2022 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships Program

T H E M A A C S T O RY

T H E M A A C S T O RY

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Story

been upgraded to full MAAC sports. The men’s league currently consists of six MAAC schools (Canisius, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Quinnipiac, and Siena along with two associate members Detroit Mercy and St. Bonaventure). The women’s league features competition among nine MAAC institutions (Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Niagara, Quinnipiac, and Siena). The 2017 Men’s Lacrosse Championship game aired on ESPNU and Sirius XM for the first time in history. In the spring of 2014, the MAAC expanded the championship field to six teams in Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Women’s Lacrosse, Softball, and Baseball. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MAAC canceled all spring sport competitions, practices, and other athletic related activities for the remainder of the 2020 Spring semester. Later the decision was made to move the fall 2020 sports into the winter of 2021 providing scaled back schedules and expanded championship formats as the pandemic continued to restrict athletic competition. This was the first time a season of sports competition was ever canceled in the MAAC. The MAAC Council of Presidents approved bylaws to launch an Esports League and Championships in 2020. The presidents approved Esports as an official MAAC co-ed club sport. The decision came after two years of evaluation and co-sponsorship of events with the ECAC, including the highly successful HV Gamer Con 2019 in Albany, NY. The 2020 MAAC Esports Championships were set to be held in the Adrian Phillips Theater at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 MAAC Esports Championship was held virtually. The 2020 Championships featured four games: League of Legends, Rocket League, Overwatch, and Super Smash Ultimate. The 2022 MAAC Esports Championship will take place at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, March 10–12. Academics and Athletics The MAAC prides itself on the accomplishments of its student-athletes in the classroom, as well as on the field. Mary Beth Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, was the first recipient of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. In the fall of 1998, Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona Women’s Rowing team, was awarded one of the nation’s 32 Rhodes Scholarships for academic achievement and civic leadership. As of May 2020, all 11 MAAC institutions and four associate members (Dayton – Women’s Golf, Hartford – Women’s Golf, LaSalle – Women’s Golf, and Villanova – Water Polo) had at least one team that posted multi-year APR’s in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport. A total of 47 teams received top 10 percent recognition. Quinnipiac and Siena College led the MAAC in NCAA Public Recognition Awards, with both institutions naming seven programs to the list. Fairfield University and Marist College followed, both with six programs ranking in the top 10 percent of their sport. Iona and Niagara had four teams. Canisius, Manhattan, Monmouth, and Rider posted two teams. Saint Peter’s had one team in the top 10 percent. First-class facilities are the standard within the MAAC, as teams regularly play in top-notch arenas, such as Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, MassMutual Center, KeyBank Center, MVP Arena (former Times Union Center), Webster Bank Arena, Mohegan Sun Arena, and Sun National Bank Center. In May 2018, the MAAC embarked on a historic feat as the conference hosted its annual Baseball Championship at Richmond County Bank Ballpark for the first time ever in partnership with the Staten Island Yankees, a Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. In the past several years, several the MAAC schools have enjoyed success in national postseason play. In 2018, Quinnipiac Women’s Basketball picked up its third NCAA Tournament win in the last two years. The Bobcats defeated Miami in

