Iona Gaels men's basketball

Iona Gaels
Iona Gaels
	2021–22 Iona Gaels men's basketball team
University	Iona College
Head coach	Rick Pitino (2nd season)
Conference	MAAC
Location	New Rochelle, New York
Arena	Hynes Athletic Center ; (Capacity: 2,611)
Nickname	Gaels
Colors	Maroon and gold[1];
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
	1980
NCAA Tournament Appearances
	1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Conference tournament champions
	1982, 1984, 1985, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
Conference regular season champions
	1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022

The Iona Gaels men's basketball team represents Iona College in New Rochelle, New York in NCAA Division I competition. The school's team competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and plays home games in Hynes Athletic Center. On March 14, 2020, the Gaels hired Rick Pitino as their head coach.

History

Iona College has been competing in Division I basketball since the school's inception in 1940. Iona is also one of the founding members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which began play in men's basketball with the 1981–82 season. The Gaels have compiled the most victories of any MAAC team since the founding of the conference and have won a league record thirteen MAAC tourney titles (1982, 1984, 1985, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021). They have appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021, with the first two of those appearances coming as a member of the Metropolitan Conference and in 2012 as an at-large selection out of the MAAC. The Gaels have also been to 7 NITs, in 1982, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2014, 2015 and 2022. In 2011, the Gaels made it to the final game of the CIT post-season tournament, losing at home to Santa Clara. Since the 1978-79 season, the Gaels have won 20 games or more in 22 seasons.

Postseason

NCAA Tournament results

The Gaels have appeared in 15 NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 1–15. Iona's only NCAA Tournament victory to date, which took place in 1980, was vacated by the NCAA due to their star Center, Jeff Ruland, having signed a contract with an agent for professional representation a few months prior. Thus, NCAA record books attribute to them an 0-15 record in NCAA tournament games. The Gaels first five losses in NCAA tournament play were by a combined 11 points, including a heartbreaking buzzer-beater by Syracuse University in 1998.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1979	8	First Round	Penn	L 69–73
1980*	6	First Round Second Round	Holy Cross Georgetown	W 84–78 L 71–74
1984	10	First Round	Virginia	L 57–58
1985	13	First Round	Loyola Chicago	L 58–59
1998	12	First Round	Syracuse	L 61–63
2000	14	First Round	Maryland	L 59–74
2001	14	First Round	Mississippi	L 70–72
2006	13	First Round	LSU	L 64–80
2012	14	First Four	BYU	L 72–78
2013	15	First Round	Ohio State	L 70–95
2016	13	First Round	Iowa State	L 81–94
2017	14	First Round	Oregon	L 77–93
2018	15	First Round	Duke	L 67–89
2019	16	First Round	North Carolina	L 73–88
2021	15	First Round	Alabama	L 55–68

NIT results

The Gaels have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) seven times. Their combined record is 1–7.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1982	First Round	Rutgers	L 51–55
1983	First Round Second Round	St. Bonaventure Nebraska	W 90–76 L 73–85
1996	First Round	St. Joseph's	L 78–82
1997	First Round	Connecticut	L 66–71
2014	First Round	Louisiana Tech	L 88–89
2015	First Round	Rhode Island	L 75–88
2022	First Round	Florida	L 74-79

CIT results

The Gaels have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) one time. Their record is 3–1

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game	Valparaiso Buffalo East Tennessee State Santa Clara	W 85–77 W 78–63 W 83–80 L 69–76

Victories over ranked opponents

Nov. 30, 1979: Iona 78, #14 Texas A&M 52 (Bucker Field House)
Feb. 21, 1980: Iona 77, #2 Louisville 60 (Madison Square Garden)
Dec. 27, 2002: Iona 65, #22 North Carolina 56 (Madison Square Garden)
Nov. 26, 2005: Iona 89, #23 Iowa State 72 (Ames, Iowa)
Nov. 25, 2021: Iona 72, #10 Alabama 68 (HP Fieldhouse, Orlando, FL)

Gaels in the NBA

Richie Guerin (Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 2013)
Jeff Ruland (1984 All-Star Selection)
Steve Burtt, Sr.
Sean Green
Scott Machado

References

1. About the MAAC https://maacsports.com/sports/2017/6/20/GEN_0620175706.aspx

2. https://icgaels.com/facilities/hynes-athletics-center/14

3. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28902504/rick-pitino-returns-college-basketball-iona-coach

4. Logo Library https://icgaels.com/sports/2017/6/26/logo-library.aspx

5. What is a Gael? https://icgaels.com/sports/2007/2/23/what-is-a-gael.aspx

External links

Official website

"Logo Library - ICGaels.com". June 26, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Logo Library - ICGaels.com". June 26, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.

Iona Gaels men's basketball
Venues	Joseph E. O'Connell Memorial Gymnasium Hynes Athletic Center (1974–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1940–41 1941–42 1942–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22

Iona College (New York)
Located in: New Rochelle, New York
Academics	Elizabeth Seton College Institute of Thomas Paine Studies
Athletics	Iona Gaels Men's basketball Women's basketball Baseball Softball Hynes Athletic Center Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
People	List of Iona College alumni
Founded: 1940

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball
Teams	Canisius Golden Griffins Fairfield Stags Iona Gaels Manhattan Jaspers Marist Red Foxes Monmouth Hawks (leaving in 2022) Niagara Purple Eagles Quinnipiac Bobcats Rider Broncs Saint Peter's Peacocks Siena Saints
Tournament & awards	MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament Coach of the Year Player of the Year Rookie of the Year
Seasons	1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22