Harvey Alum, Steve Masiello ’96 Takes the Helm as Manhattan’s Head Coach

Katonah - On the Manhattan College campus in Riverdale, NY they’re calling it “the Steve Masiello era.” If his coaching tenure at Manhattan is anything like the Steve Masiello era at The Harvey School  when he led his prep school to a league championship, there will be exciting days ahead for the Jaspers.

Masiello, a 1996 graduate of The Harvey School, officially began his career November 12 as a first-time head basketball coach at Manhattan with a home court victory over NJIT. For Masiello, it’s a bit of a homecoming at Manhattan as he served as an assistant to the head coach in 2001-2005, helping the Jaspers win the MAAC Championship twice. He comes to Manhattan after serving as an assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville for six years and now takes on the task of turning around the fortunes of a college basketball team that won only 6 games last season and finished last in the MAAC.

Masiello, one of only three Harvey basketball players in the school’s history to score 1,000 points, said his first game as a head coach was special. “It was a tremendous experience, and getting my first win as a coach is something I have long dreamed about,” he said. Even when he was playing for Harvey in his junior and senior years, he said he knew basketball would be a big part of his life. “It was always in the back of my mind that I would be involved in basketball in some capacity,” the White Plains native said. Becoming a head coach for a major college program, he said, “was 15 years in the making.”

Masiello played basketball at Kentucky for four years, two of which Rick Pitino was his coach, and Manhattan's new coach knows something about winning championships. After leading Harvey to the New England Prep School Athletic Association Championship in his senior year, Masiello two years later was a member of the Kentucky team that won the 1998 NCAA Basketball Championship. In his senior year at Kentucky, Masiello, who received a degree in communications, was the co-captain of the Wildcats.

Downplaying the notion that he is the one in charge of a team, Coach Masiello, a former ball boy for the New York Knicks, said he learned much from Rick Pitino who gave him a lot of freedom and responsibilities as his assistant. “I have a great staff that deserves a lot of credit,” he said. “I let them call the shots, but it’s nice to have the final decision,” he added.

After opening the season with the victory against NJIT, Manhattan lost to Big East powerhouse Syracuse, 92-56 in the NIT Season Tip Off Tournament. The Jaspers then beat Brown, 54-52 in the consolation game. The Masiello era has begun and is starting off at 2-1.