Rutgers men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell has revealed he is being treated for cancer, announcing in a letter posted to the program's athletics website that he underwent successful surgery and will now begin chemotherapy while reducing some of his coaching duties. The 58-year-old, entering his 11th season leading the Scarlet Knights, said he and his doctors have a plan to finish treatment as he prepares to hand added responsibilities to longtime associate head coach Brandin Knight.
Pikiell was diagnosed with cancer after testing at RWJBarnabas Health several months before the announcement, according to the New York Post. He underwent surgery to remove the cancer before beginning chemotherapy, a treatment plan that will run over the coming months to prevent recurrence, per FOX Sports Radio. Pikiell is working with doctors at RWJBarnabas Health and Memorial Sloan Kettering as he undergoes treatment, and he said he plans to remain involved with the team to the best of his ability throughout the process.
“We will be victorious,” Pikiell wrote, expressing confidence that he will beat the disease while comparing his own fight to the challenges he has long asked his players to embrace, per the New York Post. In his letter, the coach said he is attacking cancer the same way he asks his team to attack adversity, and that he looks forward to returning to the sidelines.
Knight Steps Into an Expanded Role
Brandin Knight, entering his sixth season on the Rutgers staff, is taking on additional coaching duties until Pikiell is able to fully resume his responsibilities. Knight, a former Pittsburgh basketball star who was the 2001-02 Big East Co-Player of the Year and had his No. 20 jersey retired by the Panthers, per Wikipedia, was already an assistant on Rutgers' staff. He signed a four-year contract extension in April 2024 running through the 2027-28 season that escalates his salary to $775,000, according to the report's account of his deal, cited by the same station's report on the coaching transition.
Knight helped land five-star recruits Dylan Harper Jr. and Ace Bailey, both of whom were selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft as the highest picks in Rutgers basketball history, per the New York Post. The duo represented five-star recruits in the program's recruiting pipeline during Knight's tenure as associate head coach.
A Program on the Rise Under Pikiell
Pikiell's tenure at Rutgers has spanned 11 seasons since he arrived in March 2016, compiling a 161-160 record in Big Ten play. He led the Scarlet Knights to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 30 years in 2021, along with the program's first tournament win in 38 years in an opening-round upset of Clemson, a turnaround FOX Sports Radio describes as historic for a long-struggling Big Ten program. Rutgers followed that breakthrough with another NCAA Tournament bid in 2022, though the team has since gone four seasons without returning to the field, and last season finished 14-20.
Before arriving in New Jersey, Pikiell spent 11 seasons as head coach at Stony Brook, according to Stony Brook University Athletics. His playing career began even earlier, at UConn, where he graduated in 1991 and served as co-captain of the 1989-90 “Dream Season” team that reached the program's first NCAA Elite Eight, per CT Insider. He was also a member of UConn's 1988 NIT championship squad.
The Rutgers-RWJBarnabas Connection
The hospital system now treating Pikiell is RWJBarnabas Health. Rutgers Athletics also has an RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, the state’s interactive cancer database provides state- and county-level data on cancer incidence, mortality, stage and childhood cancer. A New Jersey Department of Health Middlesex County profile lists a cancer death rate of 175.5 per 100,000 people for all cancer deaths and 39.4 per 100,000 for lung cancer deaths for 2015-2019. According to RWJBarnabas Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute and the health system bring together cancer researchers and clinicians throughout New Jersey. According to RWJBarnabas Health, the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center is the cornerstone of a $1.5 billion oncology investment by RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute.
Rutgers continues to have Pikiell as its men's basketball coach. Pikiell has continued in his role at Rutgers.
No Timeline for a Full Return
Rutgers athletic director Keli Zinn said the department loves and supports Pikiell, his wife Kate and their family, but emphasized that there is no set timeline for his full return to courtside duties, per the New York Post. Rutgers is set to open its 2026-27 season against New Haven on November 6, with Knight overseeing day-to-day coaching operations in the meantime. Pikiell has said he looks forward to returning to the sidelines, though exactly when that will happen remains unresolved.
