NCAA Basketball: 25 biggest offseason winners heading into 2021-22 season
17. Iona Gaels
Many mid-major programs brought in transfers from the power conference level and also got good news with seniors coming back for a 5th or 6th year. But none of them had things work out for them as well as Iona, including the best news of all… Rick Pitino coming back.
That wasn’t a guarantee this offseason. When prominent jobs such as Indiana, Texas, Marquette, and others opened up, the Hall of Fame head coach was a consensus option offered when discussing the job. Was he really willing to stay in a one-bid MAAC or take the opportunity to get back to the power conferences?
Coach Pitino stayed, giving the program an incredible boost that caused an offseason chain effect of positive news. The first was that senior guards Isaiah Ross and Asante Gist, who combined to produced 31.8 ppg and 5.0 apg to lead the Gaels last season, both opted to come back for an extra year, as well as starting big man Dylan Van Eyck.
Making matters even worse for the rest of the MAAC, Iona landed three quality transfers to boost the talent pool even more. Tyson Jolly only played in eight games last season for SMU but in the year prior averaged 14.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg. Elijah Joiner was a double-digit scorer for Tulsa last season and is a capable combo guard, while Quinn Slazinski is a 6’8 stretch forward from Louisville who should pair well with Van Eyck in the frontcourt.
With all of this senior-laden talent, the question for next season isn’t whether Iona wins the MAAC but rather whether or not they go unbeaten in league play, which they will be favored to do. There’s only one other mid-major (more on them later) that going unbeaten is a real possibility on paper, which makes the Gaels a major offseason winner.