The Iona men’s basketball team announced the completion of their 2022 recruiting class on Tuesday lead by four-star shooting guard Cruz Davis.  

Davis, who was originally committed to Oregon State, ultimately rescinded his commitment and chose to bring his talents to New Rochelle. ESPN ranked Davis as the 27th best two-guard in the country following his senior high school season.  

Davis played his senior season at Huntington Prep School in West Virginia, averaging nearly 17 points and five assists per contest. Before Huntington, the 6-2 guard played at the iSchool of Lewisville, Texas, where he starred as a number-one option for the school and became watched as one of the top recruits coming out of the state.  

Davis totaled 1,153 points over the course of his high school career. He has been heralded as a highly athletic guard with skills that can translate to both ends of the floor.  

The Texas native received offers from schools in some of the top conferences in the country including Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University, Houston, Georgetown and Oregon State.  

The Gaels also added Josué Grullon, a post-graduate player from the Dominican Republic. Grullon spent his last season at Miami Prep, where he helped lead the team to a 50-5 record on the back of his team-leading 24 points per game.  

Noted as an excellent scoring threat from deep, Grullon totaled 164 three pointers made in the 2021-22 season. His highlight performance of the year was in a matchup against Our Savior Lutheran School, where he scored 45 points and knocked down 13 three pointers.  

Seven-footer Silas Sunday and guard Daniss Jenkins rounded out the newly added recruits of the finalized 2022 class. Sunday, a native of Lucan, Ireland, played at Our Savior Lutheran with previously announced Iona recruit Sadiku Ayo, where they helped elevate their team to a top-15 ranking in the country last season.  

Jenkins, a skilled, three-level guard from Odessa College in Texas, was ranked as the number-three prospect coming out of the National Junior College Athletic Association this season.  

Head coach Rick Pitino reflected on the depth of this year’s recruiting class in a Zoom interview with New York Metro area beat writer Jaden Daly on Tuesday, noting how this class will be pivotal to the success of Iona basketball moving forward.  

“This is as deep and as talented a class as I’ve had, and it had to be talented because of the players we lost,” Pitino said via Jaden Daly on Twitter. “We went the freshman route more than the transfer portal route because I don’t want to lose sight of building a program.” 

Pitino has placed an emphasis on his high-ceiling recruiting philosophy, which he has abided by in his previous high-major stops at Kentucky and Louisville. The coach has been committed to a brand of scouting that isn’t based on linear ranking metrics or prior accolades, but on the athlete’s desire to grow their game.