Manhattan Hiring Former Hartford Coach John Gallagher

Former Hartford coach John Gallagher is finalizing a deal to become the new coach at Manhattan, multiple people with direct knowledge of the situation said.

The news was first reported by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

The hiring brings to an end an odd sequence of events at the MAAC school. Athletic director Marianne Reilly fired former coach Steve Masiello two weeks before the start of the season, and RaShawn Stores, a former player, was named interim head coach. It was Stores who informed the players of Gallagher’s hiring on Tuesday.

Manhattan also interviewed Yale assistant Matt Kingsley on Monday.

The Jaspers were the preseason pick to win the MAAC, but Reilly balked over giving Masiello an extension. He had not had a winning season since 2015, when the Jaspers advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season.

“Look at the record,” Reilly told Billy Witz of The New York Times
NYT
in January. “That’s all I’ll say.”

Masiello then joined Rick Pitino’s staff at Iona, and ultimately followed him to St. John’s.

Stores led the Jaspers to a 12-18 record, 10-10 in the MAAC, despite the fact that several players left the team, including Jose Perez, the preseason MAAC Player of the Year. Perez transferred to West Virginia but the NCAA denied his appeal to let him play this season.

Gallagher, 45, went 169-207 (.449) in 12 years at Hartford with one NCAA Tournament appearance.

He stepped down ahead of the season after Hartford announced it would transition to Division 3.

In his letter of resignation, Gallagher said the school had consistently undermined the program “to the point where player safety and well-being has been jeopardized.”