Former Maryland forward Ashton Pankey will visit Iona, Fordham and Manhattan this week, his AAU coach, Jeff Rivera, told SNY.tv.
The 6-foot-8 former St. Anthony standout will trip to Iona on Tuesday, Fordham Wednesday and Manhattan Friday.
Iona has not been afraid to land transfers in the past few years, picking up Arizona’s Lamont “Momo” Jones and Iowa State’s Tavon Sledge.
Fordham recently signed a four-man class for 2012, including 6-8 former TCU commit Ryan Rhoomes.
And Manhattan is steadily improving under coach Steve Masiello, who was the co-recipient of the Haggerty Coach of the Year honors.
A Bronx, N.Y., native, Pankey wants to transfer closer to home to be near his mother.
Pankey missed all but one minute his freshman year due to a stress fracture in his leg. Last season, he played in all 32 games, averaging 4.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. He had four double-figure scoring games (high of 17 vs. Radford) and three games with double figures in rebounds (11 vs. Iona and Virginia Tech).
fordhamu / May 28, 2012
Fordham would be the best fit for Pankey, he would fit right into there style of play. Between Frazier and Gatson, Pankey will be that center piece that will make fordham A-10 tittle contenders. There front court will be very impressive. If they move Frazier to the point and Smith to his natural position which is the 2, look out for fordham basketball. Jeff short will be james harden of the team off the bench adding that extra boost. Lets cross our fingers and hope we land this 6-9 center by wednesday
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guyfawkesnyc / May 30, 2012
Fordham is never going to be a A-10 tittle contenders. They stand a much better chance of being kicked back to the Patriot League. If Pankey wants to play in the NCAA’s he should pick a school who has been there during his lifetime. Iona is a much better landing place for Pankey. Could you imagine a starting five next year of Momo, Armand, Ridley, Laury and Pankey with Anderson, Haynes, Parga coming off the bench? Iona would run Fordham off the court far worse than the beating Manhattan gave the Rams last year. Fordham is an A-10 school in name only. They would be a bottom three team in the MAAC. Iona is Big East talent in the MAAC. Fordham is mid-pack NEC talent in the A-10. Iona won more games last year than Fordham has in the last four.
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guyfawkesnyc / May 30, 2012
Manhattan would also be a better place to land. Masiello is a good coach and could build his team around Pankey. Manhattan will be competing for the MAAC title next year and if Masiello sticks around they could be a top power in the MAAC for years to come.
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fordhamu / May 30, 2012
Iona would not last in the A-10 conference, yes mono will help them out, butt as you can see when they played BYU they made a fool of themselves. As for manhatten college when they come to fordham this year they will learn there lesson. Manhattan college could never stand a chance against Harvard and georgia tech, like i said pinky to fordham will change and twist the program, who would want to come from the ACC to play in the MACC, which is a conference no one cares about, no tv time. In the A-10 he will have a better chance of being a pro, playing temple, vcu, butler, umass, lasalle, st.joes, rhode island, respectable schools. Fordham would destroy schools like NYU, Marist, St. Peters,Rider,Fairfield, Manhattan, Canisius, iona might stand a chance but without scott there leader and mike glover the heart they go down also. Chris gatson would average 25points and 17 rebounds in this conference, From this year on no MAAC school will beat a A-10 school. Make a point “guyfawkesnyc”
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guyfawkesnyc / May 30, 2012
Does VCU joining the A-10 grant the bottom feeders like Fordham some sort of super powers? It sounds pretty funny when you poke fun of Iona losing to BYU, especially when the last time you were in the NCAA’s Oldsmobile, Plymouth, and Eagle were still manufacturing cars.
The proof is in the pudding…. you guys cant cut it in the old A-10 and you will be more of a joke now. In three years you will back in the Patriot telling everyone how you are a little Ivy League school and that’s why you wanted to be there. The truth will be you were kicked there by the A-10. The day the Big East goes Football BCS only schools is the day Seton Hall says hello to the A-10 and the A-10 says goodbye to Fordham.
