Siena situation

[Dane96]

Lot of chatter that Carm will be let go as soon as this week.  🤷‍♂️

[Clickclack]

Next coach is already local...Carm had to go. Our coach isn't great but that was a complete crime what happened over there. 

[cwdickens]

40 minutes ago, Dane96 said:

Lot of chatter that Carm will be let go as soon as this week.  🤷‍♂️

 

15 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

Next coach is already local...Carm had to go. Our coach isn't great but that was a complete crime what happened over there. 

From today's Times-Union, Carm has assurances from the Siena Athletic Director:

SIENA MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

Vote of confidence given

AD D’Argenio says that Maciariello will return next season

 

By Mark Singelais

Lori Van Buren/Times Union archive

Siena coach Carmen Maciariello began his career with back-to-back MAAC regular-season titles, but has lost 24 of the past 27 games going into Sunday.

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — As the Siena men’s basketball team continues its free fall, coach Carmen Maciariello said he isn’t worried about his job security.

The Saints have lost 13 of 14 games and 24 of their past 27 following Friday’s 91-50 blowout defeat at Rider on Friday night.

 

“No, I worry about the here and now,” Maciariello said after the game. “I come to work and give everything my all and that’s all I can do. I don’t speculate or worry.”

Siena is 3-18 with 10 regular-season games left and could break the program record of 24 losses.

Maciariello got a vote of confidence before the game from Siena athletic director John D’Argenio, asked if Maciariello is safe for next season.

“As far as I’m concerned, and in my eyes, I think in the context of everything he’s done, yes,” D’Argenio said.

That context includes back-to-back Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season titles in Maciariello’s first two seasons from 2019 to 2021, which earned Maciariello a contract extension that takes him through the 2025-26 season.

Since that extension, Siena has gone 35-47 entering Sunday’s game against Mount St. Mary’s at MVP Arena. Siena hasn’t won a MAAC Tournament game since Maciariello’s first season.

The Saints were a half-game out of first place on Super Bowl Sunday last year before beginning their steep decline. They dropped their final six games last season and have had trouble being competitive this year.

Friday’s loss to Rider was Siena’s fifth defeat by more than 30 points and eighth of 20 or more this season. Several of those blowouts have been at MVP Arena, where average attendance has declined to 5,235 per game from 6,415 a year ago.

D’Argenio said he looks at Maciariello’s overall track record over the recent struggles.

“The record is not what we want it to be,” D’Argenio said. “But I think the amount of time and energy he puts into it, what he’s proven he can do over the last four years, in terms of recruiting. We have players playing in all different leagues in this country at top levels, so that shows he knows how to evaluate talent. And I think over the past four years, we’ve had some pretty decent success. Now the last year and a little bit of last (season) isn’t what we want it to be, so that’s what we’ve got to work on.”

Maciariello made $362,450 in reportable compensation from Siena in the 2021-22 academic year, the most recent figure available, according to Siena’s tax records. With two years left on his contract, D’Argenio said the school’s financial obligation isn’t a factor in keeping Maciariello.

“I don’t think so,” D’Argenio said. “I think it’s where we are, right? It’s this moment in time. It’s the environment that we’re faced with. The contract is the contract, but we’ll do things to continue to make this program better.”

D’Argenio said he had no regrets about extending Maciariello to 2026.

“We had no problem at the time and no problem with it right now,” he said.

Assuming Maciariello returns for a sixth season, he would be the first Siena coach to last more than five years since Mike Deane (1986 to 1994).

D’Argenio acknowledged any decision to keep Maciariello isn’t his alone. He said he has discussed the team’s struggles with new college president Charles F. Seifert.

“I think we’re aligned and we’ll see where we land at the end of the year,” D’Argenio said. “I know our president has been nothing but supportive and I’ve been able to talk to him about it. He’s understanding what’s going on in college athletics which causes these type of things.”

The transfer portal has hurt Siena badly with Jalen Pickett (Penn State), Javian McCollum (Oklahoma), Jordan King (East Tennessee State and Richmond), Colby Rogers (Wichita State) and others leaving for other schools.

Siena hasn’t worked the portal as effectively, even with a new name, image and likeness collective. D’Argenio and Maciariello agreed relying heavily on high-school recruits instead of transfers this season was a mistake. Siena entered the season with the third-youngest roster in the country and didn’t bring in a veteran point guard to replace McCollum.

“Certainly in today’s day and age, you need to always have a mature team, so I think we need to look at that piece of it, as well,” D’Argenio said.

Redshirt junior guard Sean Durugordon, the Austin Peay transfer, didn’t become eligible until the 11th game of the season. Sophomore guard Michael Eley, the MAAC Rookie of the Year last season, has dealt with injuries.

“Now with the way the portal is and player mobility, it’s going to be a new team every season,” Maciariello said. “Maybe my shortsightedness in thinking that you could take younger guys and hard-wire them as opposed to older guys. In my previous teams, they were all older. All of them.”

Maciariello said he’s studying the rosters of top-four teams in mid-major conferences to see their numbers of graduate transfers, junior-college transfers, Division I and II transfers and prep-school players.

Maciariello said he appreciated D’Argenio’s endorsement and “that makes you feel good people still believe in you” during a tough season.

“Carm and I talk all the time, and we’ll sit down at the end of the year,” D’Argenio said. “It starts with both of us taking accountability and responsibility for what we didn’t do right and then try to right those wrongs, whether it is continuing to teach the young men, whether it’s how we recruit and where we recruit, and I think those things all go into it.”

MOUNT ST. MARY’S AT SIENA

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: MVP Arena, Albany

TV/Radio: My4 Albany, ESPN+ (streaming), JAMZ 96.3 FM

[Eli]

Good. Keep him. Let him continue racking up losses and cementing that team as the worst team in D1. We're bad, but then there is Siena bad LOL.

[bob87]

2 hours ago, Dane96 said:

Lot of chatter that Carm will be let go as soon as this week.  🤷‍♂️

Got to give him a chance to get to 24 losses like patsos, mitch and Lanier.  He has a chance to beat it as well. 

[Eli]

1 hour ago, Clickclack said:

Next coach is already local...Carm had to go. Our coach isn't great but that was a complete crime what happened over there. 

Meaning Will Brown? Is that basically a poorly kept secret at that point and will happen within a few days of Carm being fired? 

Dunno how I feel about it...that's like Brady or Bill going to the Jets but in reverse. Or Reggie Miller going to the Knicks 😂.