Seton Hall’s Rasheen Davis on other side of rivalry thanks to ‘instrumental’ St. John’s assistant

Tuesday night is a reunion between members of the St. John’s and Seton Hall coaching staffs. Seventeen years ago, Rick Pitino gave a young coach his first shot at the college level on the suggestion of one of his assistants. St. John’s saw that coach, Pirates assistant Rasheen Davis, when it visited Seton Hall at the Prudential Center.

“I was a guidance counselor in New York City [Department of Education] making good money, but the opportunity to work for Rick Pitino? Who can say no to that,” Davis told The Post in a phone interview. It wouldn’t have happened without Steve Masiello, St. John’s associate head coach. Davis and Masiello knew each other going back to their childhoods as two local guys who played on the AAU circuit with rival teams.

Davis played for Riverside Church, Masiello the Gauchos. When Davis was done playing at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College, he coached under Moe Hicks at since shuttered Rice High School and the Gauchos and grew close to Masiello. He had been trying to get into the college game, and Louisville had an opening for a low level staffer.

Masiello, working at Louisville at the time, convinced Pitino to give Davis a shot. “I definitely think that Masiello, Moe Hicks, were very instrumental in being where I am. Coach Pitino as well,” the 44 year old Davis, a Bronx native, said. “He still had to say yes.” As far as working for the demanding Pitino, Davis said: “It wasn’t tough.

He told me what the expectations were when I first sat with him. It was an adjustment. But if you believe you can do something you’ll find a way to do it.” Masiello and Davis connected again several years later, Davis joining Masiello’s staff at Manhattan. Together, they reached two NCAA Tournaments, in 2014 and 2015, going on memorable March runs through the MAAC Tournament.

“Very similar to Pitino. Very detail oriented, very intense. Forced the players and the staff to think bigger and better every day,” Davis, an accomplished recruiter who has also coached at Arizona State, Pittsburgh, Xavier and UMass, recalled of Masiello. “His unrealistic expectations allowed us to do what we did.

He was able to challenge guys to think about stuff they didn’t even believe could happen.” Davis added: “You’re doing your dream. I don’t look at this as a work. It’s something I wanted to do, and I tried to work all these camps [when I was younger] to hopefully be where I’m at.” Now, they are on opposite sides of a rivalry, Masiello at St.

John’s and Davis at Seton Hall, both key parts of projected NCAA Tournament teams. They have remained close, exchanging text messages often. Being on opposite sides of a rivalry hasn’t impacted their friendship, despite the fact they are now recruiting against one another. Davis has faced Masiello before when Masiello was still Manhattan’s head coach and Davis was an assistant for current Seton Hall head coach Shaheen Holloway at Saint Peter’s in 2021 22.

This was their first encounter as Big East coaches. “The first time it was definitely a little bit weird, but the second time it was fine,” Davis said. “It’s easy, right? I’m not playing. I just got to sit there and help the guys in any way and echo Sha’s message.”.