By Mike Vorkunov

Magnanimous as he was during a phone call meant to put the spotlight on his almost season-long string of double-doubles, Mike Glover couldn’t help but admit there was a sense of redemption for him in a December trip to Syracuse.

Despite Iona’s 83-77 loss at the Carrier Dome, Glover earned national notoriety for putting up a monster line on the then-No. 5 Orange. He scored 25 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and made 9-of-11 shots. He outplayed Rick Jackson, one of the best big men in the country and a prime candidate for All-Big East First team honors. For just the second time in ten games Jackson did not put up a double-double.

In the back of his mind Glover wanted to show that he could play on the Big East stage. At one time that’s where Glover was supposed to be.

He originally enrolled at Seton Hall but was ruled academically ineligible. He then spent two years in purgatory battling the NCAA in court so he could get on the court. That sent him on a meandering path from a junior college in Brooklyn to becoming a junior-college All-American at the College of Eastern Utah. Even before landing at Iona this summer he was originally committed to St. Francis (Brooklyn) and backed out when the head coach resigned.

It was a coup for the Gaels, who took in a player with Big East talent and the determination to show it off.

So when he had the chance to prove himself, he did not miss it.

“I wanted to go out there and show the country that I could play at that level,” said Glover of his performance at Syracuse. “I just wanted to show people that I could play at the greatest level.“That pretty much was in the back of my mind— that I could have been playing at the Big East level. Things happen for a reason. Playing at Syracuse like that, the whole Big East thing was in the back of my mind and gave me motivation to go out there and play even harder.”

The game against the Orange was just another in a stretch of eight straight double-doubles for Glover. While the opponent was noteworthy, his line was almost the norm over the first half of the season as he averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game for the first two and a half months of the season.

He has spent his first year with the Gaels dominating the boards and living up to one of the best nicknames in college basketball. Nicknamed ‘Optimus Prime’ for his audacious play on New York City’s playgrounds, his teammates call him by that name after big dunks or plays.

Glover was so good that it even exceeded the expectations coach Tim Cluess had for him coming in. His numbers have fallen off since then as the 6’7″ forward has looked less to score but he is still averaging 17.9 points per game and 10.2 rebounds.

“I didn’t expect it as soon as he got here,” said Cluess. “When he did it early I just figured people would change how they defended him enough so that as the season went on the guys would be more a part of it. Credit to Mike that he’s allowed other guys to without losing his intensity.”

Despite the dip, he and the Gaels haven’t suffered. Iona (20-10, 13-5 MAAC), located in New Rochelle, NY, is on a roll entering the MAAC tournament, winning its past seven games. They defeated the No. 1 seed, Fairfield, to close out the regular season.

With Glover and point guard Scott Machado, third in the nation in assists per game, many consider Iona the tournament favorite and a sleeper to pull an upset in the NCAA tournament.

Machado and Glover are long-time friends and like a good point guard, Machado has helped Glover acclimate to the school and community.

“They’ve been great with each other, like best of friends,” said Cluess. “They’re on the court together, they hang out together, eat pre-game meals together. To them it’s an extension of their friendship.”

With two of the best players in the MAAC, Iona has a prime chance to make it deeper into March from a conference tournament in which Cluess believes as many as seven teams could take.

“That would mean a lot to us as far as the school goes,” said Glover of making the NCAA Tournament. “To show that hard work pays off.”

And to prove again that he is good enough to play on college basketball’s highest level.

Follow Mike Vorkunov on Twitter: @Mike_Vorkunov