In the mid 1980s, Steve Pikiell was a three-time all-state basketball player and Class L state tournament MVP while playing for St. Paul.
Fast forward to 2021, and Pikiell, a UConn graduate, is the head coach of the Rutgers University men’s basketball team. The Scarlet Knights, a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament, took on No. 7 Clemson University at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Rutgers ground out a 60-56 win and will play second-seeded Houston on Sunday.
For Rutgers, it was the first NCAA Tournament win since 1983, when Pikiell was a freshman at St. Paul. The Falcons were the No. 5 seed in Class M’s Region III in 1983 and upended No. 4 Plainville, 67-63, in the first round. St. Paul lost to top seed and eventual state champion St. Thomas Aquinas, 71-54, in the regional semifinal.
Pikiell has known success at every stop along his basketball journey. Rutgers is the second school that Pikiell has guided to the NCAA Tournament. He also led Stony Brook University to the tournament. While Pikiell was in high school, St. Paul was a Class M semifinalist in 1984, losing to eventual state runner-up Weston (The Trojans fell to Sacred Heart, led by Ed Generali, in the state final). After getting eliminated by Bristol Central in a regional semifinal in 1985, St. Paul came back strong in 1986 and reached the Class L final, where it lost to Warren Harding-Bridgeport, 54-51.
Pikiell went on to UConn, where he was a two-time captain for Jim Calhoun. The Huskies won the NIT in 1988 and reached the NCAA Tournament in 1990 and 1991. UConn went to the Elite Eight in 1990 and the Sweet 16 in 1991.
As an assistant coach, Pikiell helped Central Connecticut State University and George Washington University win their conference tournaments and reach the NCAA Tournament. When Pikiell moved on to become head coach at Stony Brook, he helped that school win four America East Conference regular season championships. In 2016, Pikiell led Stony Brook to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. That season was Pikiell’s last at Stony Brook. He took over Rutgers for the 2016-17 season, and the Scarlet Knights have improved every year since.
No matter where Pikiell goes, he wins, even in 2020-21 in the very tough Big Ten (10-10 conference, 16-11 overall following Friday’s win). It should come as no surprise that Pikiell won an NCAA Tournament game. That was the next box to check off on the list.
