PISCATAWAY – Ace Bailey eased his 6-foot-10 frame into his chair on the dais for his first postgame interview session as a Rutgers basketball player.
The Scarlet Knights had just held off pesky Merrimack 74-63 in a meat-grinder affair.
Most freshmen doing this for the first time look petrified, like deer in headlights. Bailey was grinning ear to ear.
He had a story to tell about a recent practice.
“Something funny: In practice for 30 minutes, it was just rebounding drills,” he said. “We’re tired, we’re beating each other up – rebounding, rebounding, rebounding.”
Head coach Steve Pikiell was in his team’s ear about their weak performance on the glass through the season’s first three games, which Pikiell took as a personal affront. Bailey fixed that Wednesday, grabbing 10 boards as the Scarlet Knights (4-0) waxed Merrimack (1-3) in that department.
“I keep telling him he’s 6-10 – I think he forgot,” joked teammate Jordan Derkack. “When he doesn’t get 10 rebounds I’m like: Man, get in there.”
Bailey got the message.
“Me coming out here and rebounding showed that the work I put into practice is showing,” he said.
He showed a lot more than that over 30 splendid minutes, scoring 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. His wide-ranging toolkit was on display: 2-of-4 from 3-point range, 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, a put-back dunk and an outrageously sweet turnaround jumper from deep with hands in his face.
“Most of those, when it’s another person, you’re like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, yeah,’” Derkack, who was on the bench at the time, said of the turnaround. “This time we sat back and nobody said anything. I guarded him all summer and when he’s hit that shot, I’ve been this close to him.”
He held up two fingers, close together.
Merrimack’s disciplined zone threw the kitchen sink at Bailey, but the wing got better as the game unfolded, tallying 16 points and seven rebounds in the second half alone.
“He’s different,” Merrimack coach Joe Gallo said. “There were some shots he made, there was nothing you could do about it.”
There came a point, Gallo said, where Bailey just took over.
“He’s as good of a player as I’ve ever coached against, and also seems like an unbelievable kid,” he said.
Bailey seems to be enjoying what is certainly his only year in college before the NBA comes calling.
“Before every game there’s somebody who has a bracelet with my name on it, and I see him (during warmups) and I touch the bracelet,” he said. “I’m like yeah that’s hard, that’s nice, that’s dope.”
Of playing alongside fellow freshman phenom Dylan Harper (14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists vs. Merrimack), he said: “Cuz, you see it. We play together, we’re all laughing as a team, we’re enjoying the game of basketball, how it should be played. It’s fun.”
When asked by a reporter what’s better, throwing down dunks or hitting that turnaround jumper, Bailey didn’t skip a beat.
“The rebounds,” he said. “I ain’t gonna lie – 10 rebounds made me happy.”
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
1. Pikiell’s quick hook
Pikiell values defense above all else, and his team was putrid on that end through 20 minutes. Though the Scarlet Knights led 37-30 at the break, they yielded 18 points in the paint and Merrimack missed a bunch of wide-open looks.
Pikiell had little patience for defensive errors, yanking sophomore guard Jamichael Davis and freshman center Lathan Sommerville for long spells on the pine when they got beaten more than once.
That’s the right message, because Rutgers is about to face some high-powered offenses. There’s plenty of work for him to do in the film room on that end.
Afterward, Bailey recognized the need for improved connectivity. He said he's been spending “late nights watching film with B-Knight (associate head coach Brandin Knight), going over screen coverages.”
He knows how the coaching staff feels about that end of the floor.
“You don’t play no defense, you ain’t gonna play," he said. "Communication-wise, I wouldn’t say it was terrible at first, but it was not where it needed to be. It’s getting better – it’s still not where it needs to be, but it’s improving."
2. Improvement for Ogbole
After a real struggle in Rutgers’ first three games, starting center Manny Ogbole made some key contributions Wednesday. Notably, he helped settle Rutgers’ interior defense after Sommerville struggled on that end. He’s limited offensively and his ceiling seems low, but make no mistake: Ogbole will be needed to hold the fort inside against the Big Ten's trees.
