Former Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich wants to give CAA championship rings to players
Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich after cutting down the net following the victory over Northeastern in the CAA championship last March. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
Joe Mihalich has turned the reins of the Hofstra men’s basketball program to Speedy Claxton, but has one more thing he wants to do as coach.
Mihalich, who moved to a position in the upper administration in April, wants to personally give as many members of his 2019-20 Colonial Athletic Association champion team the rings they earned.
The Pride won the conference tournament and accompanying automatic NCAA Tournament bid and were set to make their first Big Dance appearance since 2000; they ended up heartbroken when the tourney was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mihalich has visited or plans to visit four members of that team who remain local to give each his championship ring.
He was able to deliver rings to Isaac Kante, who will play this season at LIU in Brooklyn; Connor Klementowicz, who transferred to play football at LIU’s Post campus; and Hofstra grad student Hal Hughes. He has plans to visit Tareq Coburn, who will play this season at St. John’s.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
