Dan Geriot introduced at Iona, promises forward thinking in reshaping Gaels’ program and roster

Dan Geriot poses with wife and son shortly before being formally introduced as new head coach at Iona. (Photo by Iona Athletics)

When he was hired as head coach at Iona two weeks ago, Dan Geriot came with a track record of professional basketball success, having spent a decade on the staffs of two NBA franchises and working alongside the likes of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Zion Williamson among others. James, in particular, was among many NBA players to laud Geriot’s skill set when his arrival in New Rochelle was declared official, taking to social media to praise the former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, who also spent time with the New Orleans Pelicans this season.

Geriot was officially introduced in his new capacity Tuesday, ushering in a new regime at a proven winner and selling himself as a forward thinker whose goal is to develop talent and groom them for the next level while also upholding a winning standard that has existed for a majority of the past half-century.

“It’s already felt like home here,” Geriot said as he was introduced by Iona athletic director Matt Glovaski as the Gaels’ 16th full-time head coach, and fourth in the past seven seasons. “We’re giving Iona what it deserves. With this support and alignment, we have an ability to change players’ lives, and vice versa. Players can change our lives with the type of guys we’re bringing in.”

The 36-year-old Geriot, along with Craig Moore—hired last week as Iona’s first-ever general manager, a growing trend in college basketball with the advent of the transfer portal and NIL legislation changing the landscape of the sport—will need to hit the ground running as they take over a program that played for a MAAC tournament championship on March 15 before former head coach Tobin Anderson was unceremoniously axed two days later.

“The consistency we put into this thing is the most critical part,” Geriot said as he discussed his plan to build a winner. “I’m going to be on the court with (the players) every day. We’re going to have the best player development program in the country.”

“That’s what I’m after every day. That’s what we did for a decade in the NBA. I want to focus on guys who can really dribble and pass. There’s a lost art to what we’re doing, and that will be something you’ll see a ton of as we continue on this journey.”

At the moment, only three scholarship players from this past season still remain on the Iona roster, with the remainder having entered the portal in the wake of Anderson’s stunning dismissal. It should be noted, though, that no Iona player has presently committed elsewhere, giving Geriot and his staff—which will retain assistant coach Pat Wallace—an opening to potentially re-recruit some of last year’s Gaels back to New Rochelle.

“The people in this program are going to matter so much,” Geriot insisted. “We need to understand that people matter more than anything else, and we need to get selfless faster.”

As for what Iona will look like on the court next season, Geriot cited an offensive attack with multiple ball handlers and an intricate scheme on both ends of the floor that will involve turning teams over, pushing the pace, and playing a high-IQ style, which mirrors the system he himself played in under Chris Mooney at Richmond in the late 2000s. But with seven more months before the ball is tipped, the only thing the new coach can sell is a vision, one he made clear from the onset on Tuesday.

“This program is going to mean so much to this place,” Geriot declared. “It already does. We’re going to compete against high-majors, we’re going to get real guys in here with our retained guys, and (we’ll) get this thing off the ground quickly. We deserve it. That’s the vision and the plan.”