Clarence Rupert intent on continuing winning ways in his MAAC encore after transferring to Iona

Clarence Rupert scores over Purdue’s Zach Edey as Saint Peter’s went on to upset Boilermakers in 2022 Sweet 16. Now a senior, Rupert is back in MAAC for final college chapter after transferring to Iona. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — To the more informed and avid fans of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the sight of Clarence Rupert’s name in the transfer portal this offseason garnered more than just a passing glance.

Rupert, if you recall, was the starting power forward two years ago as Saint Peter’s shocked the world and made history as the first No. 15 seed to reach an NCAA Tournament regional final. A freshman then, Rupert — as most others would later do — departed Jersey City in the wake of head coach Shaheen Holloway’s move to Seton Hall, landing at Southern Illinois.

Now after two years in Carbondale, where he helped guide the Salukis to 42 wins and the top half of the Missouri Valley Conference, the Philadelphian has returned to his former haunt, resurfacing at Iona for his final year of eligibility and hoping to bring the Gaels back into familiar territory after last year’s foundational campaign in Tobin Anderson’s maiden voyage through New Rochelle.

“It’s good to be back in the MAAC,” Rupert gushed after Iona’s open practice last week. “People think like the MAAC is some lower conference. There’s so many good teams in the MAAC. Iona’s been winning the MAAC year after year, Saint Peter’s has been winning the MAAC. I don’t know why people think the MAAC is some light run, or people can just come beat people in the MAAC. Every game is hard, nobody’s coming here to beat people by 20-plus or 30-plus. Every game’s gonna be contentious, hard, every night.”

Rupert’s knowledge of the conference, plus a familiarity with Anderson from watching the latter’s own March Madness success at FDU, made the recruiting process much easier and more cordial. The fact that both parties shared the common denominator of knocking off Purdue in the big dance — Rupert in the Sweet 16 at Saint Peter’s, Anderson as a 16 seed at FDU — did not hurt either.

“We’ve told a few stories about that,” Anderson quipped. “That’s definitely been talked about a little bit. We’re the only two guys in the gym who have beaten Purdue.”

“It’s so crazy,” Rupert added, crediting former Southern Illinois assistant coach Brendan Mullins for bringing he and Anderson together. “I was actually watching (FDU) when Tobin and them were in the (NCAA Tournament), and the camera kept going to him constantly, how hard he coaches, how he always wanted to play aggressive, stuff like that. I was looking like, ‘Damn! I need a coach like that!’ And then once he came to Iona, I had to do one more year at Southern Illinois, then when the portal opened, the first person to hit me up was Tobin. He was like, ‘look, me and you are both winners. We both beat Purdue, how you feeling?’ And I told him, ‘Man, I’m feeling good! I already know who you are, you don’t have to say your name.’ I already knew who Tobin was and how he coached, so I already knew what it was.”

The knowledge of what he was getting himself into in his return to the Northeast has been mutually beneficial to both Rupert as well as his teammates, all of whom already regard him as a vocal leader both on and off the floor after just two months of summer workouts and practices. And for the elder statesman of the group, the experience of being trusted to handle pressure early in his career as a starter at Saint Peter’s, where he was shepherded along by veterans the likes of Daryl Banks III and KC Ndefo, played a major role in the fabric of what he has become as a senior.

“It shaped me well because Sha believed in me,” Rupert shared, praising Holloway for his trust in him despite his youth. “As soon as I got there, he started me and when we had three or four seniors who could start over me, he believed in me for real. Sha really molded me into the guy I am right now.”

It takes a certain toughness and fearlessness to play and thrive under a coach like Holloway, which has made Rupert’s arrival at Iona all the more significant, because his experience will help the Gaels bridge gaps in size, defense and rebounding that were major obstacles toward progressing further in Anderson’s first season at the helm. And after 11 weeks together, the fusion has mirrored that of a veteran team that one would assume has already been through the proverbial wars.

“Tobin told me when I came in that I would have to be a leader,” Rupert recalled, also citing that he felt as though he had been a leader throughout his well-traveled career. “There’s a whole bunch of young guys and only three seniors on the team, me, (Jalen Barr) and (Dejour Reaves). So he told me for real, ‘Clarence, you gotta come in here and be a leader. People are gonna look up to you. You’re a winner, show them how to have a winning experience.’ And it means a lot. The guys look up to me, I come in every day and I practice hard, and now they’re in line. Everybody just falls in line, honestly. We got here June 1 and we learned the system probably by June 20. Tobin just emphasized to us that we’re gonna press, play half-court defense hard, everything. So we had a players-only meeting one day and we were like, ‘yo, this is what we gotta do. If we don’t, we’re gonna lose.’”

