A shy day of the one-year anniversary Iona hired Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame coach has led the Gaels to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Iona defeated Fairfield 60-51 in the MAAC title game Saturday in Atlantic City, NJ. The Gaels never left behind and finished the first half with a 10-0 run, giving them a 12-point lead they would not be about to give up. They extended the lead to 16 points in the second half, led by the main court of Asante Gist (18 points) and Isaiah Ross (13 points).
It is the program’s fifth appearance in the NCAA tournament in six seasons.
Pitino becomes the third coach in college basketball history to lead five different teams in the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, which joins Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith. He also led Louisville, Kentucky, Providence and Boston University in the NCAA tournament.
“I’m very happy to be in Iona,” Pitino said in his post-game availability. “When I was growing up in New York, I grew up on 26th Street, on the east side of Manhattan. I lived in Queens, I lived on Long Island, I lived in Westchester when I was Knick’s coach. I’m strong New York all the way and it means a lot to be in Iona “.
Iona received a seed of 9 in the MAAC tournament, although the Gaels finished third in the conference standings. But the league opted to use wins instead of gaining percentage to qualify for the conference tournament, meaning Iona, who had several COVID-19-related breaks throughout the season, was relegated to the top spot. 9 after finishing 6-3 in the conference.
Iona struggled last season after former coach Tim Cluess went overboard due to health issues. The Gaels finished 12-17 in the overall and 9-11 in the league a year ago. Pitino brought Ross and Gist back to New Rochelle, but he knew reinforcements needed to be added to get the team back immediately in the title dispute. So he came to the transfer wing of starting wing Berrick JeanLouis and also added a couple of high school recruits that were still available last spring, most notably the advanced Nelly Junior Joseph.
The Gaels started 5-3 during the first month of the season and then did not play any games between December 23 and February 12 due to problems with COVID-19. After five games back, the show had to take another COVID-19 break in late February and announced it would be out until the MAAC tournament.
Despite falling to No. 9, Iona won four games in five days, including the hassle of regular season champions Siena in the first round and Siena in the quarterfinals to win the automatic bid for the league.
“For me winning four games coming out of the COVID break and doing these things is remarkable for me,” Pitino said. “We’re thrilled to be in the tournament. We haven’t played as many games this year and we’re getting better with every game we play.”
Considered one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball, Pitino has now won 13 conference tournament championships, with eight regular-season titles, seven Final Four appearances and national championships with both Kentucky and Louisville, with the latter uninhabited title due to NCAA Issues.
Pitino was hired on March 14 last year, his first college coach job since October 2017, when Louisville fired him after the FBI investigation into college basketball. The cardinals were linked to the investigation through allegations of payments from Adidas to the family of five-star prospect Brian Bowen. Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were put on unpaid administrative leave and eventually fired for cause.
Pitino went abroad for a couple of seasons to coach the Greek club Panathinaikos, but was often linked to open university jobs. When Cluess officially resigned for health reasons, Pitino’s opportunity to return home to New York and train the Gaels was available.
“There were so many things off the lines that there were [more] important that between the lines, “Pitino told ESPN the day he was hired.” I’m so passionate about the game that I made half the world to train in Greece. I missed my family; no one was there. If I was going to train in college basketball, it would meet my off-line needs.
“I knew it was right. It’s 30 minutes from my apartment in New York City, 10 minutes from my son in Harrison, New York. 10 minutes from a golf club I belonged to, Winged Foot He has a great tradition, the coach before me did an amazing job: so many small Catholic schools [have had success]. Gonzaga, Dayton. Iona has a chance to take advantage of what Tim Cluess has done. “
While other schools brought Pitino back to college, Iona president Seamus Carey and athletic director Matt Glovaski risked it, and it has paid off.
“For us, it’s about focusing on big research,” Glovaski told ESPN at the time. “Focusing on making sure we formed the same team, we kept moving forward. Rick’s values were aligned with the goals and values of the university. He was the right leader at the right time in his life for this job. “.
After Saturday’s win, Pitino praised Cluess.
“No one did a better job than Tim Cluess. Obviously I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have health issues because he was one of the most important coaches in the country,” he said. “Tim, wherever you are, we share it with you tonight. You are part of our program.”