Bobby Gonzalez's Departure Leaves Manhattan Still Searching for Stride

Barry Rohrssen walks through the Manhattan College campus headed to Draddy Gymnasium in early January.  He is getting his team ready to face off against conference rival Marist College on Friday evening. 

His Jaspers at 8-6 (2-2 MAAC) are severely underachieving for the second straight season.  His third season at the helm of this once proud program, Rohrssen has been under fire for not living up to expectations.

A little less then three years ago the Manhattan Jaspers were considered the next Gonzaga, a very successful mid-major program on the verge of crashing the national hoops scene.

Led by coach Bobby Gonzalez the Jaspers had just clinched the 2006 MAAC Regular Season Title and a trip to the NIT on their home court against the arch rival Iona Gaels.

A program that had a mix of veteran leadership and three young stars was ready to continue the success that former star Luis Flores had begun just a few years earlier.

In March 2004 the Jaspers made names for themselves with an 85-70 upset of Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Chris Paul and Wake Forest barely hung on to end their magical run two days later.

After the tournament ended Gonzalez was considered one of the top young coaches in the nation.  Big time schools such as St. John's and Miami came calling.  Gonzalez turned down the offers, he was focused on the task at hand.  Taking Manhattan to the next level.

He was bringing to Riverdale arguably the best recruiting class in Manhattan history.  It included Arturo Dubois, Jeff Xavier, and one of the top small forwards in the country in CJ Anderson.

Gonzalez knew those kids were special and that over the next four years he could mold the best mid-major program in the country.

At the time of that amazing victory over Iona at Draddy Gymnasium in February of 2006, the Jaspers and their fans did not realize that their worlds would soon begin to crumble in the coming weeks.

Manhattan upset the 2002 NCAA Champion Maryland Terps in the NIT, and again Gonzalez's phone was ringing off the hook.  Except this time he did not say no.  Gonzalez piggybacked off of his success to jump up to the Big East with the Seton Hall Pirates.

Who could blame him though?  All mid-major coaches jump at the opportunity to coach in one of the top conferences.

At the very least the nucleus of sophomores Dubois, Xavier, and Anderson was still intact.  For the time being.

Not only was there buzz on campus regarding who Gonzalez's successor would be, but there was word that many of the players might depart for other programs.  Would they stay? Would they follow Gonzalez to Seton Hall?

With the futures of the Big Three in limbo, Manhattan moved quickly to find a new head coach.  They settled on Barry Rohrssen, assistant head coach at Pitt who was known as one of the best recruiters in the country.

His first priority was to convince Dubois, Xavier, and Anderson to stay in Riverdale.  While he convinced Dubois, he did not have much luck with the other two.

Xavier, a Rhode Island native, transferred home to Providence, a Big East program.  He said it was always a dream of his to play for the Friars, and his breakout season put him on their radar.

CJ Anderson was actually kicked out of school because he did not meet the minimum requirements of the college.  Once known as the best recruit ever to commit to Manhattan College, he was now gone.

Just like that, in a short three week span the bright future of the Manhattan basketball program became frighteningly dim.  With the graduation of several seniors and the departure of Xavier and Anderson, there was concern about the lack of talent and depth on the roster.

It was late April and most high school recruits were already signed.  Top Jasper recruit, point guard Andre Tarver, decided to de-commit from Manhattan with Gonzalez gone. 

Somehow Rohrssen assembled a recruiting class of seven players headed by guards Darryl Crawford and Antoine Pearson.

Flash forward to today. 

Rohrssen is in the midst of this third season behind the Manhattan bench.  While he enjoyed coaching an over achieving team his rookie season, it raised the expectations for him. 

The team bombed his second year finishing a despicable 5-13 in the MAAC.  This season is not going much better.  Although Rohrssen's recruiting remains solid his players have not progressed as they have gotten older.  Inconsistency continues to plague the Jaspers.

When Rohrssen was introduced as head coach in 2006, Athletic Director Bob Byrnes stated, "Barry Rohrssen brings years of successful experience to Manhattan College.  People associate Barry with recruiting, but he is much more than a recruiter.

The University of Pittsburgh teams that Barry coaches with had the Most Improved Player in the Big East in four of his seven seasons, and I believe Barry certainly knows how to make players better. In short, Barry Rohrssen is a winner that recruits winners and develops winners."

Yes, part of that statement is true.  Rohrssen does have many years of successful experience.  And yes, Rohrssen does recruit winners. 

But in his time here at Manhattan, he has not developed a winning formula for this program.  He recruits players who excel at running the court, but he refuses to let them do just that. 

Not one player has drastically improved since Rohrssen got here.  His coaching style is hindering the development of Devon Austin, Antoine, Pearson, Chris Smith, as well as many others.  This team should easily be one of the best in the MAAC.

I'll give him one thing though.  He definitely pays more attention to the STUDENT part of student-athlete then Bobby Gonzalez ever has.  At the very least his players are stand up people unlike CJ Anderson and Mike Konovalchuk.

While precious time is ticking away and the years go by, the Manhattan Jaspers are still trying to find the right stride to be successful under Barry Rohrssen.