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.”