The A-10 already has 14 schools. That is a lot of of schools. And probably Too many. 7 of those schools are Catholic
Dayton, St. Louis, St Bonnies, St Joes, Duquesne, Lasalle and Fordham.
I can see the A-10 splitting into 2 leagues...... The A-10 Catholic, and The A-10 Non-Catholic. Add 2-3 schools to the Catholic league and 2-3 to the Non Catholic.
Well Fairfield, Manhatten, Siena, Iona, Dayton, St. Louis, St Bonnies, St Joes, Duquesne, Lasalle and Fordham would be an interesting league to be a part of.
I really like this Big East light concept with 4 Jesuits schools. I bet you Holy Cross would be interested too.
Well guess what? He got ANOTHER 2020 commit today, a 6'7 German forward who played this past year in the U.S. Rated a three star by at least one recruiting site.
Make that 14 scholarship players. Iona board reporting one of their highly-prized JUCO recruits (Darreus Brown) won't be playing for them. His academics simply were not good enough to meet Iona's high standards.
Last Edit: May 12, 2020 15:19:39 GMT -5 by vastagman
I suspect it was more about Pitino. Washington played for Pitino’s son at Minnesota and they did not get along by the end of his tenure. I forget exactly what it was but he tweeted something about not being happy when the Pitino hire was announced before quickly deleting it.
Make that 14 scholarship players. Iona board reporting one of their highly-prized JUCO recruits (Darreus Brown) won't be playing for them. His academics simply were not good enough to meet Iona's high standards.
Looks like Pitino got ANOTHER commitment, Omar Rowe, a shooting guard. Who's coming, who's going (who's on 1st-who's on 2nd)? The circus continues!
Some information on the current President of Iona: Seamus Carey, Ph.D., is an American philosopher and academic, who served as the 26th President of Transylvania University, the first university in the state of Kentucky. Carey took the helm after the departure of R. Owen Williams. Carey was Dean of Arts & Sciences at Sacred Heart University prior to his appointment. He earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University in 1996 after earning an M.A. from the same university and his B.A. from Vassar College in 1987. Carey attended Harvard's Management Development Program and the Executive Leadership Academy sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges. At Sacred Heart, he supervised 121 full-time faculty, 18 department chairs and eight graduate program directors. As part of his development efforts, Carey oversaw the expansion of Sacred Heart's campus in Dingle, Ireland. On May 13th, Carey announced he would be stepping down from his role as president of Transylvania University in order to take the same position at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York.
According to Billy Reed's column in the June issue of Basketball Times, the current Iona President, Seamus Carey, played his high school basketball at St. Thomas More Academy in the Bronx at the same time that Pearl Washington and Kenny Smith were schoolboy stars. Carey played his college basketball at Vassar where the team had a 14-12 record his senior season, which was their best record in a long time at Vassar. In 2014, Carey is named the President of Transylvania University in Lexington Kentucky --so he becomes very familiar with Pitino's success on the court as a coach at both Kentucky and Louisville if he hadn't already known of Pitino's coaching success. During his coaching days, Pitino connected Jamal Mashburn to a former accountant named Rick Avare who was to help Mashburn manage his money once he went to the NBA. Eventually Mashburn, Avare and Pitino formed a partnership (MAP) that owned a Lexington dealership, and some restaurants among other ventures. During his time in Lexington, Carey becomes friends with Avare. Avare talks to Carey about Pitino when Carey is President of Iona. Cluess quits for health reasons and Pitino is named the Iona head coach.
A strange coincidence is that the columnist Billy Reed who covers college basketball for the Lexington Kentucky newspaper is a graduate of Transylvania University where Carey was the President before coming to Iona. Reed does mention in the article that Pitino lost a $40 million illegal termination lawsuit against Louisville.
Pitino and Iona got some publicity on NBC's coverage of the US Open Saturday afternoon. Anchor Dan Hicks, who is a Wingfoot member, commented on spectators who were watching from properties adjacent to the course. He said something like "Rick Pitino, the new Iona basketball coach, has just purchased a home next to the course." Later they showed a backyard (not sure if it was Pitino's) where a bunch of people were sitting on a small set of bleacher seats. Hicks made a point of having the camera show Rick (with mask) sitting in the front row with an Iona hat on. I don't think he mentioned the MAAC.
Pitino and Iona got some publicity on NBC's coverage of the US Open Saturday afternoon. Anchor Dan Hicks, who is a Wingfoot member, commented on spectators who were watching from properties adjacent to the course. He said something like "Rick Pitino, the new Iona basketball coach, has just purchased a home next to the course." Later they showed a backyard (not sure if it was Pitino's) where a bunch of people were sitting on a small set of bleacher seats. Hicks made a point of having the camera show Rick (with mask) sitting in the front row with an Iona hat on. I don't think he mentioned the MAAC.
Home along the course at Winged Foot. Nice. Guess Rick didn't take the Iona job for the money.
Rick Pitino @realpitino Really enjoying Iona College -reminds me so much of the Providence College days. Need to create that same magic. Awesome group of young men . Although I need Billy the Kid Donovan to walk thru that door 😂
Pitino just brought in a 6'10" 240 lb high school player who is immediately eligible. Kid decommitted from Wake Forest.
How can he do that if he already has 13 scholarships filled you ask? Apparently he got an injured player to withdraw from school for the spring semester.
Last Edit: Jan 1, 2021 8:31:53 GMT -5 by vastagman
Pitino just brought in a 6'10" 240 lb high school player who is immediately eligible. Kid decommitted from Wake Forest.
How can he do that if he already has 13 scholarships filled you ask? Apparently he got an injured player to withdraw from school for the spring semester.
One question. Is he playing by the rules or breaking them? If he is doing everything within the rules permitted, more power to him.