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DENVER — There’s always a first time for everything.
On Thursday night at the Pepsi Center, Iona star guard A.J. English can cross off a big first time experience when he starts in his first NCAA Tournament game when No. 13 Iona (22-10) faces No. 4 Iowa State (22-11) in a first-round game in the Midwest Region.
Iona last appeared in the NCAAs in 2013, when English missed the second half of the season with a broken wrist.
“A.J. is ending his college career on the right note,” Manhattan coach Steve Masiello, whose team lost twice to Iona this season, told SNY.tv. “He is as dangerous as any player in this tournament because of his ability to make tough shots. And if you double him, he makes all the right reads. If he gets going, your season can end in a hurry.”
In the MAAC championship game against Monmouth last Monday, English went for 19 points, including a critical fallway jumper with 1:39 remaining that put the Gaels up for good.
Son of NBA veteran AJ English II, and the product of Wilmington, De., English led the MAAC in scoring at 22.4 points per game while adding 6.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds a night.
Backcourt mate Isaiah Williams loves English’s ability to get everyone else involved, but sometimes would just prefer the Iona star go out and get his.
“He looks to get his teammates first before he get going,” Williams said. “Sometimes me personally, I don’t like that, I like to see him get going first. Our team follows behind him.”
When a player possesses the talent that English displays on a nightly basis, the opposition is smart to make him their main point of attack on defense. But when it comes to Iowa States game plan to stop English, the guard doesn’t expect much out of the ordinary.
“I try to worry about how they’ve been playing defense as a whole, as a team,” English said. “I’m sure they’re going to maybe send some double-teams, like how we would do with their better players, if I had to guess.”
Among qualities that translate the easiest from college ball to the NBA, scoring ranks pretty high. Being able to put the ball in the basket is key for any player. Hailing from a mid-major school that doesn’t get much national attention, English performs more than OK in that category.
A patented lights out shooting and scoring performance from English Thursday night, could not only lead Iona past No. 3 seed Iowa State in an upset, but also help his NBA stock.
Every NBA team has seen him play this season.
But don’t expect the Gaels star to change his game and try to force anything unnaturally.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “I’ll just try to play Iona basketball and do what I’ve been doing during the season.”
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