Rod Strickland Brings a Wave of Change to the Long Island University Sharks
This story appears in SLAM 252. Get your copy now.
Non-New Yorkers may think that the Big Apple looks like one cohesive unit where everyone is familiar with places and neighborhoods, but that’s not true. Especially a teenager who lived in The Bronx’s Mitchell projects in the 1980s.
“I’ve never been to Brooklyn,” quipped Long Island University men’s basketball coach Rod Strickland, a New York City point god who spent 17 years in the league and more than a decade on the high-level college track before getting this, his head coaching job. the first. job, summer 2022. “I came here a few times to play, but I was so young I don’t remember… I played in the Bronx, obviously, and we played in Harlem.
“So when I first got a job here, it was a completely different place. I just had to get used to that, it was fine. At the end of the day, it looks like the Bronx and Harlem. I just wasn’t there. Now it feels like home.”
And isn’t that great for the LIU Sharks? If you’re doing a double take on what one of your favorite school janitors is doing that you’ve probably never heard of…let’s take a step back.
LIU, formerly known as the Blackbirds, had been a national power since the 1930s, when legendary coach and writer Clair Bee led them to undefeated seasons in 1936 and ’39 and NIT championships in ’39 and ’41. The show collapsed in the 1950s after the shaving scandal and didn’t appear on DI until ’68. The only reasons fans under the age of 50 know the program are the dope ’97 and ’98 teams featuring New York City football players Mike Campbell, Charles Jones and Richie Parker or the ’10-13 teams that made three straight championships – NCAA.
From that time, the university’s Brooklyn and Brookville suburbs were officially merged and the school was officially known only as Long Island University. Another thing is that the sports teams are now Sharks.
Rod Strickland, who led the NBA in assists in 1998 (ranked 13th all-time in career assists) and was subsequently named second-team All-NBA, has coached the LIU Sharks for two years and we just got help. covering them? Well, that’s okay with him, because it took him about 24 months to be fully free. “I had to get some experience and feel things going well,” said Strickland (whose teams went 10-48 in his first two seasons) from the comfort of his office at LIU’s Steinberg Wellness Center. “From today, I feel like I have a better understanding of nature. Now it’s a clean slate. These are my writers. New employees. It feels good.”
OG NYC hoops should look to this team as something to watch on the strength of not only Rod but also his newly hired assistant Derrick Phelps, who played at Christ the King in Queens before an amazing four-year career at UNC. But we get it; that demo is getting old. Why should the modern hoop fan tune in to see the Sharks? Because they will be good!
The new LIU fans are excited about include freshman Roc Lee, a popular guard from Atlanta who is considered an NEC ROY candidate, and Malachi Davis, a top transfer wing from the Toronto area at Power 4 program Arizona State with NEC. Power of POY. We find Davis watching the Sharks court in an office across the hall from Coach Strickland. “The important thing is to build the LIU brand,” Davis said. “We are trying to change the culture. We are trying to change the environment. And bring the community together to do something special this year.”
Sophomore forward Jason Steele, a Queens native who played his high school football at Our Savior Lutheran in the Bronx, is among a select group of returners for the Sharks. “Our real goal is to win,” Steele said firmly. “We have people who want to compete. I would refer to them as straight dogs. Everyone here wants to work and everyone wants to win.”
The team’s de facto leader is another returner with a very familiar last name: senior guard Terrell Strickland. Terrell had a great high school career at Tampa-St. Pete’s place (Dad used to coach in South Florida) before playing 50 games for James Madison University between ’20-23. Rod got the job too close to the ’22-23 season for Terrell to wake up here, but there was no doubt he would come in the ’23-24 season. Terrell had a solid junior campaign that season, averaging 7.2 ppg and 3.6 apg, and everyone is expecting an even better performance this year.
“There was no debate about me coming to play for him,” said Terrell. “I really enjoyed my time at James Madison, but this was too special an opportunity to pass up. He is not only my father, but he is an NBA player who played the game at the highest level. I would not pass up the opportunity to learn from him.”
As Rod said, “I was quoted as a player saying that I never wanted to coach because I didn’t want to coach five of me. But when I finished playing, I needed a job. I called my boy in Memphis—William Wesley—and he got Cal [John Calipari]. Cal was thinking ahead; he knew I was a point guard, and he got Derrick Rose, Tyreke [Evans]J-Wall.”
Strickland followed Cal from Memphis to Kentucky and then played in South Florida and the NBA G League. “I wasn’t ready to be a head coach at first. But after being in it—at the top level in Memphis and Kentucky, playing for national championships—I don’t know exactly when, but it just got to a point where it was like, the next step. I played. Then I became an assistant coach. The next step was to become the head coach.”
It’s an all-encompassing, feel-good New York story that just needs some success on the ground to reach a happy ending everyone in the building seems to think is inevitable.
When asked about his father, who is obviously the key to all LIU hoops, Terrell says, “I’m so happy for him. I am proud of him. It’s a really good opportunity for him, especially to be back in New York to do that, surrounded by his family and a great group of supporters. “
Action photos via Getty Images and David Patalano.
