NCAA Basketball: Big Ten, Villanova, Siena, and Grand Canyon headline this weeks Sunday Mailbag
By Bryan Mauro
Coaching Change at Siena? - Mike D’Amico (@SienaRaider)
Mike in the interactions that we have had on twitter over the years I know this year has to be hard for you. Anyone else who doesn’t know because they don’t follow the MAAC the Siena Saints have always been one of the most competitive teams in the MAAC. It is the fifth season for current head coach Carmen Maciariello and this has been the worst season he has had for Siena. The previous four seasons all saw a winning record, there were no NCAA tournament appearances but the MAAC is a one bid league and if you don’t win the league there is no NCAA tournament appearance.
The Saints are currently 3-16 and 2-6 in the MAAC. They do have one of the youngest teams in the league and did not have their star player Sean Durugordon for a while because he is a two time transfer. Durugordon has helped but the facts are that coach Maciariello and his staff have not recruited well enough to field a competitive team even with Durugordon putting up huge numbers.
Will Maciariello be fired then? It is tough to say but the Saints have not gotten any better in the five seasons that he has been the coach at Siena and the recruiting is down. The MAAC is getting better and more competitive and it seems as if the Saints will have a hard decision to make as the season goes on. They likely give him one more year to see if he can get Siena back to winning in the league and having a winning record overall.
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However, with that being said it is bad right now and it isn’t just the losses it is how the Saints are losing they are getting blown out most every night and that doesn’t bode well for the future of Maciariello or the Siena program. Time will tell what Siena wants to do with their coach but it looks like it is going to be another year of coach Carm after this year.