The Manhattan job is one of the plum jobs in the Northeast for up-and-coming assistants. Plus the now Seton Hall Head Coach Bobby Gonzalez, left the team loaded by most accounts for the next guy. No wonder several assistants are eager to make it known that they are interested in the job.
With the program set up to win right away, there’s no shortage of candidates lining up to replace Bobby Gonzalez at Manhattan College.
Three prominent Big East assistants highlight a growing list.
Pittsburgh’s Barry Rohrssen and Connecticut’s Tom Moore are very much in the mix right now, and Syracuse’s Mike Hopkins also might be interested. Manhattan athletic director Bob Byrnes is still collecting resumes and making introductory phone calls.
It’s unlikely he will begin conducting interviews before the end of the week.
Byrnes discussed the job with Steve Masiello this week, but the former Gonzalez assistant is not interested. He’s content staying at Louisville under Rick Pitino.
“I’m really happy where I’m at,” said Massiello, a White Plains native. “I have a great job working for the best coach in the country, and we have some really good recruits coming in. I’m not looking to change anything.”
Mike Malone isn’t likely to join the fray, either. He also has strong credentials and ties to the school after spending two years rebuilding Manhattan alongside Gonzalez. After four years on the Knicks bench, Malone jumped to Cleveland this season.
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DePaul assistant Gary DeCesare also is looking to move up. The former longtime St. Raymond’s coach has been in touch with Manhattan officials during the week.
It’s an opportunity for any ambitious assistant.
And here’s the answer to an annoying question. What is a “jasper?”
The unique nickname of Manhattan College’s athletic teams, the Jaspers, comes from one of the College’s most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., who served at the College in the late 19th century.
One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team’s first coach. Since Brother was also the Prefect of Discipline, he supervised the student fans at Manhattan College baseball games while also directing the team itself.
The site also claims Brother Jasper was the one behind the “7th inning stretch.” I always understood the credit went to President Taft, but both stories could be wrong.
Or not, as the case may be. As it turns out, baseball historians have located a manuscript dated 1869 — 13 years earlier than Brother Jasper’s inspired time-out — documenting what can only be described as a seventh-inning stretch. It’s a letter written by Harry Wright of the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first pro baseball team. In it, he makes the following observation about the fans’ ballpark behavior: “The spectators all arise between halves of the seventh inning, extend their legs and arms and sometimes walk about. In so doing they enjoy the relief afforded by relaxation from a long posture upon hard benches.”
More useless information than expected from this post.
