In 2010, Iona’s men’s basketball head coach Kevin Willard bounced to take the same position at Seton Hall after three seasons in New Rochelle. The Gaels were left to hire their third coach in five years, and on April 7, 2010, they elected Tim Cluess as their next boss.
Cluess spent the four previous years as the head coach at Division-II LIU Post (formerly C.W. Post) in Brookville, New York, and was six seasons removed from high school basketball when Iona appointed him; his first 14 years as a head coach came at St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, New York. He had a history of great success, though, winning almost 75 percent of his games up to that point of his career and going 120-33 at LIU Post and Suffolk CC.
In 2012, Cluess’s team was upset in the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, putting in jeopardy its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2006. But come Selection Sunday, the Gaels were awarded one of the final at-large bids available, the first-ever for the program and second in MAAC history.
That pace has continued at Iona. In his nine seasons at the helm, Cluess has had the Gaels in the NCAA Tournament six times, and Iona is currently riding a four-year streak in the Big Dance. Cluess is 199-108 (.648) at Iona and has won four conference regular season titles to boot.
Iona obviously made a good decision to hire Cluess nine years ago, but we can safely say that now with the benefit of hindsight. At the time he was signed, what did people think? Here’s how the Iona community and college basketball world reacted to the Cluess hire almost a decade back:
Iona hires Tim Cluess as head coach
“In a bold move that the school hopes pays big dividends, Iona confirmed reports on Wednesday that it has hired C.W. Post’s Tim Cluess to be its next men’s head basketball coach …
Widely regarded as the one of (sic) the top tacticians in the New York metropolitan area, Cluess will inherit a Gaels team ready to win immediately. Iona went 21-10 last year under former coach Kevin Willard, who recently replaced Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall. The Gaels will also return one of the best guards in the conference in sophomore Scott Machado.” – Jon Rothstein, ESPN
“Iona College players met with their new coach, Tim Cluess, in the team’s locker room Wednesday night. Cluess, formerly the coach at C.W. Post, accepted the job of replacing Kevin Willard, who departed recently to take the same position at Seton Hall …
The move came as a surprise after Fran Fraschilla, the former Manhattan and St. John’s coach, turned down the job, choosing to stay at ESPN as a broadcaster. Norm Roberts, who was recently fired at St. John’s, was also considered a candidate. The Louisville assistant, Steve Masiello, who previously interviewed at Wagner, was a finalist.” – Kevin Armstrong, New York Times
“Iona was disappointed to see Fran Fraschilla walk away from the job. Louisville assistant Steve Massielo (sic) became the new front runner candidate for the coaching position. However, Iona went in a different direction. The Gaels will announced C.W. Post head coach Tim Cluess as their new head coach on Thursday.
Iona had success by taking a Rick Pitino assistant last time in Kevin Willard. Willard quickly rebuilt the struggling program, but then bolted for Seton Hall. It was definitely surprising that Iona did not go to Pitino’s staff.” – Jesse Kramer, Bleacher Report
“The decision to hire Cluess over Louisville assistant Steve Masiello was a strong indication that Iona athletic director Pat Lyons wanted a proven head coach for the position. Even though he’s been at a Division II school the past four seasons, Cluess has accomplished what can be called nothing short of remarkable.
After inheriting a team that went on to finish below .500 in his first season, Cluess posted a 98-23 record over a four-year period at C.W. Post, highlighted by a 30-1 mark in 2008-09. This past year, Cluess guided his team to a 23-6 record in which they won 19 of their 21 games.” – Rothstein
“What was so refreshing about Iona hiring Tim Cluess from Division II-level C.W. Post is that athletic director Patrick Lyons didn’t use a search firm to hand pick Kevin Willard’s replacement. Too often, athletic directors want to win the news conference and use a search firm to get a ‘sexy’ candidate.
Not the case with Iona.
It wasn’t a traditional hire, but Cluess couldn’t have been more right for the job. He wasn’t a Division I head coach and he wasn’t a Division I assistant. He is 51, as much as veteran in the food service industry as he was in coaching on Long Island. Yet he didn’t need a slew of big names to help him get a Div. I gig. He said he had no one call Lyons on his behalf.He sent in his resume. He got the job.
In our summer-long look at new coaching hires, Cluess is easily the most unique …
Lyons interviewed coaches at the Final Four in Indianapolis and returned to New York on Easter Sunday to sift through the resumes one more time. It sounds almost too old school, right? But he did it and came across Cluess’ and gave him a call later that night. Lyons told him he’s a morning person and gets in at 6 a.m. He arrived at 6 Monday morning and Cluess was there to meet him. The hire came soon after.” – Andy Katz, ESPN
“I didn’t expect anything. I’m a realist. I knew this wasn’t the normal path to make a move. But I didn’t want to move around a lot. I wanted to keep my family close. But I never thought I’d end up at this level.” – Tim Cluess
“We are trending upward, we return the bulk of our program and when I set out to do the search, I felt I didn’t want to take the step down. We’re in a position to have some good success in the foreseeable future.” – Iona athletic director Patrick Lyons
“For schools like Iona, knowing who you are and where you fit is paramount to understanding your place. Lyons appears to have figured that out. The Gaels didn’t need a star; they needed someone who fit. If Cluess fits the bill, the gamble will have paid off.” – Katz