“I wouldn’t say this is a new team. Honestly, I feel like I’ve known these guys for two or three years. We all hang out with each other every day, we come in here 20-30 minutes before practice, laugh with each other, joke with each other, be in the locker room until about 10:00 at night. I don’t feel like this is a whole new team, I feel like I’ve been on this team for all four years of my college life, honestly. I feel like this new team gelled together well. We all bonded together. I feel like we’ll go into the MAAC and really cause some trouble.”

After last season’s inconsistency, among the priorities for Anderson and his staff when navigating the offseason and the portal this year were establishing a more physical and veteran presence, especially up front, where Iona was often overmatched and dwarfed by taller big men. That was also part of what led the coach to Rupert, who still looks to build upon his winning ways and become a complete forward who affects the game with or without the basketball in his hands.

“It goes both ways,” Anderson said of the marriage between Rupert and the Gaels. “We knew that he’s a guy that’s had success and knows what it takes to win at this level and has experience. And then I think he knows he could have great success here, too. He’s won a bunch of games, but I’d like to see Clarence try to become an all-conference player. He hasn’t done yet, and we’ve talked about that. Part of that is understanding staying healthy and staying out of foul trouble, things like that, but I think for him, personally, coming to the MAAC is a great thing, and for us as a team, he brings a lot.”

“When you talk about Clarence going to the NCAA Tournament, winning games, here’s a guy who went to the Elite 8. There’s no questions being asked about that, there’s no, ‘what have you done?’ He’s done it before. He’s played a big role in doing it, and he wants to get back to it. He knows how important it is to win, and that carries over.”

It has translated already, as Rupert — intimately acquainted with Iona’s history from his firsthand look at it two years ago plus his knowledge as a student of the game — knows what the expectations are. He has made short work of not only resetting the bar in his new locale, but subsequently raising it.

“You already know the culture here,” he said. “Look at the banners. The culture here is winning, so we’re trying to bring that winning back. Last year didn’t go as well, so we’re trying to come in here and bring that winning culture back.”

Last year’s overhaul gives Tobin Anderson more confidence as he prepares for another reboot at Iona

Tobin Anderson replaced entire roster again this offseason, but believes his Iona team can be a factor in wide open MAAC this coming year. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — For three consecutive years now, the whirlwind has yet to stop for Tobin Anderson.

The architect of a perennial Division II powerhouse at St. Thomas Aquinas, Anderson received his first Division I break two years ago at FDU, and led the Knights to an historic upset of Purdue in the NCAA Tournament despite a truncated offseason due to his not being hired until early May. Last season, he parlayed his Cinderella stroke into a step up at Iona, but had to recruit an entire roster save for Osborn Shema, the lone holdover from Anderson’s predecessor, Rick Pitino.

This year, Anderson has had to reconstruct the Iona program yet again, literally from scratch. When Jean Aranguren became the last of the Gaels to enter the transfer portal, the coach had nothing incumbent other than his staff and the walls of the Hynes Athletics Center. Still, he maintained an upbeat outlook through a process that has now become de rigueur in college basketball, especially among mid-major programs, and conceded that the mass exodus was not the most demoralizing point of the past five months.

“What was demoralizing was getting beat by Manhattan (on March 7, a 77-60 loss to the rival Jaspers),” Anderson recalled. “The lowest point of last year, for a long time for me, was leaving Manhattan’s gym not competing, not being in the game, getting our ass kicked. That was the lowest point, so whatever had to happen happened. Changes had to be made with how we did things, how we approached things. I was not demoralized when guys were leaving. If you don’t want to be here and do what we have to do to be successful, then we’re better off going someplace else.”

“I think anytime with a new job, it’s gonna take some time to build things up a little bit. Everything’s changed with recruiting and how you build rosters and build a team, so things have changed a lot and I think we’ve learned a lot. I know personally, I learned a ton about how to, in this day and age, construct a better roster, find more guys who fit what we’re looking for, how to recruit in a short period of time, so I think last year definitely gave us an advantage going into this year. We saw the mistakes we made and we tried to correct them, and I think we have.”

