Rosario To Transfer From Rutgers?

After this weekend's incident involving head coach Fred Hill, Rutgers star guard Mike Rosario is open to transferring aftet two seasons leading the Scarlet Knights. (Photo courtesy of Newark Star-Ledger)

Even though it only got one team into the Final Four, the Big East continues to grab attention and headlines as we shift into college basketball's offseason, and most of the news revolves around the teams that were unsuccessful in postseason play.

After St. John's made headlines with the hiring of Steve Lavin as its new head coach, followed by West Virginia's appearance in the Final Four, the Big East is once again in the news, as Rutgers guard Mike Rosario is "considering" transferring from Piscataway, according to a report published last night by SNY's Adam Zagoria on his blog.

The story on ZagsBlog.com indicates that Rosario is awaiting the fallout from an incident this past weekend involving Scarlet Knights head coach Fred Hill, who launched a tirade containing a few profanities at an umpire during a Rutgers baseball game this past weekend, perhaps coming to the defense of his father, Fred Sr., who is Rutgers' baseball coach. It remains to be seen as to whether or not Hill violated any terms of his contract, and the situation is being investigated by athletic director Tim Pernetti. Should Rosario decide to leave Piscataway, a family friend of Rosario narrowed down the sophomore guard's choices to Florida, USC and Michigan State. Rosario denied all reports when contacted by the Newark Star-Ledger, including one in which he felt playing at Rutgers was "hindering" his chances of becoming an NBA player.

Rosario's possible departure would be a major blow to the Scarlet Knights if it happened, as the team's leading scorer would join sophomore forward Pat Jackson as former Knights players. Jackson announced last month that he would not be back. In addition, power forward Gregory Echenique, who came into the Rutgers program with Rosario last year, has already transferred to Creighton, and incoming recruit Gil Biruta from St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey, has asked to be released from his letter of intent, which would free him to sign with any other program.