On Friday night, former Northeast Conference mates Tobin Anderson and Anthony Latina led their respective teams in Iona’s home opener against Sacred Heart. In the harrowing, back-and-forth tilt, Iona outscored Sacred Heart by thirteen points across the final ten minutes, securing a 88-to-81 victory for Anderson’s first win at Iona. With it announced earlier this autumn that both Merrimack and Sacred Heart will be joining the MAAC prior to the start of next season, both programs will regularly face each other for the foreseeable future.
Both Iona and Sacred Heart have high expectations in their respective conferences, so in honor of Friday’s game, here are a few new reflections for each team.
Idan Tretout is Iona’s new impact guard
Despite never finishing a season with a scoring average in the double digits, Tretout has exploded in his Iona debut, scoring 51 points across the team’s first two games. Tretout hinted towards this breakout late last season, when he scored in double digits in eleven of the last twelve games of the season with Harvard, good for a 13.6 points-per-game average.
The 6’4 200 Brooklyn native plays a game similar to former Iona stud guard Tyson Jolly, with strength and equal ability to score in a variety of ways as well as dish the ball. Tretout is on the fast track to an All-MAAC First Team selection.
This is Anthony Latina’s deepest Pioneers roster
Sacred Heart entered last season as one of the NEC preseason favorites, but a slew of injuries forced MAAC transfers Brendan McGuire (Quinnipiac) and Aidan Carpenter (Siena) to only play a combined nineteen games as the duo were the hardest hit with injuries as the Pioneers only had four players play in every game. By the end of the season, star wide receiver and walk-on guard Kenneth Womack played a key bench role over the last dozen games.
This season McGuire and Carpenter are healthy – McGuire, along with All-NEC forward Nico Galette, junior Tanner Thomas, Middlebury grad transfer Alex Sobel and sophomore Raymond Espinal-Guzman, provide Latina with a bevy of versatile forwards who can run the floor, help lead a rush and are all comfortable with the ball in their hands.
A healthy Carpenter brings an athletic, slashing ability to the backcourt rotation to pair alongside returning guards Raheem Solomon, Joey Reilly and Mike Sixsmith. West Chester transfer Kyle McGee, at 6’4 185, brings length to the point guard position, which allows Solomon, Reilly and Sixsmith to play more off-ball, opening up for more efficient shot opportunities.
As the season progresses, it is hard to imagine that Latina will lean on a ten-man rotation, so it will be exciting to see who steps up and who yields to the internal competition.
It’s still early, but Sacred Heart looks like the clear favorites as they close off their final season in the Northeast Conference.
It will take time to learn Tobin Anderson’s defense, but it is starting to jell
Tobin Anderson teams push the tempo and predicate attacking the basket when their five-out offense allows space to open up. On defense, Iona will press relentlessly, which, as rotations have shown, mean that all thirteen scholarship athletes could be called to action at any given moment.
There are a lot of similarities between how Anderson and Iona’s former coach, Rick Pitino, strategize on the defensive end, but considering that Iona’s only incumbent, Osborn Shema, has yet to play due to injury, the defense hasn’t clicked just yet, but Iona’s strong finish on Friday night was sparked due to improved continuity on the defensive end that then allowed the team to force turnovers and transition to offensive opportunities.
Iona’s freshmen have been and will be counted on
One benefit of the injury to Shema: freshman Sultan Adewale has not looked out of place. The 64th ranked power forward of the 2023 class, according to 247’s rankings, Adewale’s motor and strength have been noticeable. In the first two games, Adewale has secured a whopping eight offensive boards and six blocks in just 52 minutes of combined action, catapulting Adewale as one of the most dangerous two-way low-post forwards in the MAAC.
In addition to Adewale, freshman guards Jeremiah Quigley and Jean Aranguren have impressed. At 6’3 190, Aranguren has immediately shown his defensive versatility thanks to his quickness, positional length and toughness: case in point, Aranguren has already grabbed twelve rebounds in just 31 total minutes and he also looks incredibly comfortable pressuring towards the front of Anderson’s press.
At 5’11 160, Quigley looks and plays more of a classic point-guard role. Eyeing the box scores, Quigley’s six assists to only two turnovers show in a small sample size Quigley’s poise and comfort leading Iona in halfcourt situations along with his willingness to hunt for scoring opportunities at all three levels.
Considering Joel Brown’s career inefficiency at the charity stripe – career 48.8 FT% – it will be interesting to see if Quigley surpasses Brown in late-game situations, especially to eliminate opponents’ strategy to foul and force Brown to shoot free throws. Despite this concern, Brown was a major asset on the defensive end, forcing three steals in the final nine minutes.
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