SPRINGFIELD, MA – On this day, September 8, back in 2013, two members of the Iona College community were inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Arrigoni Goal Club Hall of Famer and Maroon & Gold legend Richie Guerin '54, as well as current Iona head coach
Rick Pitino were among an elite group enshrined in Springfield.
RICHIE GUERIN '54
A member of the 1951-54 Gaels, Richie Guerin rewrote the basketball record books at Iona College. While wearing the Maroon & Gold, Guerin scored 1,375 points, a career average of 19.6 points a game, and graduated as the leading scorer in Iona basketball history. A two-time all-metropolitan selection with the Gaels, he scored a then school record 40 points against John Carroll University in 1954.
As a professional, Guerin played with the New York Knickerbockers and the St. Louis Hawks of the National Basketball Association, scoring 14,518 points in an 11-year career. He played in six NBA All-Star games while with the Knickerbockers and led New York in scoring three seasons. He owns an NBA career-high of 57 points, which he scored while with the Knicks against Syracuse in 1959. In 1961-62, Guerin became the first guard in league history to score 2,000 points in a season when he hit for 2,303.
He completed his career with the Hawks as a player-coach, earning NBA Coach of the Year honors in 1968. Guerin became the full-time head coach in 1970 and completed his eight seasons as coach in 1972 with a 353-325 record. He left coaching that year and served as General Manager of the Hawks for the 1972-73 season.
RICK PITINO
Rick Pitino has taken four different programs to the NCAA tournament and coached two national championship teams. During his 32 seasons as a collegiate head coach, coach Pitino has a 770-271 overall record and a 54-19 record in the NCAA Tournament. He became the first coach to take three different schools to the NCAA Final Four and first coach to win an NCAA Championship at two different schools. Pitino holds the third highest winning percentage in NCAA Tournament games (.740) among all active coaches.
Pitino, who has a stellar reputation for success on the court and a dedication to student-athlete academic success, has served as head coach of the University of Louisville (2001-2017, winning the 2013 NCAA Championship), University of Kentucky (1989-1997, winning the 1996 NCAA Championship), Providence College (1985-1987), Boston University (1978-1983) and the University of Hawaii (last six games in 1975-1976).
Pitino is one of nine active collegiate head coaches with head coaching experience in the NBA (others include Kentucky's John Calipari, Alabama's Avery Johnson, Oklahoma's Lon Kruger, UTEP's Tim Floyd, Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, Utah's Larry Krystkowiak, Nevada's Eric Musselman and CSUN's Reggie Theus, as of 2016-17).
And, while often choosing to do so anonymously, Rick has served as a charitable benefactor for a broad spectrum of worthy causes.
Hall of Fame Coach
Rick Pitino was named head basketball coach of Iona College on March 14, 2020.
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