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LOCATION: New Rochelle, NY
CONFERENCE: Metro Atlantic Athletic (MAAC)
LAST SEASON: 16-14 (.533)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 12-6 (4th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Gaels
COLORS: Maroon & Gold
HOMECOURT: Mulcahy Center (3,200)
COACH: Jeff Ruland (Iona '91)
record at school 16-14 (1 year)
career record 16-14 (1 year)
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ASSISTANTS: Craig Holcomb (Brockport State '86)
Tony Chiles (Columbia '89)
Rob O'Drsicoll (Villanova '94)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 10-21-22-27-16
RPI (last 5 years) 254-69-103-43-120
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinals.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Iona's season-ending 71-69 loss to Marist in the 1999 MAAC Tournament quarterfinals pretty much epitomized the Jekyl-and-Hyde nature of the Gaels last year. Jeff Ruland's club blew an 11-point lead in final 8:13 before losing the game on a Bo Larragan three-pointer with 5.3 seconds left in the game. How does a seemingly-in-control team let an 11-point lead evaporate that quickly? In short, the short people didn't do their jobs. Ruland's club was expected to win the MAAC title for a fourth straight year. Instead it was bounced out of the tournament early because of shoddy guard play (something that plagued the Gaels all last season). Without ultra-confident point man John McDonald and muscular, tough two-guard Donnell Mitchell, the Gaels were reduced to a slight breeze falling from 27-6 and a last-second 1998 NCAA Tournament loss to Syracuse to a team barely above .500 in one year. Ruland, who showed underclassmen Javar Cheatham, Ned Rolsma and Steve Armistead the door, thinks that better days are ahead in 1999-2000. "I think that we've addressed our needs and we have a strong nucleus coming back," Ruland said. He is right about the strong nucleus. The Gaels return four starters from last year's team that went 12-7 after starting the season 4-7. Ruland brought in an ace recruiting class to shore up questions inside and at the point. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH B+
FRONTCOURT B+ INTANGIBLES B+
Give Iona coach Jeff Ruland credit. His team underachieved last year, so he went out and recruited impact guys to immediately strengthen the weak links on his team. Sure, 7-foot-1 Terry Sellers is as skinny as Kevin Garnett on Slim-Fast, but he will block shots, rebound and run the floor. More important, his addition allows JUCO transfer Jermaine Small to play his natural four-man spot and Tariq Kirksay to play the three-spot, giving the Gaels' the best front line in MAAC. The question is the point-guard spot. If Ruland can find a steady hand to run the show, then Iona will push, and perhaps supplant, 1999 champion Siena for the 2000 MAAC crown. Ruland won't have to wait long to get a gauge on his point guards. His team opens with Massachusetts, Coppin State and UCLA. The scary part? Even if the high rate of turnovers (19 per game in 1998-99) continue, the Gaels will probably still finish second to Siena and be a team nobody wants to play in late February. |
Senior Tariq Kirksay (13.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 90 assists, 41 steals) has started all 93 games since arriving in New Rochelle from the Soundview section of the Bronx. A legitimate 2000 MAAC Player-of-the-Year candidate, the 6-6, 215-pound Kirksay has great leaping ability, fills up multiple columns in the stats sheet every night and possesses a body type and athletic skills that bring to mind a young Stacey Augmon. "Tariq is a talented player," Ruland said. "We need him to step up and be a leader this season, on and off the court." Kirksay will be joined in the regular forward rotation by two old faces 6-7 junior swingman Phil Grant and 6-9 senior Ivo Kresta and two talented junior-college imports in 6-8 wide body Jermaine Small and 6-5 swingman Leland Matthews. Small, a junior, is the new starter at power forward. The 230-pounder averaged 16.5 points, 11 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots as a sophomore at Los Angeles City College and earned co-MVP honors of the South Coast Conference for a 22-10 club. Small has more than held his own against Kirksay in offseason pickup games. "Jermaine has shown the ability to hit threes and has been dunking backward on (returning backup center) Nakiea Miller," Ruland said. "He is, believe it or not, more athletic than (Kashif) Hameed." That's saying something, because the mellow 6-8 Hameed was the 1998 MAAC Player of the Year and is the school's all-time shot blocker. If Small is as good as advertised, then Ruland has lots of options up front. He can play Small some at center, with Kirksay at power forward and one of his young swingmen (Grant or Matthews) at small forward. The 6-7 Grant (9.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 49 assists, 26 steals) will see playing time all over the place. The lanky Grant will garner minutes at the small forward, the big guard and perhaps even some at the point-guard slot, if Ruland can't find a satisfactory answer there. His long arms and quick feet make him capable of defending all three perimeter spots, although he is best-suited to be on the wing. Grant can shoot the three (36 of 115 last season) and can also take the ball to the rack. Matthews will see time on the wings too. The 6-5, 220-pound junior averaged 10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists during his first and only year at Los Angeles City College. He transferred there after spending his first year at low-Division I Cal State Sacramento. "We are thrilled to secure a player of Leland's talents," Ruland said. "His basketball talents and leadership abilities will be a nice fit into our up-tempo style of play." The other power forward option is the 230-pound Kresta, an emotional player from the Czech Republic who has Americanized his game to a degree first at St. John the Baptist High School on Long Island and second for the last three years at Iona. After making great strides between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Kresta started his junior season well before struggling the rest of the way. Kresta (6.