Iona Basketball

Will the Iona Gaels have a meeting with the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday? Iona head coach Rick Pitino wants to make it happen. 

After both schools had their weekend games canceled because of COVID-19 outbreaks for the opposing teams, Pitino tagged the Kentucky men's basketball program in a tweet to see if they were interested in a Saturday matchup. 

He also offered up a contingency plan if the Gaels fail to find an opponent for this weekend. 

Iona was set to face No. 16 Seton Hall in the Gotham Classic doubleheader at Madison Square Garden on Saturday before the Pirates were put in a COVID-19 pause on Thursday. 

Kentucky, meanwhile, was set to face Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday before the game was called off because of positive COVID-19 tests within the Buckeyes' program. 

Iona and Kentucky have met just six times dating back to 1977. However, they haven't played each other since 2005. The Wildcats have won all six matchups.  

The Gaels are 9-2 this season, while the Wildcats are 7-2. 

Hiring legendary coach Rick Pitino is paying big dividends on the court for Iona.

The Gaels upset No. 10 Alabama 72-68 on Thursday, becoming the first MAAC program to earn a win over a team in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll, per ESPN.com. The conference had been 0-119.

Alabama held a slim 33-29 lead at halftime and didn't trail until Nelly Junior Joseph hit a pair of free throws for Iona with 5:34 left in the game. Elijah Joiner put the Gaels ahead 69-65 with a three-pointer at the 1:17 mark, only for Jaden Shackelford to connect from long range on the other end.

The Crimson Tide had an opportunity to at least tie the game inside the final 20 seconds, but Berrick JeanLouis blocked a Jahvon Quinerly layup attempt. Joseph collected the defensive rebound and hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.

Five Iona players scored in double figures. Joseph had a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds), and Walter Clayton Jr. chipped in with 15 points off the bench.

Shackelford had a game-high 19 points but shot just 6-of-17 from the field. He hauled in 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Pitino wasn't jettisoned by Louisville in 2017 because of the Cardinals' results. He later admitted he "deserved to be fired" as the program was ensnared in the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball.

It looked like that might be the end for the 69-year-old as a college basketball coach.

But Pitino guided Iona to a 12-6 record and an NCAA tournament berth in 2020-21. In his second year, the Gaels are 6-0 with a ranked win under their belt.

Should Iona play its way back into the Big Dance, the Hall of Fame coach might put himself on the radar of a prominent school looking to fill a vacancy on the sideline.

After leading Iona through a season marred by COVID-19 to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title, then to the NCAA tournament as a No. 15 seed—where the team fell to No. 2 Alabama on Saturday—legendary NCAA basketball coach Rick Pitino said he has no plans to return to "big time" programs and said he is "in heaven right now" with the Gaels. 

"It's no longer about me trying to move up any ladders, make more money," he said (h/t Adam Rittenberg of ESPN). "I'm at a great place in my life. I can coach six, seven more years, God willing, just try to make young men better, try to make the program reach heights it's never reached. That's all I have planned. It's a great place to be." 

This season was Pitino's return to the collegiate ranks after he was fired from Louisville in the midst of a federal fraud investigation in 2017.

His comments come as Indiana is seeking a new head coach after a 12-15 season that resulted in the firing of Archie Miller. 

While at Louisville, Pitino won the 2013 NCAA championship and brought the team to three Final Fours and six Elite Eights. Before he joined the school in 2001, he led Kentucky to a title in 1996 and reached three Final Fours and four Elite Eights through eight seasons. 

Pitino, who got his start at Hawaii and Boston University before heading to Providence, where he reached his first tournament in 1986-87, spent last season in Greece, coaching Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague. 

"I want to take a smaller school, like a Providence, like an Iona, a small school and try to make it big," Pitino said. "But I wanted no part of any of that other, I had enough of that. It turned me off, to be quite honest with you, in a lot of different areas. I now don't have to look over my shoulder and see who I'm going to trust, who I'm not going to trust." 

For all the success Pitino's team had in his first year with the program, he thinks the group will improve in 2021-22 in a season that he believes has the potential to lay the foundation for more tournament appearances for the Gaels—including the opportunity to join the bracket as an at-large bid. 

"We just got to improve the program, take the next step," he said. "We will take the next step. There's no doubt in my mind that Iona is going to be a force to be reckoned with down the road."

Iona men's basketball coach Rick Pitino became just the third coach in NCAA Division I men's hoops history to take five different programs to the NCAA tournament when the Gaels defeated Fairfield 60-51 to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship on Saturday.

Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith were the first two coaches to earn that distinction, per Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio.

Pitino also led Boston University, Providence, Kentucky and Louisville to the NCAA tournament. Rick Bozich of WDRB.com detailed the three coaches' achievements.

