MAAC FROM THE DEAD
In down year for conference, stalwarts Iona, Manhattan put brutal starts behind them
IT IS ROUTINE for the MAAC to be ranked among the better mid-major conferences in college basketball. It is common for its top teams to give power programs fits.
It was only a decade ago that Siena earned a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was only seven years ago that Iona earned an at-large berth. It was only three years ago that Monmouth should have earned the same honor — beating UCLA, USC, Notre Dame and Georgetown — and became a 27-win, 1-seed in the NIT.
Over the past decade, the MAAC’s top team has won an average of 25.5 games, while holding an average RPI of 57.8.
This year, the champion is a nearlock to wear a 16-seed to Dayton.
Quinnipiac’s 14-12 overall mark shines brightest. Rider’s No. 196 NET ranking stands strongest. The league’s top six teams are separated by a half game in the standings. The top eight are separated by two games.
“I think every team is going in there licking their chops wanting a piece of this [conference] tournament right now,” Iona coach Tim Cluess said.
The wide-open field gives several slumbering programs an opportunity to end lengthy NCAA Tournament droughts, but the two teams that have combined to win the past six MAAC Tournaments are again looking like the toughest outs in the bracket.
Three-time defending champion Iona has won four straight games. Manhattan has won five of its past six.
Again, they are both title contenders. This time, following the worstever starts of each respective longtime coach.
“That’s what’s great about this league,” Manhattan coach Steve Masiello said. “If we were in a BCS league, I don’t know if we rally back. There’s a beauty in this level.”
Iona’s troubles began before the season did. Former MAAC Rookie of the Year Schadrac Casimir unexpectedly transferred to Florida Gulf Coast for his final season. Senior Roland Griffin, a preseason AllMAAC second-team selection, was dismissed from the program following a physical altercation with assistant coach Ricky Johns.
Only two players remained from last year’s title team. And with longtime lieutenant Jared Grasso off to lead Bryant, no assistants had been beside Cluess for more than one season.
“It was starting brand new,” Cluess said. “You don’t know [Casimir] is leaving until late, and you don’t know the Roland situation is going to occur. ... We’ve been trying to teach a brand new group about playing at this level, and our system, and getting them to compete, and find out what they can do.”
New lineups are old hat for t he t ransfer- heavy Gaels, who have used everchanging rosters to churn out at least 20 wins in each of Cluess’ first eight years at Iona, but an injury-assisted 2-9 start to this season essentially put an end to that streak.
Since then, Iona (11-15, 9-6) has produced the MAAC’s top offense again, and re-emerged as a favorite, putting a fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance back in play.
“People could paint a picture of what they are, and here was their chance to paint their own picture, regardless of what everyone else t hought,” C luess s a i d. “I know it’s gonna sound strange, but it’s been kind of exciting to see what we could do with all the challenges we’ve had, and see how hard they’ve fought.”
For three months, Manhattan ended nearly every fight on the mat.
After losing five of their top six scorers from last season, the Jaspers sputtered to a 4-16 start with the nation’s second-lowest scoring offense (57.1 points per game), while losing reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Pauly Paulicap to a season-ending foot injury.
“You look at your roster and you say this is not a 4-16 team, and I know I’m not a 4-16 coach,” Steve Masiello said. “We were losing home games like it was nothing. It was crazy. Things that were unprecedented in my time as a coach. I found myself in a very unfamiliar territory and it was one of toughest times of my coaching career because you’re at a time where you need to double-down on yourself. That’s what we’ve tried to do, and not doubt what we’re capable of.”
With the return of the conference’s most efficient defense, the Jaspers have dropped just one game since Jan. 26 — a two-point loss to Siena — and most recently capped their first sweep of Western New York in five years with a win over first-place Canisius.
“There’s no magic wand that got waved here. Our kids got tired of losing and they understood how good they could be and they bought into that,” Masiello said. “It’s that simple.”
Iona and Manhattan meet Friday night in Riverdale for their only regular-season meeting. In two weeks, another battle could come in the conference tournament, where the rivals have met four of the past six years, and the top seed hasn’t won it all since 2010.
“Honestly, anybody could beat anybody,” Cluess said. “There’s nobody who is safe, no matter what seed you end up in.” Another season is about to begin. “People want to knock it that anyone can win a three-day tournament, but no they really can’t,” said Masiello, who won the 2014 and ’15 titles. “We’re trying to prepare for a threegame tournament that we can win. Right now we believe that. I don’t think a month ago we did.”