It wasn’t a true Bobby Gonzalez Invitational — or ‘Gonzo Invite’ — but it’s the closest thing we can hope for right now.
Marshall beat Iona, 82-63, Sunday afternoon in a game that featured three players who once committed to Gonzalez at Seton Hall.
Iona’s Mike Glover led his team with 20 points and 6 rebounds, while Marshall’s DeAndre Kane had 19 points and 5 assists. Jamir Hanner went scoreless for Marshall.
In the summer of 2006, Glover initially committed to Gonzalez out of American Christian. He arrived on campus a year later as one of the most heralded recruits of Gonzalez’s tumultuous four-year tenure.
“Glover is a warrior who will fit our style of play perfectly,” Gonzalez said in November 2006. “He is a terrific addition to this class.”
Glover never did suit up at Seton Hall, and is now the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year for head coach Tim Cluess. Cluess took over for Kevin Willard, who replaced Gonzo at Seton Hall.
Both Kane and Hanner committed to Gonzo, only to decommit later on.
The list of players who committed and decommitted to Gonzo at Seton Hall is a more exhaustive project than we can handle right now (Cliff Dixon anyone?, but suffice to say a true Gonzo Invite would also feature several other groups of players.
Give credit where it’s due. Gonzo and his staff did recruit Jeremy Hazell, Herb Pope, Jeff Robinson, Jordan Theodore and Fuquan Edwin to Seton Hall.
Of course, he also brought in noted law-abiding citizens like Robert “Stix” Mitchell and Keon Lawrence.
And then there were the high-profile players Seton Hall recruited during his tenure but failed to land.
Tyreke Evans, Lance Stephenson and Dominic Cheek come to mind.
In one of the greatest soundbites of Gonzo’s tumultuous four-year tenure at Seton Hall, he issued this proclamation in 2007 in reference to guys like Evans and Stephenson.
“We are absolutely in the next year or two years going to get a kid that we’re not supposed to get,” Gonzalez said. “And what’s going to happen is, people are going to get very upset and they’re going to accuse of cheating.”
Alas, those wild and crazy days are gone and all we’re left with is a few remembrances in the Iona-Marshall game.
