Manhattan men’s basketball coach Steve Masiello has agreed to be the coach at South Florida. The deal is for five years and is worth more than $1 million a year.
This year was Masiello’s third season with Manhattan. The Jaspers had a 25-8 record this season and won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. They lost to Louisville in the second round of the NCAA tournament. In three seasons with the Jaspers, Masiello had a 60-39 record, according to the Associated Press. He is one of the top basketball coaches in the country.
“That’s one of the best coaching jobs that I have seen in my 39 years,” Louisville coach Rick Pinto said of Masiello, CBS New York notes. “He just made us have to guard on the perimeter with four guards. … That’s why I didn’t want to play them, because I’m sick inside losing to one of my players.”
Masiello replaces Stan Heath at South Florida. Heath was fired by South Florida on March 14. This season was the first season that South Florida played in the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season with a 12-20 record and were 3-15 in league play for the second straight year, according to ESPN. In seven seasons with South Florida Heath had a 97-130 record and led them to the NCAA tournament in 2012.
In the 1980s Masiello was Pinto’s ball boy with the New York Knicks. He played for Pinto in Kentucky and was his assistant at Louisville for six years. It will be interesting to see how Masiello does at South Florida.