On a shy day on the one-year anniversary of Iona’s hiring of Rick Pitino, Hall of Fame coach led the Gaels to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Iona defeated Fairfield 60-51 in the MAAC game on Saturday in Atlantic City, NJ The Gaels never went and finished the first half in a 10-0 round, giving them a 12-point lead that he would not nearly give up. They extended the lead to 16 points in the second half, led by the main field of Asante Gist (18 points) and Isaiah Ross (13 points).
This is the fifth appearance of the program’s NCAA tournament in the last six seasons.
Pitino becomes the third coach in college basketball history to lead five different teams to the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Stats & Information, joining Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith. He also led Louisville, Kentucky, Providence and Boston University to the NCAA tournament.
“I’m very excited to be at Iona’s,” Pitino said in post-game availability. “When I was growing up in New York, I grew up on 26th Street in eastern Manhattan. I lived in Queens, I lived in Long Island, I lived in Westchester when I was coach Knick. I’m strong New York to the end and it means a lot to be with Jonah. “
Iona received 9-seed in the MAAC tournament, although Gaels finished third in the conference standings. But the league opted to use wins instead of winning percentage to win the conference tournament, which means Iona – who has had several breaks related to COVID-19 throughout the season – was relegated to 9th place. after finishing 6-3 in the conference.
Iona fought last season after former head coach Tim Cluess took leave due to health problems. The Gaels finished 12-17 overall and 9-11 in the league a year ago. Pitino made Ross and Gist return to New Rochelle, but he knew he had to add reinforcements to get the team back in the title battle immediately. So he hit the transfer market for starter Berrick JeanLouis and also added a few high school recruits who were still available last spring, especially starting with Nelly Junior Joseph.
The Gaels started 5-3 in the first month of the season, then did not play any games between December 23 and February 12 due to COVID-19 problems. After five games back, the program had to take another break from COVID-19 at the end of February and announced that it would stay until the MAAC tournament.
Despite dropping to 9th place, Iona won four games in five days – including an upset of champion Siena in the top 1 and regular season in the quarterfinals – to win the league’s automatic bid.
“For them to win four games that come out of the COVID break and do these things is remarkable for me,” Pitino said. “We’re excited to be in the tournament, we haven’t played so many games this year and we’re getting better with every game we play.”
Considered one of the best coaches in college basketball history, Pitino has now won 13 conference tournament championships – going eight regular season titles, seven Final Four appearances and national championships with both Kentucky and Louisville. with the last vacancy due to NCAA Issues.
Pitino was hired on March 14 last year, his first college coaching position since October 2017, when Louisville fired him following an FBI investigation into college basketball. The cardinals have been linked to the investigation by allegations of Adidas payments to the family of five-star prospect Brian Bowen. Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were placed on unpaid administrative leave and were eventually fired for reasons.
Pitino went abroad for a few seasons to coach the Greek club Panathinaikos, but was frequently linked to open college jobs. When Cluess officially resigned for health reasons, the opportunity for Pitino to return home to New York and train the Gaels became available.
“It simply came to our notice then [more] more important than between the lines, “Pitino told ESPN the day he was hired.” I’m so passionate about the game that I went halfway around 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 needs away from the lines.
“It simply came to our notice then. It’s 30 minutes from my New York City apartment, it’s 10 minutes from my son in Harrison, New York. It’s 10 minutes from a golf club I belonged to, Winged Foot. He has a great tradition, the coach before me did an incredible job. So many small Catholic schools [have had success]. Gonzaga, Dayton. Iona has a chance to build on what Tim Cluess did. “
While other schools continued to bring Pitino back to college, President Iona Seamus Carey and athletic director Matt Glovaski had a chance – and it paid off.
“For us, it’s about focusing on extraordinary research,” Glovaski told ESPN at the time. “By focusing on making sure we’re on the same team, we’re building progress. Rick’s values are aligned with the goals and values of the college. He was the right leader at the right time in his life for this job.”
After Saturday’s victory, Pitino praised Cluess.
“No one has done a better job than Tim Cluess. Obviously, I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t have health problems because he was one of the premier coaches in the country,” he said. “Tim, wherever you are, we’re sharing this with you tonight. You’re part of our program.”