Stevie Mas is back in the Big Dance.
Masiello played on two Final Four teams at Kentucky, winning the 1998 NCAA championship.
He went as an assistant to Bobby Gonzalez at Manhattan in 2003 and ’04.
And he danced again four times as an assistant under Rick Pitino at Louisville.
Now, after his Manhattan team knocked off Iona, 71-68, Monday night in the MAAC championship game, Masiello is going to the Dance for the first time as a head coach.
It seemed only fitting that one of the first texts he received after the win was from Pitino, his former coach and mentor.
“He had to do it this year because this is the year his team was going to make hay,” Pitino, who will be coaching his team’s postseason tournament in Memphis instead of New York, told SNY.tv Tuesday. “To beat Iona was very difficult because they’re every bit as good as him, and it could be either team having great success in the tournament and this was his year to get it done. And he got it done, which is a great thing.”
Yes, Manhattan could have some success in the tournament, just as Iona might have.
The MAAC is a good league, and smart basketball folks wouldn’t be surprised to see Manhattan win a couple of games in the Big Dance.
But, Masiello cautioned, it all comes down to matchups.
“If we get a good matchup, we’ll have a chance,” Masiello told SNY.tv by phone after the Iona game. “But we also understand that we could be out in the first round. You gotta be very careful. There are going to be 68 great teams in this thing and we’ll have our hands full whoever we play. We’re happy to be here, we’re going to enjoy it and we’re going to go one step at a time.”
Depending on what happens with St. John’s and Stony Brook, Manhattan could be the only New York City-area team to make the Big Dance.
And they are truly a New York team with a New York coach.
They have the bulldog mentality of their coach and were the No. 1-ranked defense in the MAAC.
Masiello is originally from White Plains, N.Y., and played ball at Archbishop Stepinac High School. He finished up at the Harvey School in Katonah, N.Y. and also served as Knicks ball boy when Pitino was head coach. He then walked on at Kentucky.
Now players like Manhattan star George Beamon look to him as their leader heading into the NCAAs.
“That’s our leader, that’s who I’m going to for all the answers,” Beamon, the Tournament MVP who had 16 points against Iona, told SNY.tv. “He’s been here before. He knows what to do to get wins so I’m following his lead.”
Beamon believes that playing against teams like Iona, Canisius and St. Peter’s prepared the Jaspers for what’s ahead.
“I think it prepared us great,” he said. “There’s a lot of great teams in the MAAC, Iona being one of them. They’re a great team. They should be in the tournament, too.
Two years ago, Iona looked like the Miami Heat for a half in the play-in game against BYU in Dayton.
Then, in the flash of an eye, they blew a 24-point lead and were bounced.
Manhattan isn’t as explosive offensively as Iona, but they could make a run.
Or they could get bounced in their first round.
Masiello knows it as well as anyone.
“Anybody can beat you,” he said. “You have to respect everybody you play. You can be taken out in the first round.”
But that isn’t Beamon’s plan, and you can bet it isn’t Masiello’s, either.
“We’re not just satisfied with this,” Beamon said. “We want the NCAA championship.”
He doesn’t have to look far to find someone who already has a ring.
It’s his coach, Stevie Mas.
Photo: Daily News
