Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Report: Rohrssen out as Manhattan Coach

A report in today's New York Daily News, written by good friend and respected reporter Sean Brennan, indicates that Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen may be out as the Jaspers' coach when his team's season ends.

"It appears likely that a move will be made," a source told the Daily News. "Change is anticipated at Manhattan."

Such is life when a coach only has one winning season (16-14 in 2008-09) in five seasons. The current team is 3-15 in MAAC play and 5-26 overall.

But, Manhattan has one of the best groups of young players in the league and it seems a shame that Rohrssen won't be around to see what he put together turn the proverbial corner towards better years ahead.

It's kind of like former football coach Bill Parcell's rant when he wanted to be a general manager as well as the coach: Rohrssen bought the groceries, but won't be around to do the cooking, if the report is to be believed.

Don't shed too many tears for Rohrssen. He has a terrific reputation as an assistant and a recruiter from his days as an assistant at Pitt, and was strongly involved in talks to become an assistant at St. John's this past off season before opting to retain the top spot at Manhattan.

Rohrssen, for sure, won't be out of work for long if the report is indeed true. He is a good man according to a variety of sources (unlike his predecessor at Manhattan, the universally disliked Bobby Gonzalez), and is a proven strong recruiter.

And, another story in the news today could fuel some very speculative thoughts about a replacement possibility.

Evidently former Siena coach Paul Hewitt is in trouble at Georgia Tech with his team currently 3-11 in the ACC and 11-17 overall.

While your blogger knows Hewitt well, I haven't reached out to him to comment on any of this. But, he was a candidate to take over at St. John's last season before opting to remain at Georgia Tech. And, he has strong ties in the New York City area, having grown up in the area.

This isn't to say that there's a connection there. But, any MAAC school with an opening would be foolish not to reach out to Hewitt if indeed he is replaced at Georgia Tech.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Come back to Siena, Paul. Paul Hewitt back to Siena would be very nice!

Steve Amedio said...

Dear Dolores --
The timing just isn't right. Siena already has a very good coach in place.

Unknown said...

Siena HAD a very good coach in place but he left for Iowa.

Mitch Buonaguro has had six straight losing seasons in the MAAC now dating back to his Fairfield days. He is 45-97 (.317) in his last 5 years as a head coach. How will it get better next year without the likely PoY in Ryan Rossiter? Mitch was hired to keep the continuity from the McCaffery era and it wasn't a bad thought and certainly Siena was going to take a step back but not this drastic. Worse the team has gotten worse as the season has gone on. Some people aren't made to be head coaches - nothing wrong with that.

If Paul Hewitt is out there and wants to return to Siena. I'd make the move and I'm sure Siena would too!

Steve Amedio said...

Dolores --
We'll agree to disagree.
First, Mitch did most of the game-planning, and helped devise the style of play, under McCaffery.
Second ... he was the guy who developed the game plan when Villanova defeated Georgetown in the 1985 NCAA championship game.
Third ... you have no idea about the situation at Fairfield 20 years ago.
Make no mistake: The guy is a terrific coach.
But, any team that loses three all-time players and, then, has its second-best returnee hurt basically the entire year is bound to regress.
People who know something about basketball understand why Siena finished 8-10 in the MAAC this year.
But, knee-jerk "fans" who have little patience and are ready to ditch Mitch without giving the guy a real chance ... well, I don't think those type of fans know much about basketball.
End of debate.