Iona players adjusting to new coach, new teammates with closer bond and more determined attitude

Osborn Shema is lone Iona player to return from last year’s MAAC championship team, and is excited for future of new-look Gaels roster under new coach Tobin Anderson. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Iona has been in a fair share of college basketball headlines this offseason, namely for its activity in the coaching carousel and transfer portal.

Less than 72 hours after the Gaels’ season came to end in the NCAA Tournament at the hands of eventual national champion UConn, head coach Rick Pitino left New Rochelle in his rearview mirror, sprinting down the Hutchinson River Parkway back into New York City and into the vacancy at St. John’s, taking four players with him in the process (one, Quinn Slazinski, eventually transferred out when the Red Storm recruited over him). Shortly thereafter, athletic director Matt Glovaski tapped Tobin Anderson, fresh off becoming the second No. 16 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game, to replace the Hall of Famer.

Just as Anderson encountered 15 months ago at FDU when he inherited a four-win program, he arrived at Iona to an incomplete roster. Only one player, 7-foot Osborn Shema, stayed on from the Pitino outfit, leaving him to recruit 11 players in as many weeks.

But as the uncertainty raged in March and April, it soon gave way to a full house and a united contingent that has bought into the big dreams that Anderson hoped to shepherd into reality when he took the job at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference power.

“It was confusing,” Shema said of the transition process and it’s early stages. “I had a lot to think about. I had to decide whether I wanted to stay in college or look at some other options. (But) I loved Iona, and what Coach Anderson was pretty convincing, so I decided to stay. He pitched freedom, a lot of movement, which I like. That’s what his offense is about and that’s one of the main reasons I decided to stay.”

Shema’s decision to return attracted junior college swingman Greg Gordon, a 6-foot-5 wing whose slashing ability and two-way play will endear him to Iona fans for his rim-rocking dunks and rebounding prowess, the latter a skill in which he may lead the Gaels this season.

“I kind of just thought about (that) if Os stayed here, he stayed here for a reason,” Gordon opined. “The coaching change didn’t bother him, it was the community and the way this school showed love to him. So I just felt like, if I stay here and help him build that King Os reputation, we’ll win together. And that’s all I wanted. I just want teammates who would win, and Os is a winner. He knows how to win, and that’s what convinced me that this is where I want to be.”

Anderson’s quick work in reshaping the roster brought an amalgamation of different players of different classes to New Rochelle, from freshmen like Sultan Adewale, Jean Aranguren, Alex Bates, Jeremiah Quigley and Dylan Saunders, to graduate transfers such as Joel Brown, Cam Krystkowiak, Wheza Panzo, Idan Tretout and Terrell Williams. The relationships Anderson and his staff built in a short amount of time consummated the marriage for two of the elder statesmen, who praised the coaches for their interest and commitment to development.

“You hear a lot of people talk about staffs, but honestly, the staff really saw me,” Gordon recalled. “Tom (Bonacum) and Kam (Murrell) and (Ray) Savage, they really treated me like family. Not once did I ever come on this visit and they asked me, ‘are you gonna commit to us?’ It felt like a vacation.”

“It was the relationship I had built with the assistant coaches, specifically Patrick Wallace,” said Brown, a Canadian point guard from Cal who will likely be the Gaels’ starting floor general. “While he was at Loyola, he was trying to recruit me there, and when he got to Iona, he was still in contact with me. And as I got here, something inside me felt like this was the place for me. Speaking with Tobin throughout the whole process, he understood where I came from. He sees a lot in me, and he’s been pushing me to another level that people haven’t probably seen in the past four years, just because of the situation I was in.”

For Tretout, who played against Iona while he was at Harvard, the chance to play closer to his Brooklyn home, coupled with the tremendous fan support Iona is known for, made the decision easier.

“I played Iona my junior year, right before I got injured,” he said. “I came back home to New York, and the stands and the crowd at Iona was definitely one of my more memorable games in college. Packed gym, kind of reminded me of a high school-esque environment where the crowd was rowdy, and it was a tough place to play. And Tobin with his pedigree, what he was able to do last year in the tournament, that was attractive. It just made things more exciting.”

Shema’s first comments about the new direction of the program praised the family atmosphere that Anderson had instilled, something that was not as prevalent under Pitino. The Gaels have also carried that closeness onto the court in summer workouts, playing loose but relentless at the same time, embracing Anderson’s uptempo, hard-nosed attack.

“Honestly, it’s been exciting,” Tretout echoed. “It’s been quite different obviously, because there’s various age groups. But it’s been exciting. I think we’ve gained a lot of knowledge over the time that we’ve been (here) and we’re just coming together as a team, on and off the court. We’ve done a lot of great activities that have helped us bond and get to know each other, and I think everyone just continues to buy in.”

“People can look at it as a negative or something that’s hard to try to figure out,” Brown added with regard to the tumultuous offseason. “I think we’ve looked at it and used it as a positive. Iona as a program has a culture of winning, but us, as a team with a new coaching staff, it’s kind of up to us to make the culture that we want as a team. I think we’re a real competitive team, and I think I can say that’s our identity. We’re going to play hard and fast.”

Despite the immense turnover, Iona still projects to be among the top tier of the MAAC going into the season. And if team chemistry has anything to say about the initial prognostications, Iona could be a safe bet to validate the pundits’ beliefs yet again come March.

“I feel like the best teams I’ve been on are when everybody accepts their role and does the best at their role,” said Gordon. “Everyone can’t be the man and everyone won’t be the man, but on this team, everyone just accepts their role. They let Tobin place them in a position on the court where they can do best, and they go crazy. I feel like we’re going to do a lot.”

“It’s been very refreshing,” Brown gushed. “Everyone that I’ve spoken to is like, ‘how are you loving Iona?’ I’m like, ‘yo, this is something different.’ This is something I’ve been wanting since I’ve been in college, just in terms of how the coaches are invested in the players. It’s little things I’m getting used to that wasn’t (there) in the past. It’s the ending chapter of my college career, so I want to make it the best one.”