It was supposed to be a dream 2024-25 season for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Dylan Harper was coming. So was Ace Bailey.
Rutgers had never landed recruits of their caliber, let alone two in the same class. What could go wrong?
Turns out, everything.
Harper was injured early in the season. Bailey was inefficient throughout the season.
And somehow, the Scarlet Knights went 15-17.
Never has a team with two top-five picks missed the NCAA Tournament, so if Bailey sneaks into the top-five on Wednesday night behind presumptive No. 2 pick Harper, that'd be some more infamy for that Rutgers bunch.
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It's actually remarkable that Rutgers wasn't better.
Harper is a true NBA floor general with scoring ability. When you put one of those guys on a college floor, he's supposed to run the show. And he sort of did, but it somehow didn't come with wins.
Bailey was the king of taking tough, contested shots. At 6-foot-10 with all the talent in the world, he made a lot of them, but not enough.
Around them, Rutgers didn't have the depth to win close games in the grind-it-out Big Ten.
At this point, it's really not that worth dwelling on. Harper and Bailey both went one-and-done, as expected, and their Rutgers tenure will likely be just a footnote if they have the NBA careers they'd hope for.
But man, it's weird to think about. Two guys came to campus as generational recruits, leave campus a year later as top-10 picks, and in between, they lose more games than they win.
Rutgers seriously couldn't catch a break. The Scarlet Knights deserved better than that from the basketball gods.
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