All-League Famine: Rutgers in Knightmare Covering 3 Different Conferences

Rutgers, loser in 32 consecutive contests against Big Ten Conference opponents until defeating Minnesota in regular-season finale, might need to visit school archives and bring ulcer-causing Dick Vitale back as a recruiter. The Scarlet Knights, losing by a staggering 50 points at home against Purdue, couldn't do any worse upon falling on hard times as the nation's only NCAA Division I school failing to have an all-conference choice in the previous nine seasons. Vitale helped lure coach Eddie Jordan to Piscataway before the Scarlet Knights reached the 1976 Final Four. Jordan was an All-Atlantic 10 Conference second-team choice as a senior in 1976-77 before leaving college without a diploma.

Rutgers, failing to secure an all-league choice since Quincy Douby in 2005-06, has been blanked in three different alliances during the dry spell. The Knights' arrival gave the Big Ten Conference additional Nebraska/Northwestern/Penn State mediocrity - a famine-relief trio combining for three NCAA playoff victories in the previous 60 years (all by Nittany Lions), making their hoop fans believe in the power of positive drinkin'.

Five struggling schools - Louisiana-Monroe (Sun Belt), Pepperdine (WCC), Sacramento State (Big Sky), Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) and Texas Tech (Big 12) - left this dubious category in 2013-14. Rutgers, eliminated by Louisville by 61 points in the AAC Tournament two seasons ago, is joined by DePaul and Samford on the following list of schools enduring honor droughts having no all-league picks at least the previous seven seasons:

School	Conference(s)	Last All-League Selection
DePaul	Big East	Sr. G Draelon Burns in 2007-08 (2nd team)
Rutgers	Big East/American Athletic/Big Ten	Jr. G Quincy Douby in 2005-06 (1st team)
Samford	Ohio Valley	Sr. C Travis Peterson in 2007-08 (2nd team)