Willard succeeds Ruland at Iona.(Sports)

Byline: Associated Press

NEW ROCHELLE - Kevin Willard was hired Tuesday as the basketball coach at Iona, which hopes the former Rick Pitino assistant can revive a team that began the season 0-22 and finished with the worst record (2-28) in the program's 62-year history.

Willard spent the past six seasons at Louisville as an assistant and is a head coach for the first time. He succeeds Jeff Ruland , who was bought out of the final two years of his contract.

Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden could be released by Thursday from a hospital where he has been treated for a reaction to a combination of medications.

Wooden, 96, has been in …