IONA86

Good morning guys. I just wanted to stop by and wish you guys luck. It should be a great game today. I see you guys have gotten off to a nice start and I am anxious to see how my guy Muhammad Ahmed is developing. While I will be unable to root for you guys this evening I will be following and rooting for you guys the rest of the way this year. Good health to you and your team.

LOL... we have many "constructive pessimists" on the Iona forum as well. We have a coach that has a 92 wins in four years, led us to 2 NCAA tournys, 1 NIT and to a CIT championship game and people still find fault.

You guys are most welcome. Mike Haynes story was sad. He had a lot of potential and was the type of player we really needed. There are too many stories like this. Good luck with the rest of the recruiting cycle and next season.

He is a natural 4. He can spread the D with his jumper but he is most comfortable in the paint. He is more athletic than he looks and has a junkyard dog mentality. He is strong and physical. There is some game video on Youtube of his time playing for JFK in high school. He is just a scrappy kid who does a lot of the little things you need to win. His brother, who is a verbal commit to Iona, is flashier and more of a SG/SF. NYC public schools have players switching teams like you change your shirt. Sneaky deals to attract the best players to certain powerhouse high school programs is common. JFK is by no means a powerhouse and they play a lighter schedule compared to Christ the King, St. Raymond's, Lincoln etc... With that said the Ahmed brothers did put JFK on the map and the Ahmeds outplayed many higher ranked players in AAU ball as well as at famous NYC summer leagues such as Rucker or Dyckman. Mohammed will thrill the crowd with some great put back dunks but he is more often the guy who shocks you in the stats category. You will think he played a decent game until you look at the stats and see he scored 16 points, had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and held his opponent to 6 points while setting picks to free up your guards all game long. He was also a very good leader on his high school team.

Congrats guys!!! You got a very good player. I wish we (Iona) had offered him. He is very tough, has very good hoops and has a knack to be in the right place at the right time. In crunch time he steps up and wants the ball. I think you guys got a steal with this kid. The biggest concern with the kids out of NYC is their ability to adjust. Many of these kids live in a world where they never leave a six block radius unless they are traveling to a hoops tournament. The fact that he has done well in a JUCO, away from NYC, is a very good sign that he will do well in Texas. I will be following him and rooting for you guys. Best of luck!