Anderson and his staff made short work of recruiting 14 players and bringing them together for 38 summer workouts since reconvening as a unit in June. And where some programs have navigated the transfer portal by following the siren songs of neon lights and marquee value, what the haul Iona has lured to New Rochelle lacks in notoriety, it more than makes up for in potential and intangibles.

“First of all, you’re not building an all-star roster,” Anderson reiterated. “You’re building a team. We have guys on this year’s team who do things that are specific to helping us win. Kernan Bundy and Jalen Barr probably didn’t average 10 points a game for their college teams — one was at a JUCO and one was Division II — but they’re winners. We didn’t try to build an all-star roster, we did a better job building a team and finding guys who could help us win in a lot of different ways.”

“We kind of went back to our roots as far as defensive guys, speed, quickness, toughness, guys who could play our tempo, play our pace. We went back to what we call the Iona DNA. It came from STAC, it went to FDU. We love gym rats, we love guys who have a chip on their shoulder. The guys who are here want to win, want to do big things. They’re winners. Guys that come from winning programs have habits that help you win. The guys we’ve got here are guys from great programs, and I think that’s gonna be a big asset to us as we go through a whole season.”

In an open practice this past Tuesday, Anderson highlighted senior forward Clarence Rupert — a Southern Illinois transfer that die-hard Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference fans will remember from his freshman year at Saint Peter’s, where he helped lead the Peacocks to the Elite 8 as a No. 15 seed — for his leadership and toughness. The coach is hopeful that some of his other upperclassman arrivals, such as Dejour Reaves (Northern Colorado), Jalen Barr (Division II Flagler College), James “Biggie” Patterson (who Anderson recruited at St. Thomas Aquinas but never got to coach, having left for FDU) and Luke Jungers (Nebraska-Omaha), will shore up the gaps in rebounding and defense that plagued last year’s iteration of the Gaels.

“Clarence Rupert’s been great, obviously,” Anderson said as he ran through the list of elder statesmen under his aegis. “He knows what it takes to win, he’s been through a summer before, he knows what it’s like. Dejour Reaves, same thing, he’s a guy who’s had success at this level, had a chance to win. The guys that have been impressive, like a Jalen Barr who comes from a Division II school and was a two-time defensive player of the year, just knows how to make things happen. And our freshmen are good. Adam Njie’s gonna be a real good freshman point guard for us, Jojo Wallace can score. If (Wallace) was playing against me and my staff 3-on-3, he would score, if he plays against you guys in practice, he would score, if you put ten NBA guys out there, he’d score as well.”

“And our front line, I think we’re bigger, we’re stronger, we’re more physical with Yaphet (Moundi), Rupert, Luke Jungers has had a great summer. Obviously you get caught up sometimes in wanting to be overly optimistic, but I feel like I have a pretty good feel. I like these guys. They give me energy. These guys are fun to be around.”

Patterson, a 6-foot-7 swingman who averaged nearly 24 points and nine rebounds per game at STAC this past season, will be an impactful player almost from the opening tip at Princeton on November 4. Anderson mentioned he could see time alongside both Rupert and junior college import Yaphet Moundi, giving Iona a physically imposing look down low.

“We brought four guys to FDU, but I probably should have brought five,” Anderson said of Patterson, who stayed in Rockland County and helped uphold STAC’s dominance. “Matt Capell, his head coach, is a pretty good friend of mine, so we rented him out for two years to him and Matt did a great job. (Patterson) just knows how to win now, he shoots the ball much better, he’s been a focal point of the scouting report so he knows what it’s like to get a lot of attention, and he just brings a good pedigree of success both personally and as part of a good team. And he knows our system. We have no one here who knows our system like he knows it. He kind of teaches the other guys well, so that helps.”

“We have a good group of guys up front who are physical. We won’t get bullied. The bullying time up front is over. Yaphet and Rupert, they’re not only physical, they want to inflict harm. They want to hit people. They’re like defensive linemen, and then a guy like Luke Jungers, a 6-foot-9 guy who can shoot the ball, is a change of speed, change of pace guy who can play with those guys, so I’m really excited about our front line.”

