Coaching Job Offered to Former UK Player Rescinded After Resume Lie Discovery

Steve Masiello was a walk-on for the University of Kentucky from 1996 to 2000. After leaving UK, he became an assistant at Tulane, then Manhattan, then at the University of Louisville, where he worked on the bench for his former coach, Rick Pitino, from 2005 to 2012.

He left Louisville two years ago to take the head coaching position at Manhattan College. Last week, Coach Masiello and the Manhattan Jaspers scared the bejeezus out of Louisville in a Round-of-64 matchup before succumbing to the Cardinals, 71-64. It was a game neither head coach wanted to play since the teams were essentially mirror images of one another.

During the course of the tournament and all that does happen in the post-season, the head coaching job at the University of South Florida in Tampa was open.

And after Manhattan's season came to an end, Pitino suggested that Masiello would be perfect for the job. (Although, WHY I'll never know since it is historically difficult to win there.)

Well, as it turns out, South Florida also thought Masiello would be perfect for the job and made an offer, which he accepted.

But USF should never have made this transaction public.

A background check of Masiello revealed that he, in fact, did not graduate from UK as his resumé indicated. The South Florida offer was immediately rescinded.

Manhattan has placed Steve Masiello on leave.