Rutgers Men’s Basketball Practice: Bailey and Co Tearing Things Up Early

Earlier this week in practice, Rutgers small forward Ace Bailey took a bounce pass from point guard Jeremiah Williams and in full stride threw down a reverse dunk that led multiple teammates to refer to him as a freak of nature.

“He does something every day that you just say ‘wow,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “He makes it look easy, when I know it’s not.”

That reverse dunk came in a five on five mini scrimmage that the Knights held at the end of their Thursday practice. That dunk represents an elevated level of play the Knights have shown during their first week of summer workouts.

Much like Bailey, the Centers on the squad, who are still seen as a concern for the Knights despite their off-season acquisitions, have elevated their level of play as well. Emmanuel Ogbole has shown significant improvement. During this week’s practice, he posted up Princeton transfer Zach Martini to hit a nice shot near the rim. Lathan Sommerville is working at being more comfortable underneath the basket and worked on that physicality in both of his one on one reps last Thursday.

The intense work ethic of this team has also been on full display, even being complimented by the incoming transfers like Martini. Jeremiah Williams, JaMicheal Davis and Ogbole all decided to forgo trips home this off-season and instead they decided to stay to lock in and work on their game. That is the type of work ethic the team has approached the new season with.

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