The 68-year-old got the job done in his first year running the Iona program. The Gaels entered the conference tournament as the No. 9 seed but defeated Quinnipiac, Siena, Niagara and Fairfield en route to the crown.

Pitino led Kentucky and Louisville to national titles and has made five other Final Four appearances during his career.

Iona will wait to hear its name called when the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed beginning at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. CBS will air the selection show.

Hall of Fame basketball coach Rick Pitino said Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19 days after he received the first of two doses of the vaccine for the virus.

In an appearance on The Michael Kay Show, Pitino said he thinks he picked up the virus from his players ahead of his positive test on Jan. 16 (h/t Adam Zagoria of the New York Times). A university spokesperson told Josh Thomson of the Rockland/Westchester Journal News that nine of the team's 17 players, two coaches and two managers have tested positive for COVID-19 since Jan. 4.

Speaking to reporters, the Iona College coach said he was no longer quarantining and "didn't have the severe symptoms that many people have had." He later told the New York Times that he has tested negative "several times."

The 68-year-old said he is still planning to get the second dose of the vaccine.

The virus has heavily impacted Iona during Pitino's first season. According to Zagoria, the program has been suspended three different times and hasn't played since Dec. 23. Its next game is scheduled for Feb. 3, which would amount to a 42-day separation between games.

Pitino was among coaches that were in favor of delaying the season amid the pandemic, and he promoted the postponement of the NCAA tournament to May.

"I'm a little bit of a political animal," he said, via Zagoria. "I follow the science of it all, and that's why I tried to move it back to May Madness for the health of everybody involved."

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski questioned the NCAA's decision to play on through the pandemic. While he noted the financial necessity to play an NCAA tournament a year after losing $800 million because of the cancellation of the 2020 event, he urged the governing body to reconsider.

"I would just like for the safety, the mental and physical health of players and staff to assess where we're at," he said last month.

The Duke women's basketball team decided on Dec. 25 to cancel its season because of concerns about the virus.

The entirety of this year's men's basketball tournament will be held at six venues in and around Indianapolis in what president Mark Emmert said is an effort "to provide a healthy, safe environment" amid a "pandemic (that) is still very much alive."

Iona Gaels men's basketball coach Rick Pitino called for a delay to the start of the college basketball season Saturday as cases of the coronavirus surge across the United States.

While advocating for "May Madness," rather than holding the NCAA tournament in March, Pitino said it's "impossible to play right now."

NCAA guidelines required Iona to halt team activities for 14 days beginning Nov. 11 after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19. 

Pitino's tweet comes only days after the Ivy League became the first Division I conference to cancel winter sports for the 2020-21 season—including both men's and women's basketball. 

The league pointed directly to health and safety of its students and faculty as reasons for its decision:

"Regrettably, the current trends regarding transmission of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent protocols that must be put in place are impeding our strong desire to return to intercollegiate athletics competition in a safe manner.
 
"Student-athletes, their families and coaches are again being asked to make enormous sacrifices for the good of public health — and we do not make this decision lightly. While these decisions come with great disappointment and frustration, our commitment to the safety and lasting health of our student-athletes and wider communities must remain our highest priority." 

In the following days, Seton Hall was forced to pause its practices after a member of the program tested positive. Iona's need to go on hiatus will likely disrupt its scheduled season-opener against Fordham on Nov. 25, and Pitino said Wednesday the school would attempt to reschedule the game. 

The first wave of the coronavirus in spring forced the cancelation of the NCAA tournament among other collegiate championships. The dramatic decision abruptly ended the careers of numerous college athletes without an opportunity to win a national title. 

Pitino's plea seeks to avoid a similar fate in 2021. 

According to ESPN's Myron Medcalf, multiple men's basketball coaches have echoed Pitino's sentiments in private, with a "high-profile" coach calling the current college landscape "scary." To that end, Medcalf reported the NCAA may have more flexibility with March Madness this season, with executives exploring all available options to ensure the tournament is played. 

As Rick Pitino prepares for his first season at Iona College, the veteran coach thinks the college basketball season should be pushed back due to the coronavirus.

The sport was one of the first in the United States to be affected by the pandemic with men's and women's tournaments being canceled in March. College sports remained suspended throughout the spring, with football players only beginning to return to campus last month for practices.

Summer basketball activities are allowed to begin on July 20.

NCAA president Mark Emmert recently suggested the 2020-21 season could begin even earlier to account for potential positive COVID-19 tests.

"You may have to say, 'Look, we're going to stop playing for two weeks.' Well, if you started the season earlier and you've shortened the number of contests, you could afford to have some disruptions and still get a full season in," Emmert told Seth Davis of The Athletic.

Pitino's plan could help reduce the risk even further by giving more time to treat the disease.

