PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Highly touted freshman guard Ace Bailey, a Chattanooga native, missed the season opener for the 25th-ranked Rutgers men’s basketball team Wednesday night after sustaining an undisclosed injury in practice two days earlier.
Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell didn’t elaborate on the nature of Bailey’s injury after the Scarlet Knights’ 75-52 win over Wagner, reiterating that Bailey is “still day to day with a basketball injury.” The school’s statement released before the game did not disclose the 6-foot-10, 200-pound guard’s injury.
Bailey and fellow freshman Dylan Harper were among the top players coming out of high school in the class of 2024, and their decisions to join the Scarlet Knights pushed the program into the preseason AP Top 25 despite Rutgers’ 15-17 record last season.
Harper scored 20 points against Wagner.
Bailey averaged 33.4 points, 15.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.9 blocks as a senior at Georgia’s McEachern High School, the Atlanta-area program he transferred to midway during his sophomore year at Boyd Buchanan. He scored 25 points for Rutgers in a preseason exhibition against St. John’s last month.