"With most of these guys, I can honestly say, I would've recruited probably all of them, maybe with the exception of two, at Louisville," Pitino said. He averaged 15.0 points and 5.3 assists, and earned NJCAA Division I All-American first-team honors. He arrives at Iona with two years of Division I basketball experience at Pacific, before playing one year of junior college at Odessa in Texas.
Grullon - a perimeter threat that knocked down 164 three-pointers in his senior season and averaged 24.3 points per game at Miami Prep - and Florence - a forward that can play anywhere in the frontcourt and averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds - round out the group of high school commits.
The 6-foot-3 combo guard is the highest-rated recruit of the bunch. Meanwhile, Sunday, is an Ireland native that will bolster the Gaels' frontcourt with his 7-foot, 295-pound frame.ĭavis, a four-star prospect according to ESPN, chose Iona after de-committing from Oregon State. They helped Our Saviour Lutheran to a 27-7 record this past winter.Īyo, a native of Ghana, gives Iona versatility, athleticism and a presence on both ends of the floor. We really want to build it through the ranks of having two or three freshmen a year, and certainly, we have that this year."Īyo and Sunday are local products, starring as teammates at Our Saviour Lutheran in the Bronx. You can do it through transfers, there's nothing with taking a junior college transfer, but I want to build a nucleus. I just think, to build a program with a solid foundation, you've got to do it through the high school ranks. "Most coaches are going in that direction. "The transfer portal is very, very good, and we certainly looked at some people," Pitino said. Sadiku Ayo, Cruz Davis, Keither Florence, Josue Grullon, Silas Sunday and Daniss Jenkins will be the new arrivals this fall. While most of the college basketball offseason buzz has been around the transfer portal, the Gaels are bringing in five high school commits and one junior college transfer. According to Pitino, it is the largest group he's ever recruited in his college coaching career. With the final National Letters of Intent coming in on Tuesday, Iona is bringing in six new players for next season. Pitino and the Gaels didn't sulk for too long after their losses, hitting the recruiting trail to finalize their incoming freshmen class and transfer additions, while putting the pieces together on their non-conference schedule for the 2022-23 season. Iona: Pitino, Jolly, van Eyck earn top individual MAAC awards, others earn All-MAAC nods Pitino: Rick Pitino earns 800th career win with Iona's victory over Saint Peter's MAAC: Rick Pitino, Iona devastated after Rider dashes NCAA hopes We're all very disappointed, but we're going to make sure that next year we're a lot better as a basketball team than we were this year, postseason-wise." We wish it was us, but sometimes, you have to win with class and lose with class. I was excited to see them, a school from Jersey City and the MAAC, go that far. "I was one of Saint Peter's biggest rooters. "Obviously, I was disappointed," Iona coach Rick Pitino said.
Meanwhile, Saint Peter's, a team the Gaels had swept during the regular season, went on to win the MAAC Tournament and danced as a March Madness darling in a historic run to the Elite Eight. After suffering a stinging loss in the MAAC Tournament to Rider, the Gaels were bounced out of the NIT in the opening round by Florida. Iona's season hardly went the way it planned.