Cluess Receives Extension at Iona

Iona College men’s basketball coach Tim Cluess received a three-year contract extension that will keep him at the college in New Rochelle through the 2024-2025 season.

“The support the Iona College community, alumni and all of Gael Nation shows our program year in and year out makes Iona a special place for the coaching staff, myself and my family,” said Cluess in a press release. “Additionally, the continued support shown by President (Joseph) Nyre, (Athletic Director) Rick Cole and our entire administration continues to push our program to reach new heights. I look forward to adding to the legacy and further growth of Iona basketball.”

Cluess has coached the Gaels to the NCAA tournament in each of the last three seasons, joining Gonzaga and South Dakota State as the only mid-major programs to compete in the last three NCAA tournaments.

Iona has won at least 20 games and competed in a national postseason tournament in each of Cluess’ eight seasons. His 182 wins and .664 winning percentage give Iona the highest win total and winning percentage of the 23 NCAA Division I programs in the New York Metropolitan area.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IONA COLLEGE

 

Iona Looks to 2018-2019

Tim Cluess is now looking ahead to the 2018-2019 season after his 15th-seeded Iona College men’s basketball team suffered an 89-67 opening-round loss to second seed Duke at the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

The Gaels had nine underclassman on the 2017-2018 roster, including three starters from Thursday’s loss.

“I do think our core is good and I think we have some players that are in our program sitting out this year that are really going to help us as well,” said Cluess, who coached Iona to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament, in the postgame press conference. “We have to do a good job recruiting right now to finish off our team for next year, but I think we have a shot to be very good again.”

Iona and Duke were tied at 19 before Duke pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Roland Griffin led Iona (20-14 overall) with 21 points and five rebounds, and TK Edogi added 11 points. Zach Lewis and Rickey McGill each scored 10 points.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IONA COLLEGE

 

 

Iona Meeting Duke

The Iona College men’s basketball is facing Duke in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh at 2:45 p.m. Thursday.

WCBS-2 is scheduled to televise the game.

Iona and Duke are meeting for the first time in the history of the two programs.

Iona is 0-11 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 9-26 all-time against opponents from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Gaels (20-13) earned an automatic bid to the NCAAs by beating Fairfield in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference final in Albany on March 5. Duke (26-7) received an at-large bid after losing in the ACC semifinals to the University of North Carolina.

Click here to read more about Iona’s win over Fairfield.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IONA COLLEGE

Marist, Fordham in WNIT

The Marist College and Fordham University women’s basketball teams will be competing in the WNIT this week.

Marist (20-13 overall) is playing at St. John’s on Thursday night. The Red Foxes last played in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference final, losing to Quinnipiac, 67-58. The Marist-St. John’s winner will play the Penn-Albany winner in the second round.

Fordham (22-9) is hosting Harvard on Friday night. The Rams suffered a 52-49 loss to St. Joseph’s in the Atlantic-10 quarterfinals on March 2. The Fordham-Harvard winner will oppose the Drexel-Robert Morris winner in the second round.

Iona Men Off to NCAAs

The Iona College men’s basketball team won a third consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament and 11th overall with an 83-71 victory over sixth-seeded Fairfield at the Times Union Center in Albany on Monday night.

The Gaels (20-13), seeded fourth for the MAAC tournament, will learn Sunday who they will oppose in the NCAA Division I Tournament.

Iona led by six at halftime and extended its lead to 20 points in the second half. Junior forward Roland Griffin came off the bench to lead the Gaels with a career-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

Guard Zach Lewis, a graduate student, contributed 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals for Iona. Junior guard Rickey McGill added 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

PHOTO: Head coach Tim Cluess has guided the Iona College men’s basketball team to a third consecutive MAAC Tournament championship and fourth in six years. PHOTO COURTESY OF IONA COLLEGE.

Iona, Manhattan Starting MAAC Play

The rival Iona and Manhattan college men’s basketball teams were picked to finish 1-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason poll.

MAAC play begins this week. Read what the players and coaches said about the conference and rivalry in this Catholic New York and cny.org story.

St. Thomas Aquinas Adding Sprint Football Program for 2018

Collegiate football is coming to Rockland County.

St. Thomas Aquinas announced it is adding a sprint football team for the 2018-2019 school year, the first collegiate football program in Rockland County.

The Spartans will compete in the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL), which includes the U.S. Military Academy, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill College, Cornell University, Franklin Pierce University, Mansfield University, the U.S. Naval Academy, Post University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Sprint football is for player weighing 178 pounds or less.

Click here to learn more about the league.