Maciariello named Siena College men's basketball head coach

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

Carmen Maciariello is the new Siena head coach.

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LOUDONVILLE — As expected, the interim tag didn’t last long.

Carmen Maciariello has been named the head coach of the Siena College men’s basketball program, the school announced Monday afternoon in a press release issued through its athletic department. Several hours prior to that, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed the 40-year-old Maciariello had accepted the offer to become the program’s 18th head coach.

A press conference 3 p.m. Tuesday at Times Union Center in Albany will be held to introduce Maciariello.

“I am unbelievably grateful to [school president Br. F. Edward Coughlin], [athletic director] John D’Argenio, and the whole Siena College community to have the opportunity to serve as your head coach,” Maciariello said via the school’s release. “I am extremely excited to be able to lead this program for years to come. It’s a great day to be a Saint.”

Last Thursday, Maciariello was named the program’s interim head coach after former head coach Jamion Christian departed to take the same position at George Washington University. A year ago, Siena took 19 days to introduce Christian as its new coach after the resignation of Jimmy Patsos, but D’Argenio said Thursday that the school had a “need to work with some speed” in hiring its next coach during a session with local reporters in which he regularly praised Maciariello’s credentials for the job.

“Carmen has an outstanding coaching resume at all levels of basketball, and has been part of championship teams everywhere he’s been,” D’Argenio said via Monday’s press release. “He has forged strong relationships both here in the Capital Region and across the country. Carmen and his family have been part of the fabric of both the Siena College community and the Capital Region for a long time, and his love of Siena is evident through his energy and professionalism.”

Maciariello, a Shenendehowa graduate and Clifton Park native, graduated from Siena in 2001 after starting his college career at New Hampshire. He played professionally for four seasons in Italy after his college career, and has spent the last 11 seasons working on college coaching staffs with stops at Fairfield, Providence, Boston, George Washington and Siena.

Maciariello was an assistant coach at Fairfield on head coach Ed Cooley’s staff, then briefly worked with Cooley at Providence.

“I am real happy for Carm,” Cooley said in a statement issued to The Daily Gazette. “He has worked hard to get where he is in our profession. He has always been dedicated to helping the players get better and finding talented student-athletes. Being the head coach at Siena is a tremendous opportunity for him.”

Before working this past season as an assistant coach at Siena, Maciariello had previously worked at Siena as men’s basketball program’s director of basketball operations for the 2005-06 season, which was Fran McCaffery’s first season at Siena.

“Siena made a great hire,” McCaffery said in a statement issued to The Daily Gazette. “Carmen is someone who I have tremendous respect for. He is someone who I’ve watched grow in this business. I look forward to watching him build this program. I will always be part of the Siena program and I will help him any way I can moving forward.”

Maciariello also has a strong connection to the Albany City Rocks, an AAU program that Maciariello competed for as a teenager and later worked for the organization as a coach and vice president. Notably, Maciariello’s relationship with the City Rocks helped the Saints recruit star freshman Jalen Pickett last year.

Siena announced last week that a pair of Saints — Thomas Huerter and Khalil Richard — received releases to transfer prior to Christian’s departure, but the hiring of Maciariello is expected to help the Siena program avoid major losses through transfer, something programs often experience when a coaching change occurs. As word of his elevation to the head coaching position became public, a number of Siena players expressed approval with social-media posts.

Maciariello’s contract is for four seasons. Besides Maciariello, Harley Fuller is the lone coaching staff member from this past season expected to remain at Siena. Fuller, a Broadalbin-Perth graduate, served as Siena’s director of basketball operations this past season.

Maciariello becomes the first Siena alumnus since Bill Kirsch to hold the position of head coach for the Siena program. Kirsch, a 1956 Siena graduate and Rensselaer native, served as the program’s head coach from 1972 to 1982 and led the program into the Division I ranks. Kirsch, who died last December, also served as the school’s athletic director and made the program’s most famous shot as a player when his 60-foot game-winning attempt was good at the buzzer in a 1953 game against Iona at Madison Square Garden.

Maciariello and his wife Laura have a 2-year-old daughter Reese.