The Manhattan College Jaspers left their welcome baskets at home when new hire John Gallagher was announced as the basketball team’s head coach last Wednesday.
The decision was met with criticism after interim head coach and Jasper basketball alumnus RaShawn Stores was overlooked for the position.
“My goal is to turn the negativity into positivity,” Gallagher told Pete Janny from the Riverdale Press. “This passion is real and I am going to work day and night to get Manhattan back on top of the MAAC.”
Gallagher, the former head coach of at University of Hartford went 169-207 from 2010-22 and led the Hawks to the NCAA Tournament in 2021.
Just one day before the first game of Hartford’s 2022-23 season began, Gallagher resigned from that position, saying the school breached his contract and jeopardized player safety.
Since the announcement last Wednesday, four players expected to be on Manhattan’s 2023-24 squad — Adam Cisse, James Jewell, Eli Buchanan and Aryan Arora — have entered the transfer portal, while some graduating members of the team have declared they will “never be returning” to the gym to support their alma mater.
Upperclassmen cleared out their locker room in protest after the news was leaked on Twitter on Tuesday.
Two players, fifth-year guards Samir Stewart and Nick Brennen, said that the decision was racially motivated.
“I feel bad for the new coach,” Brennen told The Post. “He didn’t ask for this, but the job was earned by RaShawn and his staff and he just never got what was rightfully his.”
Stores, two-time captain for the Jaspers and assistant under former head coach Steve Masiello for six years, led the Jaspers to a 12-18 record and 10-10 run in the MAAC this season, their most conference wins since 2014-15, when they made their last NCAA Tournament appearance.
Stores, who is black, was the captain of that team.
“Whoever made the final decision made it clear he didn’t want a black head coach,” Stewart said.
The college has denied all accusations of racism, saying that the pool of more than 200 applicants for this position was extensive, diverse and reflective of the student population at the college.
“It offends the process, it offends who we are as a college, and it offends those candidates who made it through their process, to say that race played a factor [in this decision],” said Ronald Gray, Ph. D., vice president of student life at Manhattan.
Social media has been set ablaze with support for Stores, with multiple players expressing their discontent with the school’s decision.
“Yeah let’s just go against what the students, every player, alumni and supporter wants,” Brennen tweeted on Tuesday.
Gallagher, who is white, is looking to rise above the noise.
“I appreciate and understand where they [the players] are coming from. I am honored to be the candidate that was chosen, and quite frankly, I am digging in,” the 45-year-old Gallagher said.
With four of the 11 remaining eligible Jaspers from the 2022-23 season entering the portal, Gallagher will be left with only seven original team members.
“Jerome Tang had two guys on the roster,” Gallagher said of the coach who recently led Kansas State to the Elite Eight. “That’s where your work ethic comes in and if they fit the style. I have scars on me. I know what not to recruit. I have experience. We know what we have to do and how to win. Every day we have to work and work and work.”
Gallagher spoke with Manhattan student-athletes on March 30 at an impromptu visit to The Bronx campus.
Marianne Reilly, director of intercollegiate athletics at the college, said a “good number” of student-athletes were in attendance.
Manhattan has not responded to comment on the basketball team’s attendance duribg that visit but has previously said the coach was set to meet with players individually this week to discuss their status.
Gallagher’s hire comes at a time of change for the college.
Current president Brother Daniel Gardner’s term is coming to an end and the yearlong search for a new president will begin this month, as confirmed by an email sent to students on March 22.
Following this will be a similar-length search for a new provost of the institution.
No details of Gallagher’s contract have been shared and Gallagher has yet to be formally introduced to the Jasper community. Manhattan College has not responded to a request for further comment.
