Fordham Basketball: 10 potential candidates to replace Jeff Neubauer

Jared Grasso

If Fordham wants to hand the reins of the program over to a familiar face, then they need to look no further than Grasso. A former Fordham assistant, he also spent most of the 2009-10 season as the Rams’ interim head coach, though that stint certainly didn’t go well for Grasso or the Rams. Would things be different a decade later?

Prior to landing at Fordham, Grasso spent time as an assistant with Hofstra, Hartford, and Quinnipiac, his alma mater. A New York native, he got plenty of familiarity with the area after leaving the Rams, spending eight years as Tim Cluess’s associate head coach at Iona. Together, they led the Gaels to unprecedented success, with Grasso playing a major role in shaping that program. Since 2018, he’s been the head coach at Bryant and has already made enormous strides with the Bulldogs, improving them greatly in each of his first three seasons.

Grasso was just 29 years old when he led Fordham to a 1-21 record as their interim head coach. Now, over a decade later, he’s shown his growth and talent both on and off the court. His work with Iona was top-notch, but the way he’s been able to quickly build Bryant from doormat to contender in the NEC is exactly the kind of thing that Fordham needs. If they want someone they know can turn around a struggling program, then why not bring back Grasso for round two as the head man; this time running his own program.