As the Gaels — like most teams of their ilk — now acclimate themselves to an almost consistent annual turnover, Anderson cited the need to build team chemistry expeditiously, something he initially cultivated by making sure he personally saw every player he ultimately signed and met with them and their families to establish relationships early.

“Every one of these guys on the roster, I flew out to and I’ve seen them in person,” Anderson proclaimed. “(I’ve had) face-to-face contact, met them, met their families, spent time with them, and you have to do that. If you don’t do that, you don’t get a chance to know them as well. You have to build those bonds quicker. We’ve spent so much time together just because you have to. Two months has to feel like two years sometimes.”

“It’s just reality. You have to manage it, you have to accept it. It used to be (where) you’d plan things two or three or four years in advance, but it’s not the same anymore. You have to adjust, and we constantly talk more about the options that are out there recruiting-wise. A big thing is getting guys who come here to stay, and I think getting them to stay is having a lot of success. Iona’s had a lot of success traditionally, so if we could win and make it a great experience, it only helps to make them feel more at home and keep them here.”

Iona still has three months before it opens the season, but early returns suggest the Gaels could be forwardly placed in a MAAC that could be more parity-laden and unpredictable than last season, no small feat considering the largely unknown makeups of half the conference’s rosters. Anderson cited the patience in layering his style and desired pace, but was also effusive in his praise of how the group has coagulated to date.

“We spent much more time as a staff with how we’re gonna teach things, being more patient, simplifying things,” he shared. “I want them to be instinctive. I want them to play with reckless abandon, and to do that, you’ve gotta feel comfortable. We’ve definitely changed our implementation of things. We didn’t put the press in until about two weeks ago. We may be behind team concept-wise, but we’re way ahead as far as competitiveness, camaraderie, playing together, playing for each other. That part’s more important than anything else.”

“You’ve gotta build a culture and all that stuff, and we didn’t have that last year, so we had to get to that. I think we’ve done a good job, but time will tell, obviously. You can talk all you want to in August, but what happens in the winter will make the difference. We had to get to that point and build this culture. These guys all want to be here, they all want to compete, they’re all here for the right reasons, and I feel really good about that.”

Paul Hoffman, St. Bonaventure legend, dead at 74

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

No matter the circumstance, the news always hits hard.

The word came out in late July that Paul Hoffman passed away at the age of 74. His health had not been optimum in recent years. Still, he seemed to battle every setback until the tragic end.

His exploits on the hardwood included scoring 2,209 points, second at the time in Pennsylvania state history to one Wilt Chamberlain. During his career at St. Gabriel’s in Hazleton, his team won state championships in Hoffman’s sophomore and junior years (1966 and 1967), with only a late-season injury in his senior year preventing a three-peat.

Wearing his seemingly signature eyeglasses throughout his basketball career, the 6’2” Hoffman could play any position at St. Gabriel’s. Whether it was shooting and ball handling at the guard spot, rebounding, strength and jumping ability for the three through five positions, whatever the team needed, Hoffman could fill the bill with excellence.

In his excellent book, Trumpet Call to Victory, Joe Farley, a teammate of Hoffman’s at St. Gabriel’s, chronicled the school’s final years before closing in 1970. Farley told the story of St. Gabriel’s playing for what would be its final game and state championship in March of 1970. On the afternoon of their game, the G-Men gathered in their hotel and watched Hoffman and the Bonnies defeat Villanova to advance to the Final Four. As inspiration from one of their own, St. Gabriel’s went out to score an upset victory and claim the title.

Widely recruited, Hoffman chose St. Bonaventure. Farley believes his catholic school background played a big part in the decision.

Hoffman starred for the Bonnies from 1970 through 1972. Back then, freshmen were not eligible to play varsity basketball, limiting Hoffman to just three seasons in Olean. During his three-year career, he scored 1,103 points. The true measure of who he was went beyond the numbers in the scorebook.

Going into my freshman year at St. Bonaventure, late summer of 1970, arriving on campus, a number of fellow classmates felt Hoffman would be big man on campus. After all, he was a starting guard as a sophomore on a Final Four team, a team Hoffman always believed would have won the national championship had Bob Lanier not been hurt in the East Regionals.

Hoffman was perceived as a prototypical BMOC until you met him, a relentless competitor on the court, yet soft spoken, very humble and friendly.

