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A day before the first anniversary of Iona’s hiring of Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame coach led the Gaels to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Iona beat Fairfield 60-51 in Saturday’s MAAC title game in Atlantic City, NJ The Gaels never lagged behind and finished the first half on a 10-0 run, giving them a lead of 12 points that they would not be about to give up. They extended the lead to 16 points in the second half, led by Asante Gist’s senior backcourt (18 points) and Isaiah Ross (13 points).
This is the program’s fifth NCAA tournament appearance in the past six seasons.
Pitino becomes the third coach in college basketball history to lead five different teams at the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, joining Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith. He also led Louisville, Kentucky, Providence and Boston University to the NCAA tournament.
“I’m really happy to be at Iona,” Pitino said in his post-match availability. “When you grew up in New York, I grew up on 26th Street, east of Manhattan. I lived in Queens, I lived in Long Island, I lived in Westchester when I coached the Knicks. I’m New York strong throughout and it means a lot to be in Iona. “
Iona was seeded 9 in the MAAC tournament, although the Gaels finished third in the conference standings. But the league opted to use wins instead of winning percentage to kick off the conference tournament, meaning Iona – who has had several COVID-19-related breaks throughout the season – has been relegated ranked 9th seed after finishing 6-3 in conference. .
Iona struggled last season after former head coach Tim Cluess took time off due to health issues. The Gaels finished 12-17 overall and 9-11 in the league a year ago. Pitino had Ross and Gist back in New Rochelle, but he knew he needed to add reinforcements to bring the team back into the title contention immediately. So he entered the transfer market for starting winger Berrick JeanLouis and also added a few high school rookies who were still available last spring, notably forward Nelly Junior Joseph.
The Gaels started 5-3 in the first month of the season, then didn’t play a single game between December 23 and February 12 due to COVID-19 issues. After five games back, the program had to take another COVID-19 hiatus in late February and announced it was out until the MAAC tournament.
Despite falling to seed 9, Iona won four games in five days – including a win over first-seed and regular-season quarter-final champion Siena in the quarter-finals – to win the candidacy. automatic league.
“For them to win four games after the COVID break and do these things is remarkable for me,” Pitino said. “We’re delighted to be in the tournament, we haven’t played so many games this year, and we’re getting better with every game we play.”
Regarded as one of the best coaches in college basketball history, Pitino has now won 13 conference tournament championships – to go with eight regular season titles, seven Final Four appearances and national championships with Kentucky and Louisville. , the latter title being canceled due to NCAA issues.
Pitino was hired on March 14 last year, his first college coaching job since October 2017, when Louisville fired him following the FBI’s college basketball investigation. The Cardinals have been linked to the investigation by 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 ultimately fired for just cause.
Pitino went abroad for a few seasons to coach Greek club Panathinaikos, but he was often linked with open college jobs. When Cluess officially resigned for health reasons, the opportunity for Pitino to return home to New York and coach the Gaels became available.
“There were so many things outside the lines that were [more] important than between the lines, “Pitino told ESPN on the day he was hired.” I am so passionate about the game that I traveled the world to train in Greece. I missed my family; no one was there. If I was going to coach college basketball it would meet my needs away from the lines.
“I knew this was the right solution. It is 30 minutes from my apartment in New York, 10 minutes from my son in Harrison, New York. It is 10 minutes from a golf club I am at. belonged, Winged Foot. 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 has done. “
As other schools died to bring Pitino back to college, Iona President Seamus Carey and athletic director Matt Glovaski took a chance – and it paid off.
“For us, it’s about focusing on big research,” Glovaski told ESPN at the time. “By striving to be part of the same team, we were building to move forward. Rick’s values were aligned with the goals and values of the college. He was the right leader at the right time in his life for this position.
After Saturday’s victory, Pitino praised Cluess.
“No one did a better job than Tim Cluess. Obviously I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t have any health issues because he was one of the best coaches in the country,” a- he declared. “Tim, wherever you are, we are sharing this with you tonight. You are part of our program.”
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