If you’re Iona, is it worth rolling the dice? There are reasons why the answer is an easy “yes” and an easy “no,” which means that as is often the case, where you stand on something depends on where you sit.
And make no mistake about it: Iona is rolling the dice in hiring Rick Pitino to succeed Tim Cluess, who stepped down about 24 hours earlier due to health concerns.
The upside is obvious: Pitino is simply one of the best coaches out there. His track record that includes two national championships, though one has been vacated by the NCAA, as well as seven Final Four appearances at three different schools. Countless times he has maximized his roster better than any other coach. And he will instantly bring a great deal of attention to the MAAC.
But Pitino also does not come risk free. He was suspended for the first five ACC games of the 2017-18 season, but that never mattered because he was fired before then since Louisville was referenced in the FBI investigation into corruption. While no one on the Louisville staff was arrested, the school figured prominently from the situation with Brian Bowen. The NCAA has not made a ruling on anything related to the program from that time or situation, but it’s always possible that will happen.
And if you’re Iona, is it worth the risk? In one sense, yes, because of what he brings to the table. You don’t get to hire a proven Hall of Fame coach when you’re in the MAAC. But Iona is also one of the signature programs in the MAAC, having more the most games since the conference’s formation and leading the way with 12 conference titles. They had won four in a row before this season and made nine straight postseason appearances. While Tim Cluess certainly had something to do with that, it’s not as if he was coaching a program with everything working against it. All of that is to say that this job could easily attract plenty of good candidates who could then win a lot in New Rochelle. They didn’t have to take a risk like this.
Interestingly, as college basketball and much else is basically shut down right now due to the coronavirus, New Rochelle, where Iona is located, has “the largest cluster of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country” according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. As such, getting started on the job would not be possible, but in this case, it may be just as well for another reason.
Pitino will finish coaching the Panathinaikos team in Greece before starting at Iona, if the season does resume there. They are currently fighting for a playoff spot in their league. Perhaps the end of the season there ends up being about the time things settle down in the United States to allow a return to “normal” everyday life, and thus the time Pitino would get started at Iona.
Either way, this will certainly bring attention, as well as both upside and risk, to Iona.
Side Dishes
Transfers are also happening fast and furious, even in these uncertain times. A few notables:
- Four players from Wichita State have entered the transfer portal over the past couple of days, and not just bit players. Sophomore guards Erik Stevenson and Jamarius Burton, who were second and third on the team in scoring, are leaving, as well as freshman guard Noah Fernandes and classmate DeAntoni Gordon.
- The nation’s leading rebounder this past season, Kevin Marfo, will graduate from Quinnipiac and transfer next season. He started his college career at George Washington before transferring to Quinnipiac.
- Guard Kobe Webster will transfer to Nebraska as a graduate transfer. He played the past three seasons at Western Illinois before making the move, and averaged 17.1 points per game this past season.
