Masiello's False Resume Costs Him USF Position

Steve Masiello, Manhattan's coach for the past three seasons, will not be hired at the University of South Florida, as had been widely reported earlier this week, and, now, there remain questions about whether he'll be able to return to the Jaspers.

USF officials, according to a variety of reports, were forced to rescind their agreed-upon deal with Masiello late Tuesday after finding a previously undetected discrepancy in his background check, according to a report in today's Tampa Tribune newspaper.

According to the report, the discrepancy was discovered by Eastman & Beaudine, a Texas-based search firm that USF paid $60,000 to help find a new coach after it dismissed Stan Heath from that position late last week.

Reports indicate that the discrepancy stems from Masiello's resume indicating that he graduated from Kentucky in 2000 even though he never actually graduated from that school.

Masiello had agreed on a five-year deal worth more than $1 million per year to replace Heath at USF. The Tampa newspaper reported that Masiello actually signed a contract with the school.

Later Tuesday, though, the background check became an issue and South Florida has resumed its search for a new coach. According to USF policy, all full-time coaching hires must have a bachelor's degree.

The issue now is whether Masiello will be allowed to return to Manhattan. That school's student newspaper reported that Masiello met with Manhattan's players on Tuesday morning to tell them that he was leaving for USF.

In biography information available on Manhattan's website, Masiello claimed to have received a bachelor's degree in communications from Kentucky in 2000.

Manhattan officials have not yet commented on Masiallo's status at that school, and have not returned emails from a variety of sources seeking clarification on if the school requires its coaches to have a degree.

Masiello isn't the first coach to suffer consequences from falsifying a resume.

The most-publicized incident in recent memory is that of football coach George O'Leary, who accepted a position to become Notre Dame's head coach in 2001.

Several days afterwards, though, it was discovered that his resume claimed a masters' degree he did not earn and falsifications about his own playing experiences.

O'Leary was forced to give up the Notre Dame opportunity, served three seasons as an NFL assistant and, then resurfaced as head coach at Central Florida. But, O'Leary does hold an undergraduate degree in physical education from New Hampshire.