NEW ROCHELLE, NY - With the COVID-19 pandemic requiring the shuffling of schedules across the country, Iona College men's basketball is happy to announce its previously agreed upon four-year series with Fordham will commence this season. The Gaels and Rams square off on Wednesday, November 25, at Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx, and will be conducted without fans per campus, New York City and New York State guidelines.
The contest will serve as the debut for Iona's first-year head coach and Naismith Hall of Famer
Rick Pitino and renew a long-time rivalry with New York Metropolitan area foe Fordham. The two teams will alternate home-and-home in each of the next four seasons.
Fordham and Iona will meet for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign, a span of 14 seasons. Prior to the series interruption, the game was contested at least once per season between 1979-2006. The Gaels and Rams were also MAAC rivals from 1981-1990 and met in the 1983 and 1985 conference championship games.
Fordham and Iona will square off at the Hynes Center in 2021 and 2023 and again in the Bronx in 2022. The Rams lead the overall series 32-31, which began in December 1942. Since Fordham's departure from the MAAC in 1990, the Gaels hold an 11-6 advantage.
Fordham's campus is located 6.75 miles from New Rochelle by the way the crow flies, the second closest NCAA Division I school (Manhattan, 6.49 miles). Driving distance, the Rose Hill facility is a shorter drive than Riverdale from Iona College for the Maroon & Gold.
The remainder of Iona men's basketball's non-conference schedule will be announced in the upcoming weeks. The Gaels' 20-game MAAC schedule was revealed in September.
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