April 26th, 2021

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (AP) -- After a search that lasted nearly two-and-a-half weeks, Iona athletic director Matthew Glovaski announced the hiring of Travis Greenleaf as the team's 15th head men's basketball coach. If you're scratching your head at least somewhat, you're not alone -- he was not part of the original speculated short list for the role after the sudden retirements of both Rick Pitino and top assistant Tom Abatemarco. That short list was rumored to be filled with names such as Seton Hall assistant Grant Billmeier, Syracuse assistant Adrian Autry, Tennessee assistant Kim English, and Vermont associate head coach Kyle Cieplicki.

However, the 39-year-old Greenleaf is not without experience, as he was wildly successful in the lower ranks of college basketball. He coached the men's squad at Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio, leading them to three conference titles in six seasons at the helm, including six trips to the Division III NCAA Tournament with two Final Fours at that level from 2010 through 2016. Up until 2019, he was the head coach at Mid-America Nazarene in Olathe, Kan., where he led MANU to the NAIA Division I Final Four in his final season before stepping down due to personal reasons.

Before that, he was an assistant for Cuonzo Martin at Missouri State for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons. That year, the Bears were the CIT champions, going 24-12 and beating Pacific 78-65 to claim the title. It's his only Division I coaching experience, but parlayed that experience into great success at the lower levels.

The past few years he has worked as a financial advisor and as a private basketball trainer, working with such athletes in recent years as Jeremiah Tilmon (Missouri), Trevor Hudgins (NW Missouri State), and Mike Magurl (Kansas State).

"No, I don't think a whole lot has changed in the game since I was down in Springfield," said Greenleaf when asked about re-adjusting to the Division I level. "To me, it's still the same game. The only big differences now are the rules surrounding NIL and everything that comes with that, but last I checked the ball still has to go into the hoop to win games."

It's his first foray into coaching outside the Midwest, where he's called home pretty much his entire existence. A Kansas City, Mo., native, Greenleaf is now taking on a job about an hour north of one of the biggest hotbeds of high school talent in the country -- New York City.

"It's an incredible challenge, one that I'm ready to take on," he said. "I'm proud to know Rick (Pitino), I've gotten to know him a little bit in the coaching circles, at different events and conferences, and I've always found him to be an engaging personality. He called me a few days ago and let me know that he was pulling for me, and would be happy to help in any way he could."

The first order of business, according to him, is to meet with the returning players and set expectations for the program. Secondly, meet with the remaining assistant coaches and begin re-recruiting the current commitments and new targets, and then set about looking for a new assistant coach to fill out the staff. He played coy when asked about any additional changes to the staff.

"That's not something that I really know for sure at this time," he said. "I haven't even had the chance to speak with them over the phone, so it's hard to tell what I'm going to do if I haven't even met them. They are certainly going to get more than just a token chance, for sure."

Forwards Jeremiah Meyer and Lucas Taylor have already signed with the Gaels for next season, but it will be interesting if they decide to try and back out of their LOI's. Greenleaf and what's left of the staff have a big task to try and not only fill the last remaining available scholarship, but retain what they currently have on a limited budget.

Not all details of the contract have been released, but he was signed to a four-year deal that would pay him roughly $226,000 per year with some performance bonuses that would take that figure over $300,000 per year if they were met. He has escalators for seasons with at least twenty wins, NCAA Tournament appearances, and All-Conference selections.

Always good to see a new dynasty thread here. Nice start. I don't think I've ever seen anyone coaching at Iona within the many versions of DDSCB. Good luck.

[Travis Greenleaf, five days prior to introductory press conference]

I had no one else to call. A week ago, I was making plans to vacation with my toddler daughter, and Melissa and I are finally in a pretty good place post-divorce. The move away from Ohio just destroyed her, as she was away from her ailing father, and I don't know if she ever forgave me when he passed while she was living with me in Kansas City.

I grabbed my phone and texted, "Need to talk. Please call as it's better explained over phone." It was sent to Melissa. In the meantime, my stomach was empty and grumbling, so I fixed myself a quick ham and cheese sandwich before sitting down to try and pass the time.

She finally got back to me about ten minutes after I sent that text. As it turns out, Carl Cook, my new agent, had already called her with the details that I was on the verge of taking the Iona job. Surprisingly, she was supportive of the move, but some legal stuff would have to be ironed out to make it work custody-wise with Gracie, our three-year old.

I wasn't thrilled with Carl that he called Melissa before I had a chance to tell her, but it wasn't as if it was totally out of the blue -- I had mentioned to her I was looking at getting back into coaching after a few years off, and she was generally okay with the idea. The divorce just absolutely took everything I had to work around that AND try to coach a team. With everything finalized (for the most part), and the pandemic largely over, my stress level has been much lower, and I've been able to better focus on my clients.

Leaving them behind in Kansas City isn't ideal, but this is an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I'm lucky to call Rick Pitino a friend, and he offered his congratulations and a helping hand with anything he could assist to make the transition easier. Melissa does have family in New York, so she noted she was willing to come visit during the season if she could fit it in her schedule. We met at a coaching clinic in Ohio back in 2013, and even though she left the game a long time ago, she still enjoys watching the sport. She now works as a personal trainer/nutritionist in the area.

Soon, without even realizing it, I found myself popping open my laptop and Googling real estate in New Rochelle...

