Manhattan keeps Masiello as head coach

Posted

Updated on April 11.

Manhattan College has decided to retain Steve Masiello as its head basketball coach, apparently bringing a conclusion to a weeks-long saga in which a mistruth on his resume plummeted him from the heights of a surprise NCAA showing to the point his career almost ended.

Masiello will be on unpaid leave until he receives his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky. Associate head coach Matt Grady will be in charge on an interim basis.

Manhattan had placed him on leave after an investigation found he never earned his undergraduate degree from Kentucky — contrary to what his resume claimed.

“I am extremely grateful and humbled by the opportunity to continue as the head men’s basketball coach at Manhattan College,” Masiello said in a statement released by the school. “I made a mistake that could have cost me my job at an institution I love. Details matter. Manhattan College has shown me a great deal of compassion and trust during this process, and I will do everything in my power to uphold that trust.”

To earn the roughly 10 credits he needs to complete his degree, Masiello will take classes over the next several months, according to multiple reports.

After Masiello, 36, led Manhattan to its first NCAA tournament appearance in a decade last month, the University of South Florida offered him a five-year deal to become its head basketball coach. But after a background investigation found he never completed his degree from Kentucky, South Florida rescinded its job offer and Manhattan placed him on leave.

When Masiello took the Manhattan job in April 2011, he told his employer he had his degree, with his profile on the Jaspers' athletic website calling him a 2000 graduate of Kentucky.

Manhattan College President Brennan O’Donnell said after an extensive review, Manhattan concluded that Masiello “executed poor judgment but did not intentionally misrepresent himself in applying to the College.”

Chris Masiello, Manhattan College, Chris Mascaro
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