Iona men鈥檚 basketball ready for the spotlight
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (BVM) — As the new season quickly approaches, the Iona Men鈥檚 Basketball team is looking to win its sixth straight MAAC championship this year and continue building on their impressive NCAA berth last season.
The Gaels are coming into the 2021 season with high expectations. They were ranked the No. 1 team in the MAAC according to the 2021-22 Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll, much to the surprise of the Gaels鈥� Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino.
鈥淚n the other conferences, you have a clue that Duke is going to be No. 1 or, in the SEC, Kentucky is going to be No. 1,鈥� Pitino 聽鈥淚n the MAAC, you have no clue who’s going to be the best team, because it’s a transfer league. So many transfers leave, and eventually come back because they realize they made a mistake. You really don’t know who’s going to be good.鈥�
Additionally, sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph earned Preseason All-MAAC First Team and he was the youngest player to receive this acknowledgment. After earning MAAC Rookie of the Year last season, he is projected to make a major leap in production this upcoming season.
Last year, the Gaels lost to Alabama in the NCAA Tournament. However, they are expected to make a good run this year now that Pitino has had a full offseason to practice with his team. He was hired in March of 2020 amid the COVID pandemic and is now given the chance to have Iona reach its full potential.
鈥淚t was a unique season for everybody and everybody needed to get through it,鈥� said Pitino in regards to last year鈥檚 hectic season. 鈥淣ow, our training program, trip to Greece, and every aspect of what we’re trying to build here from a schedule to conditioning, to a culture standpoint is in place. We’re excited and getting ready to go. It’s going to be a basketball season that’s much different than last year and has to be much better.鈥�
In preparation for the upcoming season, Pitino took the Gaels on a 12-day five-game road trip through Greece, facing professional basketball teams. Although the Gaels went 1-4 on this road trip, Pitino remains optimistic that Iona is on the right path.
鈥淚’m real proud to be in Iona,” Pitino said. “I think we can build something special. We’re in the infancy stages of recruiting right now. We’re going to recruit bigger and better players, but I couldn’t be prouder of the players that are here. We learned a lot. We’ll get better. We’ll get much better.鈥�
The Gaels have one more exhibition game against Adelphi on October 30th before they face Appalachian State in their season opener on their home court. Their first game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and ESPN 3 on November 9th at 7:00 pm (EST).
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.