Manhattan will drill you guys by 25 this year and the year after. You must really be buying into the whole Rhoomes recruitment…. I doubt he will be qualified and what you are getting is a kid who was away from competitive ball for a year and has gained 35lbs he does not need. Face facts… you guys could not win in the NEC.
Iona would have drilled you by 50 last year and this year they would still drill you by 30. Iona’s bottom seven could have easily handled your starting five. The only way Fordham can win 12 games this year is if they scheduled Sacred Heart for 11 home games. How does it feel to be the worst hoops program in the NYC area… not just last year but every year for the last two decades? Thats not going to change with recruiting Rhoomes, dumping Frank and giving Pecora silly extensions. Fordham is an A-10 school only in name and it is killing you.
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fordhamu / May 31, 2012
I see you know basketball, and i see you doing your research, the only way this can get done is for them to play and sees the results, you have some very good points, butt i think fordham will make some noise this year coming out of the A-10. I hope your front and center for this Manhattan game this year. I predict manhatten y’all lose by 15 and pecora will out coach and the players will out play them on offence and defense.
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guyfawkesnyc / May 31, 2012
It would be great if Fordham can turn the program around because it would be good for NYC hoops. Nothing would please me more than to see Fordham, Iona and Manhattan all doing well. When realignment really goes crazy I think you will see a very different Big East, A-10 and MAAC. I would love a NE Catholic Conference to be formed from non-football BCS schools such as SJU, Fordham, Iona, Manhattan, St. Joe’s, LaSalle, Fairfield, Siena, Duquesne, Seton Hall, Providence, and St. Bonaventure.
At the very least I would like to see the see a NYC area tournament like the old MSG Holiday Festival take place in an expanded format at the Barclays Center. The SJU control of MSG will lose it’s impact with opening of the Barclays Center and the other local AD’s should push for a tournament consisting of Fordham, Iona, Manhattan, Seton Hall, Fairfield, Hofstra, LIU, SPC, SJU, Saint Francis, Marist and Columbia. It would increase the coverage of the local rivalries and help establish who is king of NY each year. It would also give the NYC recruits a reason to stay in the local area instead of running off to play elsewhere.
As for Pankey I will be happy so long as this kid does not end up at SJU. I will be at the Manhattan game but I do not see Fordham winning. Manhattan returns everyone with the addition of an excellent PG. If they land Pankey do you still predict a 15 point win?
As for Iona…. Frank was smart enough to keep them off the schedule the last few years probably for his own preservation. Losing to an old rival like Manhattan is one thing, losing to Iona brings up images of the battles (fist fights and all) from the great games of the 80’s and I do not think the alumni would have handled that very well. It is too bad that the old rivalry between the Rams and the Gaels, Jesuits vs the Brothers, The Money Lenders vs the Dark Disciplinarians…is no longer played on the court but is left to battles on a blog such as this. I hope you are right about Fordham turning itself around I just think such an expectation is a bit premature.
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fordhamu / May 31, 2012
Fordham, Iona, Manhattan, Seton Hall, Fairfield, Hofstra, LIU, SPC, SJU, Saint Francis, Marist and Columbia. We could call it the battle of the try-state, and i agree that would make the local talent want to stay how which would increase NYC basketball. The barclay cold be able to host everything butt how will the garden feel when there not genurating enough college basketball revenue. I hope all NY teams do great this year in every conference. As for Pankey i could not agree with you more it would hurt my heart to see this kid at St. Johns a program that brings in 7-10 new players a year.
Fordham, Iona, Manhattan, Seton Hall, Fairfield, Hofstra, LIU, SPC, SJU, Saint Francis, Marist and Columbia I hope someone is reading our comments and would take this into considaration it could be like a mini per-season tournment and based on your recruiting and last year standings will determine your poll in the tournament.
Rams and the Gaels classic someone needs to call up Tom Percora and make this game happened,The Money Lenders vs the Dark Disciplinarians, great for basketball, great for history, great for NYC basketball
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