Steve Masiello

[Vega]

Joey Knight â€@TBTimes_Bulls 

Though Steve Masiello no longer is following any @USFMBB players on Twitter, he is following Bob Beaudine, whose firm is handling USF search

 

Throw another year on the contract or add a little extra to the final number to get the deal done.

 

My great fear is that if Masiello says no, USF will make the wrong decision off of embarrassment and hire John Pelphrey when there are still great candidates for the head coaching job available. It's Masiello or Domesday with the hiring of Pelphrey. Just cannot trust USF to go after another up and coming coach despite there still being ones left that are on the level of Masiello.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Vega

[Reliable Source]

Maybe we can wrestle for charity.

Now that I'd pay to see.

 

[Brad]

I see you received Collin's first twitterban. Badge of honor?

[hm101]

I don't mind the leaks. It's the closest I'll get to the dept until I add several zeros to my income

[Reliable Source]

I see you received Collin's first twitterban. Badge of honor?

I've been thrown out of a lot classier joints than that

[charsibb]

 

How to access the popcorn icon directly...

http://thebullspen.com/public/style_emoticons/default/popcorn.gif

[Brad]

New York Times:

Masiello, 36, spent Tuesday working out a deal with U.S.F. officials. He would take over a struggling American Athletic Conference program that has won three league games in each of the last two seasons.

Hopefully they were hammering it out tonight and will be able to move forward tomorrow.

[Reliable Source]

For me it's kinda like family. You know they have their flaws. Sometimes you need to talk to the ones closest to you about those flaws and about  how they hurt you or others. But you never, ever do it in public. You never air the family's dirty laundry for anyone else to see. It's a code of honor. For me, USF is part of that family. I met some of the people I love most in this world there. I love the sports teams with a passion. You can only talk so much **** about my family if you are one of them, if you aren't "one of them" you get far less latitude. That's just the way that it is. Don't ever take sides against the Family again

 

[Reliable Source]

violation. What did he do, bugger the Pope?

 

According to sources, Steve Masiello, 36, had agreed to a five-year contract with USF and signed the deal, believed to be worth more than $1 million per season, leaving only final details to be worked out. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By Joey Johnston | Tribune Staff
Published: March 26, 2014

TAMPA — The University of South Florida’s search for a new men’s basketball coach hit a major snag late Tuesday night when USF learned that the man it was set to hire, Manhattan College coach Steve Masiello, had a previously undetected discrepancy in his background check, a source close to the coaching search told The Tampa Tribune.

USF was forced to kill the deal with Masiello.

That background-check information was discovered by Eastman & Beaudine, a Texas-based search firm that was paid $60,000 by USF to find candidates to replace Stan Heath, who was fired on March 14.

Masiello, 36, had agreed to a five-year contract with USF and signed the deal, believed to be worth more than $1 million per season, leaving only final details to be worked out.

The search is back on, and USF must turn to other candidates. Possibilities include University of Florida assistant coach John Pelphrey or Louisiana Tech head coach Mike White, whose team faces Florida State tonight for a spot in the National Invitation Tournament final four in New York.

Masiello, who just completed his third year as Manhattan’s head coach and led the 25-8 Jaspers to the NCAA tournament, attended the University of Kentucky, where he played for Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith from 1997-2000.

After leaving UK, Masiello worked as an assistant at Tulane and Manhattan before joining Pitino’s Louisville staff for six seasons, where he was considered one of the nation’s top recruiters. This season, Masiello was mentioned as one of the nation’s up-and-coming coaches, particularly with a strong finish by the Jaspers, who lost to Pitino’s Cardinals 71-64 in the NCAA tournament’s second round on Thursday night in Orlando.

Earlier in the day, after reporting by ESPN.com and CBSSports.com, it appeared that Masiello to USF was a done deal.

It seemed perfect. Some people portrayed Masiello as a modern version of Pitino, his Hall of Fame mentor, whether it’s his organizational skills, his courtside intensity or his custom-made Italian suits.

Others compared him to Florida’s Billy Donovan, another Pitino protégé, a prodigy, a tireless recruiter and worker, a coach who thrives on proving people wrong.

The Quadrangle, Manhattan College’s student newspaper, reported Tuesday morning that Masiello met with his players to tell them he had accepted the USF job. After that, Jaspers senior guard Michael Alvarado posted on Twitter, “I’m going to apply for the HC job at Manhattan.’’ Meanwhile, according to Masiello’s Twitter account, he began following several of the USF players.

But there was never any official confirmation by USF or Manhattan on Masiello’s hiring. As day turned into night, concerns were raised about the potential deal.

There were no such concerns earlier in the day.

“Stevie can do whatever he wants to,’’ Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said before the USF deal was canceled. “He’s just terrific. He’s a rising star in this business.’’

Heath went 97-130 in seven seasons. He had a pair of postseason appearances, including a 22-14 team in 2011-12 that came within one victory of reaching the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.

The Bulls finished 12-20 this season, closing with a nine-game losing streak and a 3-15 last-place mark in the American Athletic Conference.

USF paid Eastman & Beaudine to find candidates for the men’s basketball position. The same firm was paid $100,000 by USF in the search for a new AD, which resulted in Harlan, formerly the associate athletic director at UCLA.

According to a document obtained by The Tampa Tribune through a public-records request, the firm’s initial $30,000 invoice to USF for the men’s basketball search was dated March 12.

That was the day of USF’s 72-68 loss against Rutgers in the AAC tournament — or two days before Heath was told of his firing by USF assistant athletic director Barry Clements.

Although Cynthia Visot, chief of staff for USF’s Board of Trustees, signed the invoice for school president Judy Genshaft on March 18, it appears the school was looking for a new men’s basketball coach while Heath was still employed.

“You can’t be surprised by anything in this business,’’ said Heath, who received a contract extension from then-AD Doug Woolard in July 2012, but was fired with four years remaining on his contract and is due a $1.5 million buyout payment by USF. “It’s irrelevant. When a new AD comes in, you expect changes, especially if you aren’t winning games.’’

Masiello’s candidacy was supported by Chris Sullivan, the co-founder of Outback Steakhouse and close friend of Pitino. Sullivan, a USF benefactor who is ramping up his support of the school’s athletic program, and Pitino are founding members of Tampa’s Old Memorial Golf Club.

Pitino said Masiello asked him about the USF job on Thursday, when Louisville defeated Manhattan.

“I told him I was very proud of his coaching and his preparation,’’ said Pitino after the game. “I was really disappointed I had to play Steve because he had an unbelievable year. I thought he could win a couple of games in the tournament.

During the Orlando NCAA games, Pitino said Masiello would be an excellent choice for USF, which he called “a program on the rise’’ and “a place where you can win because you now have the facilities and the ability to recruit good players.’’

USF just finished its third season in the Pam and Les Muma Basketball Center, a state-of-the-art practice facility. Following USF’s NCAA tournament appearance in 2012, after playing one season in downtown Tampa, the Bulls returned to campus in a renovated Sun Dome.

But the new home did not immediately translate to on-court success under Heath, whose teams lost 32 of their last 38 conference games, including tournament play.

jjohnston@tampatrib.com

Edited March 26, 2014 by Bullwinkle

[USoFlo]

Wow...talk about akward for him considering he already told his players.... I'm curious as to what they found???