March 11, 2010 – Rutgers mens basketball is over for the year. They finished 15-17. Now, Fred Hill Jr. says all the things he’s supposed to say. He doesn’t worry about job security. It’s his dream job. He’s the coach at Rutgers. He’s done a terrific job. “I’ve never considered not being the coach at Rutgers.”

And athletic director Tim Pernetti may grant Hill his wish, following the lame precedent posed on TV by fellow Jersey bad ex-coach, Bill Raftery, as the Scarlet Knights fell to Cincinnati at the buzzer in a first round Big East tournament game that ended their season. To paraphrase, “Greg Schiano was given time to develop his program,” Raftery blew hard. “It takes time, and Freddy deserves the same consideration.”

What Pernetti really needs to consider is whether he wants to take Rutgers to a competitive level in men’s basketball, or be satisfied with Hill’s 32-60 overall record, middling recruiting, ill-conceived, $1.8 million buyout (provided by Bob Mulcahy, Pernetti’s successor), uncompetitive team and bailing recruits. It’s crossroads time. Move on and make history. Spend some money. Take a chance. Or, stay with Hill, pay him an affordable $600,000 a year until 2013 and continue to follow past mediocre history.

Rutgers is funded by taxpayers and it’s a tough time to make progress in New Jersey as conservative new governor, Chris Christie, takes his foothold. For Pernetti to go to the next level he has to think big. Expand the RAC. Build a basketball facility to compete with his competitors and sell the school as a realistic basketball locale. In other words continue investment into making Rutgers more of a “destination” college, where players want to come. Like Schiano preached years before, New Brunswick is a sleeping giant. Good education. Good fanbase. Absolutely superb location and marketplace, situated on train tracks just over 30 minutes from Manhattan, with multi millions of basketball (and football) fans in its broadcast footprint.

As a business proposition, Rutgers basketball could easily hike attendance with a competitive team, attract high rollers, expand into the TV coverage business (a Pernetti specialty) and finance, over time, the upgrades to its physical plant. It just takes vision and courage. A good coach would go a long way to taking Rutgers in the right direction. Without progress on the capital plant projects, a dynamic coach is the best way to immediately add recruits, upgrade the level of play and unleash the New York metro passion that would come with a winning team. Hopefully it’s clear to Pernetti that Fred Hill Jr isn’t that guy.

Although Hill has a strong reputation as a tireless recruiter, he hasn’t created critical mass with players by stockpiling and overlapping his talent. He uses Mike Rosario as his flagship recruit (“first McDonald’s All American to Rutgers”) but as a coach, he just lets Rosario shoot at an unacceptable percentage. His best freshman Dane Miller can’t hit a free throw and his prototype Big East big man, Greg Echenique is now mysteriously moving to Creighton. Hill can recruit, it’s clear he can’t coach and he’s surrounded himself with stiffs to remain the singular source for the direction to nowhere.

The New York Post’s Lenn Robbins authored a handy guide to metro coaching possibilities, citing ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla and Steve Lavin, Jersey HS guy Danny Hurley, UCONN assistant Tom Moore, Siena’s Fran McCaffery, Hofstra’s Tom Pecora, Rick Pitino and Iona’s Kevin Willard as possible Rutgers candidates. All but Pitino are realistic.

As Pernetti waits to review Hill’s performance, he needs mostly to consider Fred Hill Jr’s one crowning achievement as coach of the Scarlet Knights since 2006. That would be the contract Hill secured himself that guarantees $600,000 a year until 2013. Pay up Tim, and move on. That’s what we’d call New Jersey progress.