBA stars that Orlando Antigua helped recruit to Lexington.
Not surprisingly, the Rutgers tweet spread quickly on social media among UConn fans, who had some clever responses.
Actual stat: Travis Knight made more money in the NBA than every @RutgersMBB to ever play in the league… combined.
— A Dime Back (@ADimeBack) August 31, 2016
Someone spotted an interesting sign being installed at exit 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike this morning pic.twitter.com/G2uR1QCbdr
— PENFIELD (@BpenfieldJ) August 31, 2016
Good thing Rutgers changed coaches otherwise that poor social media intern was going to spend tomorrow having basketballs thrown at his head
— We take the stairs (@NoEscalators) August 31, 2016
Heck, even UConn Athletics noticed the heavy Huskies presence in the Rutgers tweet.
Feel free to tag @UConnMBB
#UConnNation https://t.co/N2o9tN35yU— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) August 31, 2016
It’s understandable that Rutgers would resort to getting creative in trying to tout its program to future prospects, but the Scarlet Knights might want to consider scrapping this recruiting pitch. They did a much better job selling the rich history of a former Big East rival than they did highlighting their own merits.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!