Manhattan navigates roster turnover, COVID in Masiello’s 10th season

Now in 10th season at Manhattan, Steve Masiello adds high-profile transfers to mix of experienced talent to make Jaspers a factor in MAAC. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

To say Steve Masiello has seen many a turnaround within the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference during his tenure at Manhattan College is an understatement.

With this season marking the tenth at the helm in Riverdale for the former assistant to Bobby Gonzalez during the Jaspers’ success of the early 2000s, Masiello — with two MAAC championships of his own to match his former mentor — is now one of just five coaches in program history to spend a decade patrolling the Draddy Gymnasium sidelines. And in his time, he has been on the roller coaster of college basketball through the highs — Manhattan's back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014 and 2015 — and lows such as five straight losing seasons since that last dose of March Madness, as well as the abrupt cancellation of this past season by the COVID-19 pandemic, although the Jaspers’ season ended the night before the game was silenced.

As all that is said, while the primary goal once the ball is tipped is to move closer to past heights, the first objective is to make sure everyone stays safe in doing so.

“It’s about having a healthy season,” Masiello said with regard to getting through the most challenging and adverse circumstances the game has seen to date. “As Rich (Ensor, MAAC commissioner) said, (it’s about) getting to those 13 games so we’re all eligible for the NCAA Tournament.”

Manhattan stayed in Atlantic City the night after its quarterfinal loss to Siena in March, so its return to campus came after the world was brought to its knees by the beginning of the pandemic. Eight months later, while every program has adapted to life in a different world, Masiello’s meticulous preparation and attention to detail has shown to be vital in how it has pervaded the program in terms of simply being diligent and avoiding any contraction of the virus.

“The first I think you worry about is your student-athletes’ mental health,” he admitted. “They go from working out about three or four hours a day to literally quarantining and being locked inside. For anyone, that’s difficult, but for an 18-to-20-year-old who’s extremely active, that’s a challenge in itself not only on the body, but mentally. So it was great for us to have physical interaction with them once we got back in person.”

“It’s the little things that you miss: The high-fives, the hugs, the smiles, the laughs, the noises. The little things are what you miss that a Zoom call can’t necessarily replicate, so the first thing was seeing our guys in a good mental place, then obviously getting out on the basketball court and trying to make sure they understand the seriousness of this. Our guys have been great, but you’re going to have situations beyond your control and you’ve got to do the best you can do as a leader and provide the environment for them to be successful.”

That environment — at least on the floor — will look markedly different this season. Gone are Tykei Greene (Stony Brook), Christian Hinckson (Binghamton) and Pauly Paulicap (DePaul), but the Jaspers add a troika of high-level transfers to replace them in Samba Diallo (UMass), Jason Douglas-Stanley (George Mason) and Anthony Nelson, best known as Quincy McKnight’s backup at Seton Hall and a true point guard that will allow Samir Stewart to be freed up off the ball to create a more dynamic pace to Manhattan’s uptempo offense, which returns Warren Williams, Elijah Buchanan and Bud Mack while also adding a pair of junior college transfers in Nick Brennen and Marques Watson.

“Anthony’s coming from a very successful program with Kevin (Willard) at Seton Hall, so he’s well-coached,” said Masiello. “He’s been exposed to a lot, and he’s a guy with great size at the point guard position, he’s 6-3, long, a terrific passer. He can really impact the game in a variety of ways, so for us, it gives us a natural point guard. I thought Samir really did a great job as a combo guard who had a little more of a scoring mentality than a passing mentality, but Anthony changes us a little bit in that capacity and kind of sets the table differently.”

“Jason is just a gifted, gifted scorer that I’ve been around for a long time going back to his high school days and have a lot of belief in, and I really believe in his ability to put points together quickly. He can really heat up. Samba is a guy who started 31 games in the A-10, he’s physical, athletic, long, he can play both forward positions. He has a high motor and he’s a guy that, I think, complements Warren and EB up front a little differently when you start looking at Anthony, Jason and Samir. It gives us some different options, but there’s a lot of work still to be done.”

Admittedly a work in progress, a potential sixth MAAC championship for Manhattan would perhaps be its most meaningful given the adversity New York faced during the infancy of the pandemic. Usually not one to get wrapped up in such grandeur, Masiello did manage to put such feelings into perspective, underscoring the main message of the coming season.

“I was here during 9/11, and there was a certain amount of pride that came with being associated with New York at that time,” he recalled. “And this league, being mostly New York City schools and Jersey and Connecticut, I think there’s an association of pride that comes from all the coaches and all the programs on handling adversity. All their leaders do a great job navigating challenging times, and this is one of the biggest challenges we’ll face as leaders. To set the example not only for your team, but your student body as well as your administration, your campus (and) your community, there’s no better way to do that than sports, and I think this gives us all a tremendous opportunity to show the impact we can have on lives.”