2014 NCAA Tournament Profile: Manhattan Jaspers

Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Manhattan Jaspers

Record: (25-7, 15-5 MAAC)

RPI: 66 (.563)

BPI: 74 (67.4)

Conference: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

How They Qualified: Automatic Bid (won MAAC Tournament)

Season Summary

Before going any further, let’s clarify what a “Jasper” is, since that’ll surely be mentioned countless times in their first NCAA Tournament game. A “Jasper” derives from Brother Jasper of Mary, who served the college in the late 19th century and was credited with inventing the seventh inning stretch, a common practice in baseball.

Now, let’s move on to basketball, where head coach Steve Masiello (a Rick Pitino disciple) has the Jaspers back for the first time since 2004. Back then, he was an assistant, but now, he’s the head of the Jasper Nation, and has a new found love for Twitter.

The J’s played a tough slate right out of the gate with games at LaSalle (W, 99-90) and versus George Washington (L, 80-74) in the first week of the season. They lost the “Battle of the Bronx” against lowly Fordham but responded nicely, winning their next eight game. A swoon in late-January saw them lose three of four in MAAC play and things could have spun out of control. Since then, they’ve only rattled off 11 wins in 12 games and secured themselves a spot in the Dance.

In the process, they avenged last season’s loss to Iona in the title game despite a 9-9 league record. They’re hungry for more.

What You Need to Know

Leading Scorer: George Beamon – 19.2 ppg

Leading Rebounder: George Beamon – 6.6 rpg

Leading Passer: Michael Alvarado – 4.0 apg

Bad Losses: Fordham, at Fairfield, at Siena

Good Wins: Iona (twice), at LaSalle, Buffalo

What to Expect

Masiello might be relatively new to the head coaching game, but he’s not new to winning. Besides the success as an assistant at Manhattan, he also played on a national championship team while at Kentucky (in 1998) and was an assistant under Pitino when the Cardinals made back-to-back Elite Eight appearances. To say he’s become accustom to winning is an understatement and has proven that last year’s 14-18 record was an aberration. The last time the Jaspers were in the tournament, all they did was knock off fifth-seeded Florida in the first round before falling to a Chris Paul-led Wake Forest in the Round of 32.

The Jaspers have three seniors leading the way who’ve created a culture of winning under Masiello. “The irony for us is you look at these young men and Mike Alvarado, I was told not to keep. George Beamon had no scholarship offers. … Rhamel Brown, no one knew about,” Masiello said. Haters gonna hate.

So, what can you really expect from a mid-major in a mediocre RPI conference? Plenty.

Manhattan can score with anyone and features a high-octane offense led by Beamon, Alvarado (12 ppg), and duel-threat Rhamel Brown (10.0 ppg). Brown anchors the Jaspers’ defense that limited high-scoring Iona to just 76.7 points per game in their three meeting, nearly seven points below their season average. So yeah, they can play a little defense too. Brown was third in the country this year in blocks per game (3.7).

If you think they’ll win a game or two, there’s no one that’ll disagree with you, not with this trio of seniors and a head coach who studied and learned under a legend before stepping out on his own. Masiello has Jasper Nation believing once again.

Congratulations to the Manhattan Jaspers. They are going dancing in the NCAA Tournament!