Rutgers men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell announced Wednesday he has been diagnosed with cancer and Knights assistant coach Brandin Knight will step into interim duties while Pikiell finishes treatment for the disease after undergoing surgery.
"I am incredibly grateful to my team of doctors at RWJBarnabas Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering for guiding and supporting us through this difficult time," Pikiell wrote in a letter to Rutgers basketball fans. "After a successful surgery, my doctors and I have a kick-ass game plan to finish treatment. I will still be involved with the team to the best of my ability as I navigate the challenges of the season through treatment."
A letter from men's basketball head coach Steve Pikiell to Rutgers Nation. https://t.co/lvMCRvht2V#TheKnighthood🛡️⚔️ pic.twitter.com/gkWOjHWCuK
— Rutgers Men’s Basketball 🏀 (@RutgersMBB) September 9, 2026
Pikiell, 58, has manned Rutgers for the last 10 seasons, leading the Scarlet Knights to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2020-21 and 2021-22. He snapped Rutgers' three-decade streak of Selection Sunday blues and turned The RAC into a house of horrors for most visitors.
But Rutgers has fallen on hard times, coincidentally with the explosion of the pay-for-play era. Rutgers is just 44-54 in the last three seasons. The Scarlet Knights went just 6-14 in Big Ten play in 2025-26, notching the fewest conference wins for Pikiell since his second season back in 2017-18. Rutgers finished 125th nationally on kenpom.com, a far cry from the level that Pikiell lifted Rutgers to in the early-2020s.
There remains some optimism for a potential bounce-back campaign in 2026-27 after Rutgers was able to retain leading scorer Tariq Francis and four more rotation pieces after Pikiell entered the season on the hot seat.
Beating cancer is all that matters now.
"I have great confidence in Coach Knight, the rest of the talented staff, and our exceptional student-athletes," Pikiell said. "I know they will do an amazing job leading our program when I'm not able to. Just as I ask my team to fight and embrace challenges head-on, I'm going to attack cancer the same way. With the support of my doctors, my family, and now Rutgers Nation, I am confident we will be victorious."
