Rod Strickland’s biggest basketball challenge

December 18, 2023 Andy Furman

Jacob Johnson of the LIU Sharks. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

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They just made it over the .500 mark in 2022 with a 16-14 won-loss record.
And to show you just how tough it’s been, well there’s been just four winning seasons in the last 10 years – and just seven seasons with more W’s than L’s in the last 15.

We’re talking basketball at Long Island University.

The year 2017-18, they squeaked over the top with an 18-17 record. In the past 26 seasons, the Sharks have reached post-season play in the NCAA Tournament just five times. The most recent came in that 2017-18 season when they were bounced in the first-round by Raford, 71-61.

But Rod Strickland hopes to change all that – but it won’t happen overnight.
Strickland is a winner – and New York basketball legend.

As a high school junior, he led Treuman High of The Bronx to the state championship and was ranked as one of the top 10 high school recruits in the nation.

He became a college star at DePaul University where he was a First-Team All American as a junior averaging 20 points-per-game and 7.8 assists. He helped the Blue Demons to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1985-88, including Sweet Sixteen showings in 1986 and 1987.

The Knicks made him a first-round selection in the 1988 draft, where he backed-up point guard Mark Jackson, the 1988 NBA Rookie of the Year.
Seven NBA teams in a 17-year career; 1,094 games and a 13.2 points-per-game average. In fact, from 1990 to 2000 he averaged double-digits every season with an 18.9 per-game high in ’94-’95 with the Portland Trailblazers.

Great resume – but it doesn’t mean much as head coach of the Sharks. “That was then,” Strickland told the Eagle when he was hired at LIU last July, “Now,” he continued, “My job is getting these players better. My career was ’88 to 2005, that’s over now. Now it’s time for me to add value to their game.”

And win.

Now is the challenge of taking the Sharks of Long Island University to the next level in basketball.

That just may be the biggest challenge Strickland has faced in the game of basketball.

In his first season on the LIU bench, Strikland won just three times in 29 tries.

This season it took the Sharks eight games to gain their first win – an 84-68 decision over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Which probably has led to some sleepless nights for Rod Strickland.
But he’s not running, or hiding, in fact he admits, “I’m here for the long haul.

“I’ve always had an itch to be on the court; to be coaching,” he said. “As for the LIU deal, I was ready and the timing was right.”

Why LIU?

“Well, it piqued my interest for sure,” he said, “And you know I’m a New York City guy. It just seemed right.”

And if it seemed right for Rod Strickland, it had to be right for his sons – for the first time ever he’s coaching his two sons – Tai and Terrell. Both were playing at other schools, but couldn’t resist the family reunion.

“I want to give them a great experience,” papa Rod said. “My sons being here just makes it more special because I live out my journey with them.”

Guards Tai and Terell Strickland have transferred to LIU to play basketball for their father. The 23-year-old Tai, a graduate student, earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Temple. He played three seasons with the Owls, through 2021-22. He spent last season as a graduate student at Georgia Southern. He scored 439 points, amassed 141 rebounds, 676 assists and 54 steals in 74 collegiate games.
This is his final season of collegiate eligibility.

The 21-year-old Terell joined the Sharks with two seasons of eligibility remaining, after his undergraduate career at James Madison.

Terell did face his father last season, when James Madison hosted LIU on December 18, 2022.

He came off the bench to apply pressure defense and produced five steals. He also contributed eight points, eight assists and two rebounds in 15 minutes in a 36-point victory.

“I hit a three by his bench and I just looked at his whole bench and said, ‘Whooooo?’ Terell recalled to LIU’s Adam Rubin.

“I didn’t hear that, because I would have told our players to knock him down,” his father joked.

During the lone season of ever playing together, when Tai was a senior and Terell was a junior, St. Petersburg High School reached Florida’s state final four in 2018. The team, which also included future Maryland/South Florida student-athlete Serrel Smith in the backcourt, ultimately fell, 73-58, in the semifinals to an Ely High School squad that included future Florida Atlantic standout Michael Forrest.

The Strickland trio – and the rest of the basketball Sharks meet Mount St. Mary’s, December 23rd, and host the University of Albany, at Barclay Center, on the 28th.

The 56-year-old second-year LIU coach just may give the basketball assist the program has been looking for the past decade – with some help from his sons.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR