Gallagher will take Manhattan
But death of longtime Prince Tech hoops coach May a tragic loss for Hartford
HOUSTON — As New York City’s neighborhoods go, Riverdale is one of the prettiest, tucked up there north of the Henry Hudson Bridge and bordering on Yonkers.
It’s the new neighborhood for John Gallagher, the former UHart men’s basketball coach who landed on his feet at Manhattan College this week.
“I was involved with four or five different jobs,” said Gallagher, in Houston for the Final Four, “and it became clear that this one just fit me the best. The history, the tradition.
“I just felt this program, the past successes, the coaching, they’ve had great coaches there. Great fan base, great alumni base, it just really fit. The campus is beautiful. The Christian Brothers, the ‘LaSallian Way,’ just really fits the way I was brought up as a kid.”
Gallagher, 45, a Philadelphian, coached UHart for 12 years and led the Hawks to the America East title and an NCAA Tournament bid in 2021. Then the school, financially troubled, revealed its plans to move down to Division III and Gallagher became the center of the storm of protest.
He resigned on the eve of the 2022-23 season, citing safety concerns, when an athletic trainer was not sent on a road trip, and he later settled various legal actions with the school.
That gave Gallagher a season to regroup.
Two weeks before he left UHart, Manhattan and coach Steve Masiello parted ways when they could not agree on a contract extension. The Jaspers, under interim coach RaShawn Stores, a Manhattan alum, finished 12-18, but Stores was popular with players, who pushed for him to be the permanent head coach.
When Manhattan hired Gallagher, there was criticism, some players charging the decision was racially motivated. Stores, 31, is African-American.
“I don’t want to believe that’s what it was, but there’s no other Black on this campus,” fifth-year senior Nick Brennan told the New York Post.
So Gallagher is again in the middle of a controversy, not of his own making.
“I met the team,” he said. “I’m here to facilitate dreams. If the dream is to stay at Manhattan, great. I welcome you with open arms. If their vision is go elsewhere, I want to support that too.
“What we don’t want is people who don’t want to be here. With the transfer portal, we can find guys who really want to be at Manhattan College.”
The Manhattan program has played in the NCAA Tournament eight times, six since 1993, pulling upsets over Oklahoma in 1995 and Florida in 2004. Former coaches include Fran Fraschilla and Steve Lappas. The Jaspers last won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2015.
Manhattan will give the energetic Gallagher, whose concept of UHart as “the neighborhood” caught on, a fighting chance to recruit New York City players. He will come through Connecticut twice a year to play Quinnipiac and Fairfield.
The Jaspers’ ancient rival, Iona, is in coaching
transition, with Tobin Anderson replacing Rick Pitino.
“I think we can attract great players to come to the greatest city in the world,” Gallagher said. “What Jerome Tang [at Kansas State] and many other coaches have shown us, with the transfer portal, it doesn’t mean you have to wait four years for success. You can make it happen in one, two, three years, and that’s what we’ll try to do.”
As UHart goes in its direction and Gallagher in another, there are no hard feelings on his end.
“I’m grateful for the 12 years — it really prepared me for this job,” Gallagher said. “In any job in Division I now, anywhere, you have to be able to block out the noise. Any place, every program in America has it: crisis management. And our job as head coaches is more of dealing with that.
“That’s what 12 years at Hartford gave me.”
Tragic loss for Hartford
There was heartbreaking news for the Hartford community Friday night when longtime Prince Tech boys basketball coach Kendall May was killed in a hit-and-run accident on Main Street.
May, who also coached boys cross country and girls track, was born and raised in Hartford, graduated from Prince Tech and returned to coach there in 1998. He was a great role model to the city’s youth.
Several of his players went on to play for Jim Calhoun and Glen Miller at Saint Joseph’s, building the program from scratch to No.1 in the nation in Division III for much of this past season, including Tyshawn and Delshawn Jackson Jr. and Tyree Mitchell. When May got his first win in 1998, Delshawn Jackson Sr. was the leading scorer.
“When they leave, they’re 18, 19 years old,” May once told The Courant. “That’s the formative years of a young man to try and find out who he is as a young person … discipline things that they can take from this and carry on to when they become fathers.”
The coach was 56, with so much more to give. What a terrible loss to the youngsters of the city.
Miami inspiration
In preparing for
UConn, Miami coach Jim Larranaga invited a guest speaker UConn fans may remember: Patric Young.
Ten years ago the 6-foot10 Young was playing for Florida against the Huskies in the memorable game at Gampel won by Shabazz Napier’s buzzer-beater, and then in the Final Four, where UConn knocked off the Gators, ranked No.1 at the time, on the way to the championship.
Young went on to play
professionally overseas. In June of 2022 he was involved in a car accident in Nebraska that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He has been working for ESPN and working to walk again.
“Patric addressed the team for about 20 minutes during our team dinner,” Larranaga said. “He did a fantastic job. He’s a terrific motivational speaker.”
Sunday short takes
UConn’s Ryan Tverberg, who had 33 goals and 36 assists in 85 games, signed a threeyear, entry-level deal with the Maple Leafs on March 15 and has debuted with their AHL affiiate, the Toronto Marlies, who play the Wolf Pack in Hartford on Wednesday.
Look for UConn to play four to six hockey games at the XL Center next season, plus the CT Ice Tournament.
The Yard Goats open their 2023 season Thursday at home versus Bowie.
NFL teams that use traditional fullbacks could find one in UConn’s Robert Burns.
Anxiously awaiting John Sterling’s home run call for rookie Anthony Volpe. … Now that Major League Baseball considers a player’s prime to be age 26-28, you’ll see more propects like Volpe, 21, getting thrown into the fire early. Worked out well for Juan Soto, in the bigs at 19, and Ronald Acuna Jr., who debuted at 20.
When I was covering the Yankees in 2006, I would ask a lot of questions about the local guy, Southington’s Carl Pavano, which occasionally annoyed manager Joe Torre. On the day of the UConn-George Mason game, which has gotten some discussion this week with Larranaga facing UConn, the Yankees players were glued to the TV.
When George Mason won, players were ripping up their busted brackets. Torre emerged from his office, sought me out with a smirk and said, “Well, Connecticut’s out, more space for you to fill, so I guess you’ll be asking even more Pavano questions, huh?” … Maybe you had to be there.
Last word
In one of those silly, internet-driven debates we live with nowadays, it is often asked if UConn is a “blue blood.” What exactly that is, who can say?
Programs that won championships decades ago, but not necessarily recently, are automatic qualifiers apparently. I would say if there is such a thing as a men’s basketball blue blood, UConn, with four titles and six Final Four appearances since 1999, qualifies without much debate. And if women’s basketball, where UConn is the bluest of blue bloods enters into it, case closed.