The 2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights were led by fourth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and played their home games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey as sixth-year members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–11 and 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. Following the regular season, the Big Ten tournament and all subsequent postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, effectively ending the Knights's season.
In January 2020, Rutgers was nationally ranked for the first time since 1979.
Previous season The Knights finished the 2018–19 season 14–17, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. In the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Nebraska.
Offseason Coaching changes In April 2019, assistant Jay Young was hired as the new head coach at Fairfield. Pikiell elevated senior advisor Steve Hayn to assistant coach as his replacement in May 2019.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Shaquille Doorson 2 C 7'0" 275 RS Senior Amsterdam, Netherlands Graduated Eugene Omoruyi 5 F 6'6" 234 Junior Rexdale, ON Transferred to Oregon Issa Thiam 35 F 6'9" 190 Junior Dakar, Senegal Dismissed from the team due to domestic violence
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Akwasi Yeboah 1 G/F 6'6" 235 RS Senior Chigwell, England Transferred from Stony Brook. Will be eligible to play since Yeboah graduated from Stony Brook.
2019 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=|Regular season
!colspan=9 style=|Big Ten tournament
Source
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
References