Rutgers Signs Extension With Steve Pikiell Through 2025-’26 Season

According to a press release, Rutgers has signed an extension with head coach Steve Pikiell through the 2025-’26 season. The news comes as Pikiell is closing out his fourth season as head coach of the Scarlet Knights.

Pikiell was initially hired as the program’s head coach in 2016 after spending more than a decade at Stony Brook. Most hoped he could return some respectability to the program and bring the Scarlet Knights out of the proverbial gutter. However, nobody thought it would be an easy job, as Rutgers had just wrapped up a disastrous run with former head coach Eddie Jordan.

And while it took some time for Pikiell to get things going, Rutgers improved more than a 100 spots on KenPom in his first season and has continued that rise since then. The Scarlet Knights are now likely just a win or two away from earning an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in decades. It’s been a remarkable turnaround.

With the extension, Pikiell is now signed as Rutgers’ head coach for the next six seasons. If Pikiell remains at Rutgers for the duration of the contract, he would be 58 years old and would be the longest-tenured coach with the program in the modern era.

We will see if Rutgers can find its way into this year’s NCAA Tournament, but fans have to be excited about where the program appears to be heading. And locking down Pikiell is a big step in keeping things going.