Post by reindeerfan on Mar 14, 2020 21:29:17 GMT -5
I personally don't have any affection for this guy, he has no ethics whatsoever.
That said, the MAAC conference just lost its cloak of invisibility. Pitino is going to draw attention to the conference. In this respect I think it is a good move for Iona. Fairfield may benefit from the added exposure the conference is going to draw. We have better facilities and an ethical coach. We have something we can sell.
So not the decision I would have made but I believe this is going to work out well for Iona. If all you care about is winning, Pitino's the guy.
I actually think it is an incredibly desperate move for relevancy by Iona. It relegates them to the MAAC for eternity. If Fairfield ever did this, it would squash their chances or momentum to join other leagues. These options are real for Fairfield. We can not make a decision like this and expect those options to still be open.
On the flip side, it will bring renewed attention to Iona and the MAAC. Iona will be tough, but I actually think this will help Fairfield and other MAAC schools bring in players.
Post by stagshoops3 on Mar 14, 2020 22:05:05 GMT -5
We haven’t made the tourney since 1997. Iona/Siena has been the class of this league over the past 25 years. We long (bitch) for a tourney team year in and year out. We had the chance to make a splash hire and while I have no idea how the Jay Young era will turn out, we went with someone who may be a great person/coach, but is a career assistant. Iona has one down year and they go out and hire Rick Pitino.
Iona continues to keep the MAAC from obscurity and our reaction is that we have to get away. I will never get the perception from folks here that we have any kind of relevance in college basketball. I wish Fairfield would take a swing at relevance. We are going to keep losing in any conference we play in with this mentality. Keep taking the easy potshots at Iona and Pitino. They’ll stay relevant and keep winning while we continue to wade in obscurity. But we can still sit in our ivory tower and pretend we have this academic superiority when all we require is minimum NCAA Clearinghouse just like any other men’s basketball program in our conference. We’re a joke.
Rick Pitino is a coaching genius. He is also a rules compliance disaster. Now, he's returning to college basketball, and Iona will own every criticism out there for its craven, just-win hire.
Rick Pitino coaching at Iona is like Pavarotti singing at a county fair in Iowa. He is dramatically overqualified. If you can hire a coaching master at a mid-major, low-budget school, why on earth wouldn’t you?
It was probably just a matter of time before someone swallowed their decency and hired Rick Pitino, genius coach. But this timing stinks for so many reasons—for what’s happening in New Rochelle, and for what’s about to land at Louisville with Pitino’s name on it.
Pavarotti doesn’t play a county fair unless he has to. This is a marriage of desperation in the middle of dark times.
More "great" publicity for Iona College in Sunday's NY POST. Most Gael basketball fans are probably ecstatic at the hiring of Rick Pitino and the rest of the Iona alumni probably not so much?
Rick Pitino hire shows what is most important to Iona The size of the program didn’t matter. The spotlight follows him everywhere. Of course, Iona is now his home because no major conference came calling. Sources said Pitino was desperate to return to college basketball. Pitino publicly campaigned for the vacant St. John’s job in April, knowing the school had no interest. That’s why he included the absurd caveat that he first receive an apology from the Southern District of New York. That demand has apparently been dropped..... nypost.com/2020/03/15/rick-pitino-hire-shows-what-is-most-important-to-iona/
Tim Cluess rewarded Iona’s faith by being true to himself He didn’t coach this year. At the start of the season, he took ill, and his situation was described often as “serious, not life threatening.” Friday, he made official what everyone sadly knew was imminent, stepping down from the head coaching job. He leaves, arguably, as the greatest coach in the history of the MAAC, a place where an awful lot of fine careers were launched. “Every day I coach,” he told me once, “is a gift.”... nypost.com/2020/03/14/tim-cluess-rewarded-ionas-faith-by-being-true-to-himself/
This is NOT a decision that I would want Fairfield to make. We do Not need a Pitino reputation. However, Fairfield is not Iona and Iona will benefit from this move. Iona has always been a school for 2nd chancers (Momo Jones, Glover etc). They are also a school that could probably move to a stronger Basketball League.
What Iona did was pay their Basketball coach 1.1 Million. We should do that. If its for Jay Young or another coach we should be paying our coach the money that represents the Top of the MAAC.
Leopards do not change their spots. It is only a matter of time that Pitino gets into some kind of sleazy mess at Iona. They at Iona will get what they deserve at that time by introducing this virus into their program. I for one look forward to having the opportunity to let that mutt Pitino know how I feel from the stands when Pitino coaches his first game at the WBA.
Especially as the game will be played off campus at the WBA in downtown Bridgeport which feels like a neutral court for Iona and to their fans.
That’s because some schools bring more fans than does Fairfield to Fairfield home games. Whose fault is that? Fairfield Basketball has had no buzz for many years now.
Leopards do not change their spots. It is only a matter of time that Pitino gets into some kind of sleazy mess at Iona. They at Iona will get what they deserve at that time by introducing this virus into their program. I for one look forward to having the opportunity to let that mutt Pitino know how I feel from the stands when Pitino coaches his first game at the WBA.
It’s not like Pitino is a one time offender-he’s serial. Ensor is celebrating it on Twitter-most of us think he’s a jackass already. Nemec and the rest of the presidents should publicly rebuke this decision even if it has no real effect. Tenured professors at Iona (they actually have a lot of power) need to come out against it too. Parents can’t be thrilled that this guy is shaping minds. I hope the NCAA holds him to account via show cause penalties.
I hope that adults reclaim this decision
Pitino is a brilliant basketball mind - that’s not what the league is only about. That’s not what Iona is only about.
Without Cluess, Iona saw that their program lost something and was in danger of being mid-pack. Their administration listened to the disgruntled fans (evidence of a poll) and acted. Although I dislike Pitino, I credit Iona for making a bold move to stay on top of the MAAC. If only Fairfield “got it” (in terms of program importance). If Iona is smart, their AD will be all over Pitino to avoid any future embarrassments to the school.
I am very concerned that recruiting just became a lot tougher... especially for this year’s transfers from bigger programs. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of our prime candidates are already being wooed by Pitino.
Ensor is weighing the conference down, and yet he will take credit for the MAAC’s elevated publicity over the next few years.
Especially as the game will be played off campus at the WBA in downtown Bridgeport which feels like a neutral court for Iona and to their fans.
That’s because some schools bring more fans than does Fairfield to Fairfield home games. Whose fault is that? Fairfield Basketball has had no buzz for many years now.
some schools bring more fans than does Fairfield to Fairfield home games.
Absolutely not true. More non Stag fans do go to the WBA but not more than Fairfield fans and not in Alumni Hall on campus. The WBA in downtown Bridgeport has had no buzz for many years now.