He finished with six points and seven rebounds and his plus/minus of plus-15 was the highest on the team.
"I thought he was really good today and has had really good practices," Pikiell said. "He played with an edge today, and he has many tools to do good things. He will continue to get better."
3. Jersey Joe Gallo returns
This was a homecoming for Gallo. Born in New Brunswick and raised in Milltown, he played high school ball at Bishop Ahr (now St. Thomas Aquinas) and Princeton Day. In the 1980s he was a Rutgers hoops season-ticket holder.
“As a Jersey guy, I’ve told Coach Pikiell I’m always rooting for them," he said. "It’s really cool to see the program where it’s at now. When I hear the 'On the banks of the old Raritan,' I get reminiscent of the old days. To me, it’s cool. I grew up in Milltown, about 10-15 minutes away.”
You could argue Gallo has done one of the better coaching jobs in the country over the past five years: Merrimack transitioned to Division 1 in 2020 and has won at least a share of the Northeast Conference title three times since then.
His teams are well-prepared, tough and connected, and this squad is no exception. The Warriors opened with a win over perennially strong Vermont and led Princeton by 14 points before falling to the Tigers Sunday. They'll be a serious contender for a spot in March Madness.
4. Reunion for Jordan Derkack
That Jordan Derkack – who is clearly a high-major player – was recruited only by low-majors coming out of Colonia High School says a lot about just how poorly the scouting industrial complex evaluates prospects.
But credit Merrimack for giving him a platform for his development. Last season’s Northeast Conference Player of the Year left the Warriors on good terms and greeted them with a typical glue-guy effort Wednesday – seven points, six rebounds and five assists. Not all up-transfers adapt well to becoming a role player after experiencing high usage at their previous stop. Derkack has, and that’s a credit to him and to Gallo for preparing him.
“Jordan is closest to me as any player I have ever coached," Gallo said. "I am happy to see him. He told me he watches all of our games. His father (Gene Derkack) and I have become good friends. I think with the way Coach Pikiell put the roster together, having Jordan and Zach (Martini), are perfect guys to complement those professional players. I think he is going to be great.”
Gallo noticed Derkack sent a little smirk his way after opening the game by hitting a 3-pointer.
"I've hit threes at Merrimack and made that exact smirk, but it was in a different way today," Derkack said. “Gallo is obviously my guy. If I called him at 2 in the morning, he’d answer for me. Freshman year, he trusted me. I'm extremely grateful for him. He's a major part of my basketball journey."
Ever the sportsman, Derkack said "I'll probably make it over to their hotel" to give his former teammates a pick-me-up.
5. Next up: a revealing road stretch
After eight seasons of staying home for Thanksgiving under Pikiell, Rutgers is hitting the road during Feast Week – and hitting it hard. First is an unconventional Sunday visit to Kennesaw State (1 p.m., CBS Sports Network), a favor to Bailey and teammate Jamichael Davis, who played high school ball in Georgia.
“It’s already sold out," Bailey said. "My mom is calling me every day asking for tickets. I know it’s going to be a crazy crowd, me and J-Mike coming back to play in front of Georgia and Chattanooga, because I’m originally from Chattanooga.”
Then comes the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas with matchups against a solid-looking Notre Dame Tuesday and eighth-ranked Alabama (and former Rutgers postman Cliff Omoruyi) Wednesday. After closing out the festival Saturday against an opponent to be determined, the Scarlet Knights visit Ohio State for the Big Ten opener Dec. 7.
They finally return to Piscataway Dec. 10 for Penn State after 20 days on the road – the longest-such stretch of Pikiell’s tenure.
By then, we’ll know what this team is made of.
"We need to figure ourselves out, but I am looking forward to the trip," Pikiell said. "I'm gonna try to get these guys to put their phones down for five minutes and really bond as a team. We wanted to be 4-0 in this stretch, and that's what we are. I'll learn more about our team, but if they keep improving, and they keep staying together, we will have the chance to be very good.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him atjcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers basketball rides Ace Bailey past pesky Merrimack
