Iona’s reinforced championship culture driving force behind Gaels’ return to MAAC title game

Rick Pitino (left) and Iona have used culture of playing hard and not letting up to drive Gaels back to MAAC championship. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — When Rick Pitino returned to college basketball three years ago to replace Tim Cluess at Iona, hardly anyone would have argued he was walking into a rebuild with a program that had solidified itself as one of nation’s best mid-majors over the past decade. Winning four consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championships only further burnished the Gaels’ gaudy resume, but still, the Hall of Fame architect needed to put his own stamp on a perennial winner.

“We’ve built a special culture in the last three years,” Pitino reflected after Iona advanced to its tenth MAAC championship in the last 13 seasons Friday, defeating Niagara in the semifinals. “We changed all the facilities in a year. I’ve got a big-time athletic director (Matt Glovaski) who stood behind me and said, ‘we gotta get this done.’ Then, we changed all the academics where we’re the best academic records in 20 years. Then we changed the way we play.”

“We don’t get tired,” Daniss Jenkins expounded with regard to Iona’s hustle and stamina. “Coach doesn’t believe in being tired. It is what it is, if you get a day off or you don’t get a day off, you gotta come and bring it. This is March. You take one play off, you’re going home. That’s our mentality. When you’re on the court, you’re not tired. We don’t want to hear (that) you’re tired. That’s an excuse.”

“I replaced an awesome coach, as good as they get. But we had to change the culture altogether to get a Daniss Jenkins to come to Iona. And we did that in a very short period of time. That’s what basketball is all about, building a culture where if you’re in a war, you’ll do anything to win. And we would do anything to win last year, except Rider outplayed us.”

Jenkins, Iona’s junior point guard, is a junior college import from Dallas who played his freshman season in the West Coast Conference at Pacific. And as the de facto leader on the floor, he has been instrumental in reminding his teammates of the tenets of Iona’s renewed commitment to excellence, particularly this past week as the Gaels seek a record 14th all-time MAAC championship.

“We don’t worry about nothing that we can’t control,” Jenkins said, not getting caught up in the moment or any distractions surrounding the Gaels. “All we worry about is us. We want to take it possession by possession, and whoever we play in the next game, that’s who we prepare for.”

Iona faces a Marist team Saturday that it swept both regular season meetings with, but has suddenly caught fire in Atlantic City, winning three games in four days to mount an unprecedented run to a title matchup from the No. 11 seed. But whether it be the latest potential Cinderella story from the conference that gave rise to Saint Peter’s historic March last year, or the ever-present chatter surrounding Pitino’s future after this season, only one topic is on the table in the maroon-and-gold-colored locker room.

“It’s playoff time,” Jenkins reiterated. “Your back is against the wall, nothing else matters. There’s really no pressure around this time of the year, you just go out and play hard, and play with confidence.”