Tim Cluess
American basketball coach (born 1959)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timothy Michael Cluess (born March 9, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who most recently was the head men's basketball coach at Iona College. He is also a former head coach of Long Island University–C.W. Post.
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| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 9, 1959 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1979–1981 | St. John's |
| 1982–1983 | Hofstra |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1991–2005 | Saint Mary's HS |
| 2005–2006 | Suffolk CC |
| 2006–2010 | LIU Post |
| 2010–2019 | Iona |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 297–131 (college) 22–10 (junior college) 265–78 (high school) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
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| Awards | |
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College playing career
Professional playing career
Cluess played professionally in Europe and Australia.[citation needed]
Coaching career
High school
Cluess was the head coach of Saint Mary's High School in Manhasset, New York for 14 seasons (1991–2005).[citation needed] Cluess's Gaels won four Class A New York State Catholic High School Athletic Association (NYSCHSAA) championships[citation needed] and two New York State Federation of Secondary Schools Athletic Associations (NYSFSSA) championships.[citation needed] However, St. Mary's played in the Class A Division, and failed to advance past the New York City representative of the Class AA Division each time they attempted to advance for the right to play in the New York State Class AA Federation Tournament.
In 2004–05, Saint Mary's posted a 25–1 overall record. The lone loss came against a New York City team, Xaverian, from the class AA Division as St. Mary's once again failed to advance past New York City in the Class AA Division.[citation needed]
College
Cluess’ first college coaching job was the 2005–06 Suffolk County Community College team that finished with a regular season record of 20–9. They appeared in their first NJCAA Division III tournament that year, winning their first two games before being eliminated in their third game and finishing the season at 22–10.[4]
After one year at the junior college level, Cluess became the head coach for the Long Island University C.W. Post Campus Pioneers. He led the team to three straight first-place finishes in the East Coast Conference, including two conference tournament titles in 2007–08 and 2008–09. In four seasons at LIU-Post, Cluess led the team to two NCAA Division II men's basketball tournaments in 2008 and 2009. The 2008–09 squad finished the regular season with a record of 24–0, in route to an NCAA Division II Elite Eight tournament appearance and a 30–1 final record.[5]
In April 2010 Cluess replaced Kevin Willard as the head men's basketball coach at Iona College.[6] Cluess' record in nine seasons at Iona was 199–108.
Just before the 2019–20 pre-season, Cluess took a leave of absence to deal with personal health issues. Associate head coach Tra Arnold took over head coaching duties for the remainder of the season.[7]
On March 13, 2020, Cluess stepped down from Iona due to his health issues.[8] Rick Pitino was named to replace Cluess as head coach the next day.[9]
Head coaching record
Junior college
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk Pioneers (Region XV) (2005–2006) | |||||||||
| 2005–06 | Suffolk | 22–10 | 20–9 | 2–1 | |||||
| Suffolk: | 22–10 (.688) | ||||||||
| Total: | 22–10 (.688) | ||||||||
College
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIU Post Pioneers (East Coast Conference) (2006–2010) | |||||||||
| 2006–07 | LIU Post | 19–11 | 13–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 2007–08 | LIU Post | 26–5 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division II Regionals | ||||
| 2008–09 | LIU Post | 30–1 | 18–0 | 1st | NCAA Division II Elite Eight | ||||
| 2009–10 | LIU Post | 23–6 | 18–3 | T–1st | |||||
| LIU Post: | 98–23 (.810) | 67–12 (.848) | |||||||
| Iona Gaels (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (2010–2020) | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | Iona | 25–12 | 13–5 | 2nd | CIT Runner-up | ||||
| 2011–12 | Iona | 25–8 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Four | ||||
| 2012–13 | Iona | 20–14 | 11–7 | 4th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Iona | 22–11 | 17–3 | 1st | NIT first round | ||||
| 2014–15 | Iona | 26–9 | 17–3 | 1st | NIT first round | ||||
| 2015–16 | Iona | 22–11 | 16–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Iona | 22–13 | 12–8 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Iona | 20–14 | 11–7 | 4th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Iona | 17–16 | 12–6 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Iona: | 199–108 (.648) | 124–46 (.729) | |||||||
| Total: | 297–131 (.694) | ||||||||
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National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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