Tuesday, March 13, 2012

U of D.C. Completes Turn Around Under Ruland

There's already been one MAAC connection eliminated from national post-season play.

That would be former Iona coach Jeff Ruland, whose University of the District of Columbia men's team was eliminated from the Division II NCAA East Regional portion of that level's national championship event, by Stonehill, 65-61 this past Saturday.

But, just getting to the NCAA event was an accomplishment of great note for the program, even if it didn't win a tournament game.

The contest marked the first NCAA tournament for the District of Columbia in 25 years, and the program finishes its season with a 22-6 overall record.

Still, it's a feel-good story for a program that had been downtrodden for a number of years and for Ruland, who left his alma mater with an acrimonious split and, surely, has put more than a little shine back on his coaching resume.

Ruland just finished his third season at the school, turning the program around from a 1-20 record in 2009-10 to an 11-15 record last season to this year's successes.

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