Ace Bailey welcomes new Rutgers star with 2-word reaction

NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament First Round-Rutgers vs USC - Source: Imagn

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have lost significant firepower in offense. However, they have moved swiftly to secure replacements, with one of those moves getting Ace Bailey hyped up.

The Scarlet Knights have landed guard Tariq Francis, who left NJIT for Rutgers with two years of eligibility remaining. Francis' transfer was announced Friday night by his agent, sparking excitement among team supporters.

Bailey reacted to the news on Instagram on Saturday, hyping up the addition.

“Ohhh shiii,” Bailey wrote.

Ace Bailey welcomes new Rutgers star with 2-word reaction. Credit: IG/@acebailey

Bailey had a good freshman year, leading Rutgers in rebounds (7.2) and blocks (1.3), while he was second in points (17.6).

Bailey was named to the 2025 Big Ten All-Freshman Team and the Third-Team All-Big Ten, recognizing his performance in a season where the Scarlet Knights failed to make the NCAA Tournament.

Bailey and Dylan Harper are expected to declare for the 2025 NBA draft. The Scarlet Knights lost Lathan Sommerville, Jeremiah Williams and Jordan Derkack to the transfer portal.

With Francis' arrival, Rutgers has taken a step towards replacing the productivity void left by those departures. The guard led the America East conference with 19.2 ppg this season, shooting 36.9% from the field and 32.4% from beyond the arc.

He becomes the second commit for the Scarlet Knights from the transfer portal, with George Washington forward Darren Buchanan Jr. also accepting a move to Piscataway.

Ace Bailey endorses 2027 class guard Chase Lumpkin

On Saturday, Ace Bailey endorsed young shooting guard Chase Lumpkin, who plays for his alma mater, McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia.

The Rutgers star reposted a clip of the young guard playing the tip-off classic on Instagram.

“Next!!.” he wrote.

Ace Bailey endorses 2027 Chase Lumpkin. Credit: IG/@acebailey

Bailey led the McEachern Indians to the Georgia High School Association Class 6A state championship game in 2024 before losing to Grayson.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

Know More

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Edited by Ribin Peter