By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)
Before Idan Tretout had even graduated from Harvard last spring, he committed to join Iona and the large-scale rebuild that was just starting up under newly appointed coach Tobin Anderson.
The Brooklyn native made the decision to return closer to his home, without prescribing to any belief that he was transferring down or up by choosing the 14-time MAAC Champions. It was not a transfer against his own will or the will of his Ivy League home, either, given that he had exhausted his undergraduate eligibility at Harvard. Oddly enough for Tretout, the move to Iona has set the stage for a fun scenario that will play out Saturday.
“I have thought about it a semi-good amount but just excited for the opportunity,” Tretout said when asked about Iona’s matchup with Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion.
Given the homecoming for Tretout, Saturday’s game in Cambridge promises to be a unique footnote in Iona’s wayward season to date. Iona has a roster welded by solid veterans and a few surprise freshmen who have wasted no time making a splash. But given there were 13 new players, the bumps in the road were inevitable, but would have probably been made worse without the presence of Tretout. His impact goes beyond just the court, where he is averaging 13 points per game, to how he approaches his goals and to him simply being comfortable in his own skin. It only felt right that Tretout, who is unique in his own cool style, will get the unique honor of playing in a game that is important to him in ways that winning or losing could never reveal. But as Tretout himself pointed out, the homecomings are not as unique in the current structure of college basketball.
“It’s been popping up more recently given the fifth year more players are opting to use,” Tretout said. “It’s a unique feeling in that I was bought in for all of those teammates and now I’m on a different team.”
Tretout insisted that what drew him to Iona was the vision Anderson had for a program accustomed to excellence, more than anything personal like getting to play his old school. As a junior, Tretout played against Iona at the Hynes Center, a 90-87 overtime win for the Gaels. At that point, Tretout never envisioned the idea of finishing his career at Iona. The possibility of playing for the Gaels only emerged toward the end of his senior season before his plans were made official in April.
Tretout had to overcome multiple injuries and the misfortune of having his sophomore season canceled thanks to the Ivy League putting sports on the backburner during the pandemic. No games meant no film, despite the fact that Tretout worked out each day for countless hours while living off campus in Massachusetts, quarantining with a teammate. And when he wasn’t around his Harvard teammates and the trainers who helped them, Tretout found himself back home reunited with old trainers, trying to stay ready for his next chance. The lost opportunities from that season irked the openly ambitious Tretout, he admits, but it did put a chip on his shoulder that has been with him since.
After only playing 29 games across three years including the lost season, Tretout showed he had far more left in the tank last season, averaging 12.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game during Ivy League play. Tretout shot 36 percent from three for the year, and as a team, the Crimson clinched its 13th winning season in 14 years. A big key to that happening was Tretout’s emergence as the second-option behind former first team all-Ivy League selection Chris Ledlum, who, like Tretout, returned closer to his Brooklyn roots by playing for St. John’s. The bulk of the scoring may have run through Ledlum with but a sense of independence and leadership sprung forth in Tretout’s game and was a final reward for his patience against the uncontrollable factors he had to play through.
“Taking on the leadership role with Chris Ledlum last year prepared me for this leadership role,” Tretout said.
Anderson knew the services of a player with Tretout’s skill set was sought after in the transfer portal. As a veteran who does a little of everything, Tretout fit into Iona’s plans of finding veterans who could help set up a foundation for the program’s identity from day one.
“There’s a lot of things he can do besides just score,” Anderson said a few days after Iona beat Fairfield earlier this month when Tretout posted 12 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. “He’s been a leader and a vocal person for us.”
The academic stature of a player like Tretout will always stand out, too. He didn’t just leave Harvard with a prestigious degree, but he won the team’s Academic Excellence Award last season while studying sociology. Tretout is currently pursuing an MBA at Iona.
“It’s all new for him but he’s picked up things fairly quickly,” Anderson said about acclimating the fifth-year guard into a new system. “Obviously, he’s a smart kid.”
Tretout had to adjust to Anderson’s style after playing for Tommy Amaker, who he cited as being more laid back. Both are true competitors which Tretout gravitates to, but it’s Anderson who is the hard-nosed one, which garners a certain type of respect.
“Coach Anderson is one of the most intense coaches I’ve played for,” Tretout said. “He brings intensity every day.”
Harvard and Iona share the distinction of being successful mid-major programs and forces in their own conferences. The winning tradition at Iona attracted Tretout in the first place and he has performed to the tune of a 13 points per game scoring average through 12 games.
“We felt like we always had a target on our back at Harvard,” Tretout said. “Iona is similar. One of the top contenders every year we are going into every game with a target on our back.”
After playing in rivalry games against teams like Yale and Princeton, Tretout believes he is prepared for the big games in the MAAC gauntlet, while calling the MAAC more free-flowing than Ivy League games in terms of pushing the pace. For Tretout, his New Year's resolution won’t need to be anything extreme other than finding more consistency in the heat of MAAC play. He believes the Gaels are getting closer each day to playing the brand of Iona basketball Anderson has long preached about.
“If I am able to play up to my standard and the team plays up to our standard, I think we can have a really successful season,” Tretout said. “A large part is being consistent.”
Saturday at Harvard is a good place to start, a game the Gaels fully expect to win led by the man who has been on both sides. Tretout expects to have around a dozen family and friends in attendance to support him in his return to Lavietes Pavilion.
“We are focused on Harvard and getting the win and I think that it’s our main goal,” Tretout said. “There are emotions that come with it, but I am really just treating it as another game.”
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