May 1st, 2021

Iona Announces Three-Man Recruiting Class

With the late signing period now in the rear-view, the Iona basketball program has revealed their 2021 signing class, with center Darius Grace (Richmond, Va./Meadowbrook) as the headliner.

Ranked in the top 500 prospects in the country, he picked Iona over offers from Coppin State and Virginia Union.

Grace was a late addition to the class, having been recruited late in the process when Rick Pitino was still coaching. First-year head coach Travis Greenleaf picked up where he left off, and was able to secure the commitment just a few days before the signing period ended.

"He's a bit raw skills-wise, but he has tremendous physicality, and finishes through contact very well," said head coach Travis Greenleaf. "Getting him on campus is a big deal, because he really jumps out at you on tape with his size and ability around the rim."

Forwards Jeremiah Meyer (Albany, N.Y./Albany) and Lucas Taylor (Mamaroneck, N.Y./White Plains) decided to remain in their commitment to Iona after each met with the coach on an in-home visit. Meyer is the 463rd-ranked player in the country, while Taylor was unranked.

"Jeremiah gets after it on both ends of the floor, especially on the boards," Greenleaf went on to say about Meyer. "With his length, he can guard guys out on the perimeter even if he's at an athletic disadvantage against guards, but he's a pretty athletic guy himself."

"And Lucas Taylor can really shoot the heck out of the basketball," he continued. "He's the kind of kid that could really benefit from a redshirt year, and we explained that to him, as he needs to get a bit stronger and more game-ready, but we'll let the practices this fall be the determinant of that. There's always room for a guy that can fill the hoop from three."

With the late signing period now over, Greenleaf re-iterated that finding an assistant to fill out the staff was the next priority so they could begin recruiting the next class. Coming on board late put him 'behind the eight-ball' in his words with the 2022 class, but that they would work over the summer to catch up.

2021 SIGNING CLASS
F 6-6 175 Lucas Taylor (Mamaroneck, N.Y./White Plains)
F 6-7 200 Jeremiah Meyer (Albany, N.Y./Albany)
C 6-9 230 Darius Grace (Richmond, Va./Meadowbrook)

WELCOME! It's always great to see a new dynasty and I look forward to following this one!

May 13th, 2021

Iona, Greenleaf Tab Neubauer For Assistant Post; Staff Finalized

In a nod towards recruiting the state of New York, especially in NYC and the outer boroughs, Iona head coach Travis Greenleaf has brought on former Eastern Kentucky and Fordham head coach Jeff Neubauer as an assistant for the upcoming season. He'll be filling the role that Brooklyn native Tom Abatemarco occupied for the last few seasons, spanning three different head coaches. The rest of the staff will remain the same, at least for this season -- both Casey Stanley and Ricky Johns are set to return to the bench alongside Greenleaf and Neubauer.

The latter wasn't ultimately successful at Fordham, going 61-104 in his career over six seasons through this past season, including just 1-7 this past season. But his contacts from recruiting in the area could prove to be invaluable as Greenleaf tries to continue the trajectory that Rick Pitino appeared to have the program on at the time of his retirement.

"Jeff brings knowledge of the territory in and around New York," Greenleaf noted in a statement announcing the hire. "It's quite a deep class of players in the state this year, and we want to get as many talented players out of this state as we can."

It should be noted that only two of Neubauer's players from his previous stop actually came from a New York high school, one of them being current Fordham Ram Chuba Ohams, Jr., who was signed out of Wadleigh High School in the Bronx prior to the 2016 season. Joel Soriano was also signed out of Stepinac HS in White Plains before a year at prep school in Connecticut, but left the program after this past season.

However, despite his overall lack of success on the court (and lack of players from the state), area coaches have always spoke positively of Neubauer and his approach.

[Jeff Neubauer, the day before being announced as an assistant]

In past years at coaching clinics, I've had the chance to get to know Travis a little bit. He's a bit over-confident when it comes to his abilities, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's doing. He's pretty sharp.

Hopefully, we have a good season or two in a row, and I can get back in charge of my own program again. 61-104 or whatever be damned!

Wayne23 wrote:WELCOME! It's always great to see a new dynasty and I look forward to following this one!

I've been reading here and there over the past few weeks...scratching the itch to get back into the game here.

Great to have you back!

[Travis Greenleaf, two months after taking Iona head coaching position]

Today, I finally decided to make the trip down to NYC for the first time ever. I haven't had a chance to get down there yet in a coaching capacity, as Casey or Jeff have been the ones to meet with the 2022 potential targets so far.

Not even in any of the coaching clinics I attended, did I ever cross paths with the biggest city in the country.

I did it all. Central Park, Manhattan, Ground Zero, took my first NYC subway trip. Let's just say that what happens on the subway, stays on the subway.

Had a wonderful prime rib at Peter Luger's before going to The Campbell for a 2x Manhattan nightcap. The bartender there was an Iona grad; recognized me from the NY Times article detailing my background a few days after I was hired.

As it turns out, he's the son of a very influential Iona booster, and that particular booster was pretty instrumental in convincing the AD to interview, and ultimately hire me.

He said that he could help find me a place to live around New Rochelle so that I wouldn't have to sleep in the office. I politely declined the offer, but he insisted, so I decided to humor him a little and took his dad's business card.

On the way back to New Rochelle in the Uber (and a few Manhattans deep), I got a text from an unknown number. "Hey coach. Text me back. Have good news for u."