Manhattan College Basketball NCAA Turmoil: Coach Masiello Faked Resume, Lied About College Degree
Losing a second round NCAA game is tough, losing a job may be an even harder pill to swallow. But that's what current Manhattan Jaspers Head Coach Steve Masiello faces after he tried to simply bolt for a better job in a more prestigious college basketball conference.
The University of South Florida was set to hire the fast-rising coach. Their Bulls went 12-20 during this past season with only three American Athletic Conference wins. Now Masiello has been put on indefinite leave by the Jaspers and he may very well lose that job as well.
The curious situation emerged when a routine background check conducted by Eastman & Beaudine uncovered an interesting fact. Masiello had falsified his resume and never graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor's degree like he stated on the document.
Masiello also played basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats back in the day. In fact, he was one of current Louisville head coach Rick Pitino's most reliable players. Masiello later "graduated" to become an assistant coach under Pitino.
"When I left (UK for the NBA), he was on track to graduate,'' Pitino said.
Before the deal soured, it seemed liked nearly everyone was singing Masiello's praises. Louisville's powerful athletic director Tom Jurich was one of those people.
"Stevie can do whatever he wants to,'' Jurich stated hours before the head coaching deal went south. "He's just terrific. He's a rising star in this business.''
Yahoo! Sports has more on this crazy sequence of events.
''Through the verification process it was determined the candidate's credentials could not be substantiated and therefore he did not meet the requirements for the position,'' the school said in a brief statement. ''The national search continues and USF looks forward to introducing a new coach at the appropriate time.''
''Masiello is currently in the process of reviewing his degree status with the University of Kentucky,'' the statement said. ''Manhattan College has placed Masiello on leave while he completes this process with the university.''
Unfortunately, USF loses out on the opportunity to get a fast-rising coach with a winning pedigree, as the Jasper's went 28-5 this past season under Masiello. That's just the type of record the Bulls can only dream about.
Would you fire someone who lied on their resume even if they had the skills, demeanor and capability to do their job to the fullest? Let us know your decision in the comments section below.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!