the First Round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1 UConn in the Second Round. In 2017, Quinnipiac won its first NCAA Championship game in program history and became the first MAAC women’s basketball program to advance to the Sweet 16 since Marist in 2007. The Bobcats defeated Marquette and Miami en route to their Sweet 16 appearance against South Carolina. In 2015, Siena’s Women’s Basketball team became the first MAAC Women’s Basketball program to make it to a postseason championship game. The Saints advanced all the way to the title contest of the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) where Siena fell to Louisiana-Lafayette. In 2007, the Marist Women’s Basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to the eventual National Champion, Tennessee. The Red Foxes have recorded an additional five NCAA wins since their run in 2007. The Saint Peter’s Men’s Basketball team claimed the 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) title, to become the first MAAC program to win a national postseason championship since Siena’s Men’s Basketball team in 2014. The Saints earned the league’s first basketball postseason championship in its history by winning the 2014 College Basketball Invitational (CBI). In 2013, the MAAC had a record six Men’s Basketball programs participate in postseason play – Iona (NCAA Championship), Niagara (NIT), Canisius, Fairfield, Loyola, and Rider (CIT). Canisius and Loyola both advanced to the Quarterfinal Round, while Rider reached the second round. In 2012, the MAAC had two teams advance to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time in 16 years, with Loyola earning the league’s automatic bid and Iona garnering an at-large bid. The MAAC has also been a leader in the forefront of technology, expanding the notoriety of the league into cyberspace. In 2017, the league reached a conference-wide agreement with SIDEARM Sports (extended in 2020), to design and host the MAAC web page. MAACSports.com has been a great success, providing fans with fresh content, up-to-date results, live and on-demand video, and an online merchandise store. The site was redesigned in the fall of 2021. In September 2011, the conference announced the launch of MAAC.TV , the league’s first broadband network. Eight schools (Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Rider, and Saint Peter’s) were part of the original network. In May 2014, the MAAC continued to grow its partnership with ESPN by announcing the launch of the MAAC Branded ESPN3 Channel . All MAAC and school produced digital contact can be viewed through this channel. In the 2017–18 academic year the MAAC entered into a new eight-year agreement with ESPN and produced a total of 325 events on the ESPN family of networks. The first MAAC events on ESPN+ were men’s & women’s lacrosse games produced by Monmouth University. The 2018 Baseball Championship was the first MAAC championship to air entirely on ESPN+. As a part of the current MAAC-ESPN partnership ESPN+ will become home to hundreds of MAAC games, championships, and shows that are easily accessible to MAAC fans throughout the country. Under the ESPN agreement, 2019–20 marked the first year that all MAAC institutions will have school production facilities and by the end of 2024–25 the conference and schools will produce over 600 collegiate athletic events and shows on the ESPN family of networks. The MAAC President for the 2021–22 academic year is Rev. James J. Maher, President of Niagara University. The Vice-President is Judy D. Olian, Phd., President of Quinnipiac University, Commissioner Richard J. Ensor, Esq. serves as the league’s Secretary/Treasurer, Bill Maher, Director of Athletics at Canisius College, will chair the Committee on Athletic Administration, and Sarah Fraser, Senior Associate Deputy Director of Athletics/SWA at Quinnipiac University, will serve as Vice Chair.

several future NCAA Championships. Along with Siena, the MAAC was chosen to host the 2020 Men’s Basketball First & Second Rounds at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside Canisius and Niagara, the MAAC will host the 2022 Men’s Basketball First & Second Rounds at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. In 2020 the MAAC was awarded additional future NCAA hosting opportunities including the 2023 Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds and the 2024 Women’s Basketball Regionals at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY which will be co-hosted with Siena College. The MAAC, alongside the Ivy League, was also selected to host the 2025 Women’s Rowing Championship Finals (Divisions I, II, and III) at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, NJ. In 2026, the MAAC along with Canisius College and Niagara University will host the Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. In March 2018 the MAAC hosted the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Albany Regional with Siena College for the second time since 2015 at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. The Albany Regional was the highest attended site out of the four regions with over 20,000 fans in attendance over the two days of competition. During the 2016–17 academic year, the MAAC hosted the NCAA Division I Cross Country Northeast Regional at Van Cortlandt Park with Iona and Manhattan, the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball First & Second Rounds at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY with Canisius and Niagara, which marked the fifth time that all three parties partnered for this same event (2004, 2007, 2010, and 2014), and the 2017 NCAA Division I, II, & III Rowing Championships with the Ivy League at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, NJ. The MAAC, Canisius, and Niagara successfully hosted the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Second and Third Rounds at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY. The MAAC and Fairfield hosted the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Regional at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT. The MAAC and Rider co-hosted the 2012 NCAA Rowing Championships at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, NJ and also co-hosted the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. The MAAC and Rider co-hosted the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Regional at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ, after recording the third highest attendance figure for the women’s championship with the First & Second Rounds in 2006. In March of 2017, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the field of teams for the inaugural Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic, a college basketball tournament held in conjunction with the MAAC, Sport Changes Life, Rory McIlroy’s Foundation, the Rory Foundation, and The SSE Arena, Belfast. The two-day tournament was held December 1–2, 2017 and featured Holy Cross, Manhattan, La Salle, and Towson. After a successful inaugural event, the Sport Changes Life Foundation announced the second annual Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic to be held November 29–December 1. The 2018 event featured an expanded field to eight schools. The schools competed in two four-team brackets, with campus round games in the United States leading into two tournament brackets in Belfast aptly named ‘Samson’ and ‘Goliath’ after the iconic Harland and Wolfe cranes in the Titanic quarter shipyard of Belfast. Marist represented the MAAC in the 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic. In June of 1995, the MAAC developed new opportunities for student-athletes as the conference announced the formation of the MAAC Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse leagues. The men’s league began competition in the spring of 1996, while the women’s league commenced in the spring of 1997. Since their inception as associate sports leagues, both Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse have

