The ink is barely dry on Rick Pitino’s contract with St. John’s, and already, the exodus is beginning from his old home.
Since Monday morning, when reports of Pitino heading to Queens trickled in, four Iona Gaels players have entered the transfer portal: Quinn Slazinski entered on Monday, and then Nelly Junior Joseph, Walter Clayton Jr., and Cruz Davis entered Monday after Pitino’s introductory presser at St. John’s.
All reports of players entering the portal are per VerbalCommits.com.
Slazinski, a senior forward, spent two years at Louisville before transferring to Iona for the 2021-22 season. He was a starter in his first season in New Rochelle and was set to be a big player in the Gaels’ frontcourt this year, but an ankle injury limited him to just seven games last year. He averaged 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in 26.6 minutes over those games, and will play his fifth year of eligibility at his third school.
Joseph, a junior from Senegal who was part of the NBA’s Academy Africa, started 82 of 86 games he played at Iona. He was the MAAC Rookie of the Year in 2020-21, and last season, he averaged 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 31.9 minutes per game.
Clayton Jr., a sophomore guard from Lake Wales, Florida, started 31 of 32 games played for the Gaels last season, and averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.
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Davis, a freshman from Plano, Texas, played 24 games (seven starts) last season, averaging 6.5 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 18.8 minutes.
Iona moved quickly to fill its head coaching vacancy, officially announcing former Farleigh Dickinson head coach Tobin Anderson as their new bench boss on Tuesday, but that was not enough to keep those four (so far) in New Rochelle.
Pitino did say during his introduction that he foresees a lot of current Johnnies leaving the program because “they’re not the right fit for me,” so it remains to be seen how many, if any, of his ex-Gaels join him in Queens.
Iona was 64-22 in three seasons under Pitino, winning two MAAC regular-season titles and a pair of MAAC Tournament Titles and making the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and 2023.
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