MAAC Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

6. David Laury

Another fantastic piece of the puzzle at Iona, Laury is a 6’9 center originally from East Orange, New Jersey. His career actually began at Lamar State, a junior college in Texas, before joining the Gaels program in 2012. He’d play well in his first year with the Gaels over a decade ago, but certainly stood out as an upperclassman.

Laury averaged 14.0 points and 8.3 rebounds as a junior, leading the Gaels to another MAAC regular season title, though the program fell just short in the conference tournament. He did have 21 points and 16 rebounds against Louisiana Tech in the NIT. The offensive numbers were far superior in his final year, averaging 19.8 points and 9.7 rebounds as Iona had another fantastic season. Laury was constantly the best player on the court and had another fine showing in the NIT, with 26 points and 17 rebounds against Rhode Island in his final collegiate game.

For nearly averaging a double-double and leading the Gaels to another MAAC regular season title, Laury was named MAAC Player of the Year. He finished that season 2nd in points and rebounds and 5th in blocks in the league while factoring into significant success for Iona. He did play in the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore back in 2013, though it’s still a bit of a shame how he didn’t get back to the Big Dance despite two very impressive seasons for his program.