Bryant to hire Iona’s Jared Grasso as its next head coach
By SEAN BOCK Bryant will hire Iona associate
By SEAN BOCK Bryant will hire Iona associate
By ADAM ZAGORIA
PITTSBURGH — When Zach Lewis opted to transfer after graduating from UMass a year ago, he chose Iona for both academic and athletic reasons.
On the academic front, he’s now in Iona’s sports communication and media program and is “getting a Master’s for free basically, which is perfect,” he said here Wednesday.
On the athletic front, he was friendly with Jon Severe, the former Fordham player who spent last season at Iona, and made the NCAA Tournament. Lewis has essentially replicated Severe’s experience by also making the NCAA Tournament as the Gaels won their third straight MAAC Tournament title.
Iona has two grad transfers on its roster now as well as a junior college transfer (Roland Griffin), and has had about half a dozen grad transfers in the last eight years under head coach Tim Cluess. They’ve also had additional players who transferred but weren’t grad students.
As the No. 15-seeded Gaels (20-13) get set to play No. 2 Duke (26-7) in a Midwest Region first-round matchup here Thursday, their recruiting philosophies underscore their different approaches to building a team.
By ADAM ZAGORIA The Iona Gaels are once
By ADAM ZAGORIA It's the first Monday in
By SEAN BOCK Jeffrey Otchere, the 6-foot-11 JUCO
NEW YORK — Shamorie Ponds was looking forward to playing his first game at Madison Square Garden this season.
And the fact that the game had the added juice of being the first matchup between Iona and St. John’s since 1995 only added to Ponds’ hype factor.
The sophomore guard from Brooklyn seized the moment by scoring 16 points and grabbing 4 rebounds as the Red Storm knocked off the Gaels, 69-59, in front of 9,515 at the MSG Holiday Festival.
Justin Simon added 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists points and Marvin Clark II had 12 points and 5 rebounds for St. John’s, which continues to play without Marcus LoVett (sprained left knee). Bashir Ahmed added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Tariq Owens scored 10 points, 6 rebounds and 6 blocks.
“You could just feel the energy from the crowd,” Simon said. “I think that motivated us a lot to play hard and get out there have fun.”
St. John’s won despite not hitting a single three-pointer (0-for-12) for the first time since Nov. 15, 2013.