In the fall, I was about a week into a dream job as a basketball manager. On a Saturday morning, I was having brunch in the dining hall sitting alone. A few minutes later while being served, Hoffman saw I was alone and then joined me. That simple gesture spoke volumes about the type of person he was.

During that 1970-71 campaign, Fordham was enjoying an outstanding season, cracking the national rankings. Frequently, Hoffman would remind us after practice that Digger Phelps, the Ram mentor, was his high school coach. Yes, the venerable Phelps coached at St. Gabriel's and won a state championship during Hoffman’s sophomore year before moving on and joining the college ranks.

The 1970-71 season stands out prominently, and in respects, painfully, in the memories of Bona faithful. The team earned a bid in the then-16-team National Invitation Tournament. Purdue and Hawaii were dispatched in the early rounds, then came a Georgia Tech team the Bonnies edged to win the Gator Bowl Tournament in December. The game at a packed Madison Square Garden was close and intense.

Tie score, last play of the first overtime, Hoffman was fouled going to the basket. Two free throw attempts to send the Bonnies to the final against North Carolina.

Shooting in front of a hushed Bona crowd, Hoffman missed both. In the second overtime, Georgia Tech pulled away to seal the 76-71 victory. Postgame, when the locker room was opened to the media, reporters besieged Hoffman for interviews. He answered every question patiently, thoroughly and respectfully. Two days later, there was another game. The Bonnies scored an overtime victory over Duke to capture third place in the NIT. For years, Hoffman would say, “I finished 1-0 in my career against Duke.”

Fast forward five decades later, and Kyle Lofton missed two free throws for the Bonnies in the last second of an Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinal against Saint Louis. Lofton, like Hoffman in his day, was a key backcourt standout. In a USA Today article by Erik Brady, Hoffman thoroughly reflected on his situation and how he got another chance, another game, and hoped Lofton would get the same. Lofton got that chance, ironically in the NIT. He helped lead the Bonnies to the NIT Final Four back at Madison Square Garden.

The Final Four NCAA appearance can be considered the pinnacle of one’s college career. Interestingly, Hoffman enjoyed the NIT experience, playing at Madison Square Garden. In his senior year of 1971-72, the Bonnies narrowly missed out on a bid. It was a major disappointment, especially for Hoffman, who respected the prestige and experience afforded playing in the nation’s oldest post season tournament as a junior.

Hoffman was drafted following college, but a pro basketball career was not in the offing. Instead, he moved on to a long teaching and coaching career in the Genesee Valley (NY) school system. He taught social studies and coached boys and girls basketball, boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball. Over the years during and just after his teaching career, Hoffman often frequented Reilly Center to take in a Bonaventure game.

Hoffman played when St. Bonaventure was known as the Brown Indians, complete with a student dressing up as an Indian mascot. Through the years, in his heart, the nickname of his alma mater was the Brown Indians. It’s cruel, but common in our sporting world.

For all the great things he did in a Bona uniform, the mention of Hoffman’s name invariably brings a memory of that last Thursday evening in March of 1971. Not to be forgotten is the fact he was an outstanding player for three years, and a well-deserved selection for the St. Bonaventure Hall of Fame in 1999. He was not only a great player but a great teammate as well.

A leader by example, Hoffie could be vocal if need be. In January of 1972, his senior year, the team was in a slump and hosting rival Niagara. Before coach Larry Weise came in to address the team, there was complete silence in the locker room. Hoffman broke the silence by standing up and giving his own pregame talk. He felt Niagara might be coming in complacent and the Bonnies had to defend their home court, get out there and show what the team was made of. In a hotly contested game, the Bonnies rallied late to secure a 76-73 victory. To little surprise, it was Hoffman who sealed that verdict by dribbling and eluding Niagara defenders over the last thirty seconds to run out the clock. That was Paul Hoffman, the competitor, doing whatever it took to help the team and win. If you had a team of your own, you would be fortunate and blessed to send five Paul Hoffmans on the floor.

Despite latter year illnesses, the ending for Hoffman and his friends and family seemed so sudden. The saying goes, tomorrow is promised to no one. What we do maintain is the memories.

Paul Hoffman was simply one who was respected, revered and fondly remembered by all who were fortunate to know him. One who made an indelible mark on and off the floor, No. 20 will always have a place in our hearts.