RaShawn Stores making best of adverse circumstances at Manhattan

RaShawn Stores’ transition to interim head coach at Manhattan has had its bumps in the road, but confidence of Jaspers’ new leader is not wavering entering MAAC play. (Photo by Vincent Dusovic/Manhattan College Athletics)

NEW YORK — Adversity, for better or worse, usually reveals one’s character. Succumb to it, and one risks the permanent loss of his or her credibility. However, if the choppy seas and tough sledding can be survived, it can add to a life expectancy with an undaunted mettle and ability to always look at the glass half-full.

RaShawn Stores has been proving this axiom for six weeks now at Manhattan, cast into a situation that most would find success to be improbable, yet managing to remain optimistic and committed to the vision of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. After all, the former Jasper point guard knows no other way.

Thrust into the head coach’s chair on an interim basis when Manhattan suddenly parted ways with Steve Masiello on October 25 — 13 days before a Jasper team picked second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was to open its season — the point guard known for clutch shot making and a vocal leadership style that belied his short stature was almost dismissed as a credible mentor before even being given a fair shake. But by keeping the core of the team together in the wake of Masiello’s departure when it was rumored that the majority of the roster would follow Jose Perez, Omar Silverio and Samba Diallo into the transfer portal, Stores — at just 30 years old, the youngest head coach in the nation — scored perhaps his biggest victory before any games were even played.

Then came the second wave of adversity, in the form of the injury bug that has compromised the Jaspers to where just four players have seen the floor in each of Manhattan’s 10 games. Still without the services of veteran Elijah Buchanan, and with Josh Roberts still not back at full strength, it has made the transition more difficult on paper, but not so for the man tasked with returning the program to prominence. And considering Stores arrived in Riverdale a decade ago sight unseen, on the belief in a vision on which the then-high school student from the Bronx was sold, his ever-present conviction that all will right itself at the end of the day should come as no surprise.

“It’s about the process,” Stores admitted, renewing his trust in a motif that has defined the Jasper program throughout his time within its walls as a player, assistant coach, and now, its ultimate leader. “Yeah, right now we’ve had a rough start, but it’s about the process and getting guys that haven’t played meaningful minutes playing meaningful minutes now. That’s what it’s about, getting them to grow. It’s a long season.”

Now 3-7 and on a four-game losing streak after Central Connecticut led wire-to-wire on Friday at Draddy Gymnasium in Manhattan’s final tuneup before MAAC play resumes Monday at Marist, it would be easy to disregard the Jaspers and say the team is what its record indicates. But a closer look and deeper dive within the final numbers reveals a unit that has competed in nearly all of its opportunities, but has yet to piece it together consistently. That will come with more seasoning and a full complement of players familiar with a system and coaching staff that has retained the majority of its pieces to aid Stores’ own maturation at the helm of his alma mater.

“We’ve just got to come out ready to play,” he said in the wake of Friday’s 78-67 defeat. “We’ve just got to be better defensively right now. We’re giving up 57 percent in the first half, 54 for the game, and (Central Connecticut) made some tough plays down the stretch. We’ve just got to stay together and get guys healthy.”

As far as the first part, the Jaspers have managed to stay the course even in unfavorable situations on the floor. Trailing by double digits through most of the second half, Anthony Nelson and Samir Stewart — two of the elder statesmen in the program, with Stewart having drawn past comparisons to Stores for his own flair for clutch shots and ability to lead by example on and off the floor — pulled Manhattan close on several occasions before Central Connecticut ultimately put the game away. Stewart’s 3-pointer to pull the Jaspers within three late in the second half, coupled with Nelson’s initiative when switching to a press defense to catch the visiting Blue Devils off kilter, were reminiscent of past Manhattan exploits where the defensive identity set the tone and established the standard for the younger players in the program to follow.

“(Nelson’s) just got to lead the team,” Stores said when asked of his fifth-year senior floor general’s performance. “That’s what it’s about. Just lead the team, that’s all I care about. (Nelson and Stewart) set a big-time statement for me because they’re leading the team as best they can. Ant, Samir and Josh Roberts, they’re probably the only guys that have played meaningful minutes, and they’re leading the guys that haven’t. And I’m proud of them. Yes, we fell short, but it’s about the process right now. That’s what I care about.”

Non-conference results aside, it all comes down to three, maybe four, games in March in the case of a team like Manhattan. And at the end of this day, the Jaspers are 1-0 where it matters, in the MAAC standings, after their December 1 win over Fairfield. Nearly eight years ago, as a player working to successfully defend his program’s conference championship, Stores embraced the “22 Strong” rally cry that defined the brotherhood of the Manhattan program that fought to the death for one another because, ultimately, it was all one another had. That mentality lives on years later, in a calm and battle-tested coach who is fighting against the current amid an untenable situation, and forging his path with a prevailing sense of trust in not only himself and his own skill set, but also those of the young men who look to him to lead the way back to the promised land.

“We’re worried about ourselves right now,” Stores reiterated. “We’ve got to continue to get better and just, like I said, get guys that haven’t played meaningful minutes to start playing and get confidence. That’s what it’s about.”