With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 41 st year of competition during the 2021–22 academic year. The MAAC was founded in 1980 by six charter members: the U.S. Military Academy, Fairfield University, Fordham University, Iona College, Manhattan College, and Saint Peter’s College. Competition followed one year later in the fall of 1981 with members competing in the sports of Men’s Cross Country and Men’s Soccer. On January 2, 1982, Army traveled to Iona for the first MAAC Men’s Basketball game and the MAAC story had begun. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College. The MAAC supports 24 sports and championships during the 2021–22 academic year; in addition, the MAAC champion earns automatic qualification to the NCAA Championship in 15 sports. In addition, associate members include St. Bonaventure University in Men’s Lacrosse. La Salle University, Long Island University, St. Francis Brooklyn, Villanova University, Virginia Military Institute, and Wagner College in Water Polo. Drake University, Jacksonville University, Robert Morris University, Sacred Heart University, and Stetson University compete in Women’s Rowing. La Salle University, the University at Albany, University of Dayton, and the University of Hartford are members in Women’s Golf. On June 1, 2018, the MAAC announced that the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ was selected to host the 2020–22 MAAC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Championships. The MAAC Council of Presidents unanimously accepted the facility’s bid to host the championships at their May 30 th meeting in New York City. Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall will host the MAAC Basketball Championships for the first time in history and the Championships will return to the state of New Jersey for the first time since 2003, when they were played at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. A total of nine MAAC Men’s Basketball Championships and five Women’s Basketball Championships have been held in New Jersey, including the inaugural event in 1982 at what was the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford. In response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, the MAAC canceled the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships that were being held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, midway through the third day of competition. This was the first time the championships were ever canceled. The last game of the season and championship had the Fairfield women’s basketball team defeat Siena 72-56 in the quarterfinals. The NCAA also cancelled the Division I 2020 Men’s and Women’s Championships and later all spring sports as college sports reacted to the health threats posed by the pandemic to its student-athletes, coaches, and fans. In 2021, the championships returned to Atlantic City as the first event hosted at the arena since the MAAC shutdown operations in 2020. The teams competed in a restricted manner that included daily PCR COVID-19 testing, practices hosted across town at the Atlantic City Convention Center, and with limited attendance by friends of families who were seated in upper levels of Boardwalk Hall. In year of limited competition, the Iona College men and the Marist College women captured the championship trophies and moved on to 68 and 64 team fields hosted in Indianapolis and San Antonio within strict bubble environments. By having an excellent working relationship with various facilities, and a top reputation for hosting events, the MAAC has been able to be awarded

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