The 67-year-old coach is best known for his time with Kentucky and Louisville, winning a national championship with each school. He spent the past few seasons in Greece after being fired by Louisville in 2017, but he will return to NCAA basketball this season with Iona.

Iona men's basketball coach Rick Pitino appeared on the Dan Patrick Show Monday and discussed what led him to the job as well as his next moves.

"I was blackballed incorrectly for two-and-a-half years," he said of his time away from college basketball.

In an interview with WFAN, Pitino took full responsibility for his actions and said he "deserved to be fired by Louisville" (around 2:30 mark):

Pitino was named Iona's next men's basketball head coach on Saturday.

He also noted he was considering Providence and Holy Cross before landing in his current spot:

The coach emphatically said he wouldn't schedule a matchup against Louisville, but there could be a game against another of his former teams. 

"I would love to schedule Kentucky in the Garden in the Jimmy V Classic," he said Monday, per Adam Zagoria of the New York Times. "I think that would be a great draw and that would be exciting and I hope John [Calipari] would entertain that."

The 67-year-old Pitino had been coaching Panathinaikos of the Euroleague and Greek Basket League prior to striking a deal with the Gaels.

A two-time NCAA Division I national champion, Pitino is one of men's college basketball's most decorated coaches.

The owner of a 770-271 coaching record at five Division I stops, Pitino also led the New York Knicks for two seasons and the Boston Celtics for three-plus years.

He's most known for his times at Kentucky and Louisville. At UK, Pitino led the 1995-96 team to a national championship. At Louisville, he took the 2012-13 Cardinals all the way.

The NCAA record shows a vacated title for the 2012-13 season, however, as the organization imposed sanctions in response to a sex scandal during Pitino's era.

Jacob Bogage and Roman Stubbs of the Washington Post provided details in a February 20, 2018 piece:

"The program was also stripped of 123 wins dating from 2012 to 2015 after an NCAA investigation found that a member of the coaching staff had provided prostitutes and strippers to players and recruits. Louisville also must pay the NCAA roughly $600,000 in fines, interim university president Greg Postel said at a news conference Tuesday, which stems from revenue the school earned by NCAA tournament appearances from 2012 to 2015."

The FBI also put Louisville and other schools under investigation for a "pay for play" scandal. Thomas Novelly of the Courier-Journal wrote that "an Adidas executive conspired to pay $100,000 to the family of a top-ranked national recruit to play at Louisville and to represent Adidas when he turned pro." Novelly mentioned other allegations as well.

Pitino denied knowing about any of the incidents, but the University of Louisville Athletic Association board fired him in October 2017 for "just cause," per Jeff Borzello of ESPN. He joined Panathinaikos in Dec. 2018 before deciding to return to the college ranks.

"I took the job wanting it to be my last job," Pitino told Zach Braziller of the New York Post in a phone interview.

"I spoke to numerous people about it, and I’m glad I’m ending [my career] with a small Catholic school that has the potential to be built up into a major power, regardless of what people think. I’m super excited about it. It’s a perfect fit at a perfect time in my life."

Iona, which made the NCAA tournament each season from 2016-2019, finished 12-16 last year.

As Rick Pitino prepares for his return to college basketball as head coach at Iona, one thing that may have factored into his decision to leave Greek team Panathinaikos was the difference between college and professional players.

Per CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, one source said Pitino "hated coaching pros" and "complained about it every day."

Iona announced Pitino's hiring Saturday, along with a statement from the Hall of Fame coach:

"My passion in basketball started in New York and will end there at Iona College. Tim Cluess has done a spectacular job creating success and a winning spirit. I wish Tim a speedy recovery and Iona will always cherish his accomplishments. At Iona, I will work with the same passion, hunger and drive that I've had for over forty years. There is a real professionalism in how things are run here and this is a very tight, strong community. The priority in New Rochelle right now is helping students continue their education online in light of the coronavirus and I very much look forward to the day when the community is back on campus and to get to work on further elevating this strong program."

Norlander noted Pitino recently informed Panathinaikos players he would be returning to coach college basketball at the conclusion of the Euroleague season.

The Euroleague suspended its season on Thursday because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Iona's head coaching job opened up Friday when Tim Cluess, who has been with the program since 2010-11, announced he was stepping down to focus on recovering from recent health concerns.

Panathinaikos was Pitino's first job after Louisville fired him in October 2017 amid the fraud and corruption scandal throughout college basketball. The Greek team hired him in December 2018, and he has led the team to a 24-23 record in Euroleague play.

Pitino has spent a total of 32 seasons coaching in college with five different schools. His time with Panathinaikos was just his third time coaching professional players. He previously spent two seasons with the New York Knicks (1987-89) and three-plus seasons with the Boston Celtics from 1997 to 2001.