1978–79 Iona Gaels men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1978–79 Iona Gaels men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Independent
Record	23–6
Head coach	Jim Valvano (4th season)
Home arena	Hynes Athletic Center
Seasons← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 8 Syracuse		–		–	26	–	4	.867
Georgetown		–		–	24	–	5	.828
No. 6 DePaul		–		–	26	–	6	.813
No. 4 Notre Dame		–		–	24	–	6	.800
VCU		–		–	20	–	5	.800
Iona		–		–	23	–	6	.793
Detroit		–		–	22	–	6	.786
Tennessee State		–		–	20	–	6	.769
Old Dominion		–		–	23	–	7	.767
No. 10 Marquette		–		–	22	–	7	.759
Wagner		–		–	21	–	7	.750
Connecticut		–		–	21	–	8	.724
UNLV		–		–	21	–	8	.724
UNC Wilmington		–		–	19	–	8	.704
Boston College		–		–	21	–	9	.700
James Madison		–		–	18	–	8	.692
Rhode Island		–		–	20	–	9	.690
George Mason		–		–	17	–	8	.680
St. Bonaventure		–		–	19	–	9	.679
Illinois State		–		–	20	–	10	.667
St. John's		–		–	21	–	11	.656
Dayton		–		–	19	–	10	.655
Boston University		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Fairfield		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Georgia Tech		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Oral Roberts		–		–	17	–	10	.630
Holy Cross		–		–	17	–	11	.607
Seton Hall		–		–	16	–	11	.593
Cleveland State		–		–	15	–	10	.600
Maine		–		–	14	–	10	.583
Army		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Denver		–		–	15	–	12	.556
South Carolina		–		–	15	–	12	.556
Stetson		–		–	15	–	12	.556
Siena		–		–	14	–	12	.538
St. Francis (NY)		–		–	14	–	12	.538
Navy		–		–	13	–	12	.520
Xavier		–		–	14	–	13	.519
Northeastern		–		–	13	–	13	.500
Saint Francis (PA)		–		–	13	–	13	.500
Robert Morris		–		–	13	–	14	.481
Southern Miss		–		–	13	–	14	.481
Air Force		–		–	12	–	13	.480
Long Island University		–		–	12	–	13	.480
Canisius		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Colgate		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Evansville		–		–	13	–	16	.448
East Carolina		–		–	12	–	15	.444
Loyola-Chicago		–		–	12	–	15	.444
Butler		–		–	11	–	16	.407
North Texas State		–		–	11	–	16	.407
Saint Peter's		–		–	10	–	15	.400
Campbell		–		–	10	–	16	.385
New Hampshire		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Providence		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Richmond		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Hawaii		–		–	10	–	17	.370
William & Mary		–		–	9	–	17	.346
Georgia Southern		–		–	9	–	18	.333
Fairleigh Dickinson		–		–	8	–	18	.308
Wisconsin-Milwaukee		–		–	8	–	18	.308
Vermont		–		–	8	–	18	.308
Northwestern State		–		–	7	–	19	.269
Fordham		–		–	7	–	22	.241
Catholic		–		–	6	–	20	.231
Arkansas-Little Rock		–		–	6	–	20	.231
Manhattan		–		–	6	–	20	.231
Niagara		–		–	6	–	20	.231
Portland State		–		–	6	–	21	.222
Baltimore		–		–	4	–	20	.167
Valparaiso		–		–	4	–	21	.160
Baptist		–		–	2	–	25	.074

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Iona Gaels men's basketball team represented Iona College during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gaels, led fourth-year by head coach Jim Valvano, played their home games at the Hynes Athletic Center. The Gaels received a bid to the 1979 NCAA tournament. Competing as the No. 8 seed in the East region, the Gaels were defeated by No. 9 seed and eventual Final Four participant Penn in the opening round.

Roster

1978–79 Iona Gaels men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	14	Kevin Hamilton	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Jr
G		Glenn Vickers	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Jr
C	43	Jeff Ruland	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	So	Sachem HS	Lake Ronkonkoma, New York

Head coach

Jim Valvano

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1978*		St. Lawrence	W 107–77	1–0	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Nov 28, 1978*		Pace	W 113–64	2–0	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Dec 1, 1978*		vs. Utah State Carrier Classic	W 73–61	3–0	Manley Field House Syracuse, New York
Dec 2, 1978*		at No. 9 Syracuse Carrier Classic	L 76–89	3–1	Manley Field House Syracuse, New York
Dec 6, 1978*		at Fairleigh Dickinson	W 81–63	4–1
Dec 9, 1978*		at Auburn	L 66–74	4–2	Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama
Dec 21, 1978*		Detroit	L 72–76	4–3	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Dec 23, 1978*		New Orleans	W 75–72	5–3	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Dec 29, 1978*		Northeastern Iona Classic	W 103–88	6–3	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Dec 30, 1978*		Saint Mary's Iona Classic	W 84–74	7–3	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Jan 2, 1979*		East Carolina	L 75–76	7–4	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Jan 6, 1979*		Wagner	W 82–78	8–4	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Jan 10, 1979*		Niagara	W 78–66	9–4	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Jan 13, 1979*		at Milwaukee	W 88–75	10–4
Jan 17, 1979*		at Saint Peter's	W 70–68	11–4
Jan 20, 1979*		UAB	W 61–59	12–4	Hynes Athletic Center (2,020) New Rochelle, New York
Jan 22, 1979*		vs. Pittsburgh	W 84–79	13–4
Jan 24, 1979*		Fairfield	W 97–89	14–4	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Jan 30, 1979*		at UNLV	L 79–86	14–5
Feb 3, 1979*		St. Francis (NY)	W 97–89	14–5	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Feb 7, 1979*		vs. Holy Cross	W 64–62	15–5
Feb 10, 1979*		at Saint Francis (PA)	W 65–63	16–5
Feb 14, 1979*		at Army	W 55–53	17–5
Feb 17, 1979*		Long Beach State	W 81–63	18–5	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
Feb 19, 1979*		at Siena	W 70–68	19–5
Feb 24, 1979*		Fordham	W 79–70	20–5	Hynes Athletic Center New Rochelle, New York
ECAC Metro tournament
Mar 1, 1979*		vs. Seton Hall Semifinals	W 80–73	21–5	Nassau Coliseum Uniondale, New York
Mar 3, 1979*		vs. St. John's Final	W 63–57	22–5	Nassau Coliseum Uniondale, New York
NCAA tournament
Mar 9, 1979*	(8 E)	vs. (9 E) Pennsylvania First round	L 69–73	22–6	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

"Iona Beats Holy Cross, Meets GU". The Washington Post. March 8, 1980. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
"1978–79 Iona Gaels Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
"1978-79 Men's Basketball Schedule". Iona College Athletics. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
"2019-20 Iona Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Iona College Athletics. p. 52. Retrieved January 28, 2023.

v t e Iona Gaels men's basketball
Venues	Joseph E. O'Connell Memorial Gymnasium Hynes Athletics Center (1974–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1940–41 1941–42 1942–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

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