Rod Strickland explains last season’s ‘learning experience’ at LIU

Rod Strickland’s introduction to head coaching last season was, without question, a struggle.

Just three victories in 29 games for his LIU Sharks. Worst conference record in over 30 years.

Entering Year 2, Strickland, the point guard artist from the Bronx, is happy that’s in the rearview. He’s beefed up the roster with recruits and transfers, including his sons, Tai and Terrell. He hopes the difficult adjustment, which was saddled by time constraints last season, reinvigorated a strong aptitude for college coaching after a few years off.

“I came in here July 1 [of last year]. Six of the top players left. Then I had to figure it out, get some players in. Everything was late,” Strickland told the Daily News over the weekend from Rucker Park in Harlem, where he was helping celebrate the inaugural Willis Reed Day. “It was tough for those young men. Cause I walk in there being Rod Strickland. I think they didn’t know how to receive that. What that’s about. And I think it was hard for them, you know. Because now I have to push them to a level that they weren’t ready for. Because those were the guys that were coming off the bench, probably didn’t play the year before. So it was just a lot. A lot for us as a staff. But even more importantly, for the players.

“So for me it was a learning experience, it was just being back in the environment. Being a coach.”

In retrospect, Strickland, 57, would’ve brought his sons to his roster last year. As his Sharks plummeted, Terrell appeared in just 13 games for James Madison and Tai struggled at Georgia Southern.

A family union made perfect sense, especially with mutual respect established.

“When I had them young in the gym, it wasn’t always easy. But I’ve probably grown, they’ve grown. We have grown conversations,” Strickland said. “I have a great rapport with my sons. I’m ‘Pops,’ but we have conversations. Meaning I don’t have to get the last word.”

The brothers are also veterans for college in their 20s, which coach Strickland believes will boost the backcourt with “defensive spirit.” The freshmen recruits include Eric Acker and Trey Sheppard, who were teammates on last season’s PSAL champions Eagle Academy in Brooklyn. Strickland, who served as an assistant coach at USF from 2014 to 2017, also recruited European centers Gezim Bajrami and Nikola Djapa.

“We want to play fast. Defensively, we want to be aggressive,” Strickland said. “I think I got a group that could do it so I think I have something for the future.”

[ Rick Pitino agrees to six-year deal to become St. John’s head coach ]

Improving from last season’s record should be easy. But advancing to the program’s first NCAA tournament since 2013? Let’s just say such expectations are better off in Queens, where coach Rick Pitino has St. John’s fans contemplating a rapid pivot to contention.

“Rick Pitino is Rick Pitino. Wherever he goes is golden,” said Strickland, who once played for Pitino on the Knicks. “We know what he’s going to do. So just having him here is great. It’s great for the city. I’m all about competition and all that. We have a ways to go to get to that.”