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 17 assists, 16 steals, 14 blocked shots) will need to adjust his aim from the perimeter (he made just .256 of his three-point shots in 1998-99) in order to continue to earn significant playing time. Ditto for 6-9 junior center/forward Nakiea Miller (7.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 19 assists, 21 steals, 51 blocks), who has All-MAAC potential but was as up-and-down as the Gaels a year ago. Miller was one of the MAAC's best shot blockers (1.7 bpg) last year in 29 minutes per night. "Nakiea made a commitment at the end of last season to improve his game," Ruland said. "He has been in the weight room religiously and he has shown that his commitment is there." If Miller doesn't step it up, he will end up playing less rather than more minutes in 1999-2000, thanks to the additions of Small and 7-1 JUCO import Terry Sellers upfront. Sellers is a Jersey City, N.J., native who is back home after a stint of playing JUCO ball at Compton Community (Calif.) College. Sellers, an 11th-hour addition because Compton CC wouldn't release his final 15 credits to Iona until the big man coughed up the last $57 he owed, never played ball in high school. He is a late-bloomer in the truest sense of the phrase. A guard for most of his teen-age years on the Jersey City playgrounds, Sellers had a late growth spurt that pushed him past the 84-inch mark. Iona says he is 7-1. Compton listed him at 7-3. When you're that tall, why quibble over two inches? Sellers, if he is as good as advertised, would allow Small to play the four and Kirksay to start at the three giving Ruland an athletic frontcourt. Add Miller, Kresta and the numerous mid-size athletes into the mix and Ruland would have the MAAC's best frontcourt. The way that Iona will trap and force tempo, don't be surprised if Sellers is among the nation's top shot blockers. That leaves last year's bugaboo, the backcourt. Shooting guard Dyree Wilson (9.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 55 assists, 20 steals, 28 blocks), a 6-5 sophomore, came on strong and made the MAAC's All-Rookie team while netting 12.8 points per game over the last 12 games. He turned the ball over a lot (70 times in 29 games), but Wilson still looks like a future star in this league. If all of the JUCO frontcourt imports work out, then the aforementioned Grant will also see lots of time at the two-guard spot. Senior Jason Young returns at the point, but Ruland has said he will hold an open casting call at that spot. The 6-2 Young struggled to replace McDonald, who was a cool customer during Iona's 20-plus victory seasons under Tim Welsh. Young (6.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg) registered a team-high 122 assists but also turned the ball over a team-most 82 times. "The point-guard position is wide open," Ruland said. "We were disappointed with Jason last season, but hope that he has put that behind him." If he hasn't, then highly regarded neewcomer Maceo Wofford might be handed the keys to the offense; or Grant or 6-2 sophomore Leland Norris might be tried there too. Wofford, a 5-10, 180-pound freshman from Jamestown (N.Y.) High School, averaged 29 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.8 steals and 3.8 assists last year. Wofford shot .500 from the field and .775 from the free throw line while leading Jamestown to a 21-4 overall record and a berth in the state's Elite Eight. He set a Chautauqua County record for points in a career (2,259), the fifth-highest total in Western New York history. "We are overjoyed that Maceo has decided to continue his academic and athletic career at Iona College," Ruland said. "He is the consummate point guard who is not only a great player, but also a great person." Wofford seems mentally and physically ready to start, or at least get significant playing time, right away. Another point guard possibility is Norris (5.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 29 assists, 18 steals), who averaged 11.6 minutes per night last year. Helping speed the development of Ruland's point guards dramatically is the late-summer decision of Rutgers senior-to-be point guard Earl Johnson to transfer to Iona. The 6-foot, 175-pound Johnson, of course, won't be able to play this season, but he will be able to go head-to-head with Young and Wofford, which will help their games considerably. Johnson didn't leave Rutgers because he wasn't a Big East-caliber player. In fact, the Port Chester, New York native was a Big East All-Rookie selection in 1996-97, when he averaged 12.6 points in 32.2 minutes per game. Why did he transfer? His playing time dwindled under Scarlet Knights coach Kevin Bannon to the point that Johnson played a career-low 22.1 minutes per night and averaged a career-worst 6.5 points. Rutgers' loss is Iona's gain, as Johnson will make the Gaels' uneven point guard play get better this year and next.
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