Rutgers Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:05:41 PDT

The Scarlet Knights have long been a fixture at the bottom of the Big East. Though getting out of that rut may still be a year away, coach Fred Hill is hopeful he finally has the pieces in place to do some damage in conference play.

Among the reasons for optimism are two players who jumped onto campus ready to play as freshmen last season. They return for their sophomore season eager to translate their individual success to the team level.

Mike Rosario and Greg Echenique were the freshman inside-outside combination that provided the bulk of the production for the Scarlet Knights. Rosario, the point guard a year ago, spent his summer playing for Puerto Rico's Under-19 team. Echenique, a frontcourt player, did the same for Venezuela.

Rosario has help in the backcourt...