1978–79 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball represented Rutgers University as a member of the Eastern Athletic Association during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Tom Young, then in his sixth season with the Scarlet Knights. The team played its home games in Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Scarlet Knights won the EAA tournament to reach the NCAA tournament, where they defeated Georgetown in the second round to reach the Sweet Sixteen. Rutgers would lose to St. John's – a team they beat twice during the regular season – in the East Regional semifinal^[1] to finish with a record of 22–9 (7–3 EAA).

1978–79 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball
EAA tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Eastern Athletic Association
Ranking
AP	No. 18
Record	22–9 (7–3 EAA)
Head coach	Tom Young (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Joe Boylan John McFadden Art Perry
Home arena	Louis Brown Athletic Center
Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Eastern 8 men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Villanova	9	–	1		.900			13	–	13		.500
No. 18 Rutgers †	7	–	3		.700			22	–	9		.710
West Virginia	7	–	3		.700			16	–	12		.571
Pittsburgh	6	–	4		.600			18	–	11		.621
George Washington	5	–	5		.500			13	–	14		.481
Penn State	4	–	6		.400			12	–	18		.400
Duquesne	2	–	8		.200			13	–	13		.500
UMass	0	–	10		.000			5	–	22		.185
† 1979 Eastern 8 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1978–79 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown C 20 James Bailey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Boston, Massachusetts F 54 Abdel Anderson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Belleville, New Jersey	Head coach Tom Young (Maryland) Assistant coach(es) Joe Boylan (Lafayette) John McFadden (Rutgers) Art Perry (American) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 18, 1978*		Columbia	W 70–63	1–0	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Dec 1, 1978*		Rider	W 101–51	2–0	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Dec 2, 1978*		Lafayette	L 70–77	2–1	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Dec 9, 1978		at Villanova	L 67–86	2–2 (0–1)	Villanova Field House  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 12, 1978*		at Manhattan	W 62–60 ^OT	3–2	Alumni Gym  New York, New York
Dec 16, 1978*		Princeton	W 54–51	4–2	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Dec 22, 1978*		Saint Peter's	L 58–67	4–3	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Dec 29, 1978*		at St. John's ECAC Holiday Festival	W 72–61	5–3	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Dec 30, 1978*		vs. Ohio State ECAC Holiday Festival	W 97–96 ^3OT	6–3	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Jan 6, 1979*		at No. 6 UCLA	L 57–78	6–4	Pauley Pavilion (12,176) Los Angeles, California
Jan 9, 1979*		at Connecticut	L 67–69 ^OT	6–5	Hugh S. Greer Field House  Storrs, Connecticut
Jan 11, 1979		George Washington	W 80–72	7–5 (1–1)	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Jan 13, 1979*		at St. John's	W 69–66	8–5	Carnesecca Arena  New York, New York
Jan 20, 1979		Penn State	W 48–46	9–5 (2–1)	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Jan 22, 1979*		at No. 12 Syracuse	L 65–71	9–6	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Jan 26, 1979		Duquesne	W 70–67	10–6 (3–1)	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Jan 27, 1979		Villanova	W 64–55	11–6 (4–1)	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Jan 31, 1979		at UMass	W 60–55	12–6 (5–1)	Curry Hicks Cage  Amherst, Massachusetts
Feb 3, 1979		at George Washington	L 71–74	12–7 (5–2)	Charles E. Smith Center  Washington, D.C.
Feb 8, 1979*		Drexel	W 87–61	13–7	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Feb 10, 1979*		at West Virginia	L 61–68	13–8 (5–3)	WVU Coliseum  Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 12, 1979*		New Hampshire	W 83–73	14–8	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Feb 15, 1979*		vs. Seton Hall	W 88–67	15–8	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Feb 17, 1979*		Fordham	W 67–59	16–8	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Feb 19, 1979		UMass	W 95–76	17–8 (6–3)	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Feb 23, 1979		at Pittsburgh	W 76–68	18–8 (7–3)	Fitzgerald Field House  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
EAA tournament
Feb 27, 1979*		Penn State Quarterfinals	W 67–57	19–8	Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, New Jersey
Mar 1, 1979*		vs. West Virginia Semifinals	W 55–52	20–8	Civic Arena  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mar 3, 1979*		at Pittsburgh Championship game	W 61–57	21–8	Civic Arena  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NCAA tournament
Mar 10, 1979*	(6 E)	vs. (3 E) No. 11 Georgetown Second round	W 64–58	22–8	Providence Civic Center (12,150) Providence, Rhode Island
Mar 16, 1979*	(6 E)	vs. (10 E) No. 17 St. John's East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 65–67	22–9	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[2]

Rankings

Main article: 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[3]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1979 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	6	James Bailey	Seattle SuperSonics

^[4]

References

1. "Penn, St. John's Pull Upsets". The Washington Post. March 17, 1979. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
2. "2019-20 Rutgers Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Rutgers University Athletics. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
3. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 856–857. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
4. "1979 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 2, 2022.