Hofstra hoops coach Cassara gets new deal

Hofstra men's basketball coach Mo Cassara has signed a new contract through the 2015-16 season, athletic director Jack Hayes announced Thursday.

Cassara's new deal will guarantee him in excess of $300,000 a year for the length of the contract. Exact terms were not announced. In his first season, he led Hofstra to a 21-12 record, including a program-best second-place tie (14-4) in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Hayes said Cassara's contract, which will place him in the top half of coaching salaries in the CAA, is a reward for "a combination of what he accomplished and certainly what he showed he is capable of doing."

Cassara, 37, was ecstatic. "It's totally surreal," he said. "A year ago at this time, I was flying to the Final Four essentially without a job. Here I am a year later with a long-term, guaranteed contract and a lot of excitement about Hofstra basketball."

Cassara was named Hofstra's coach last May when Tim Welsh resigned after being charged with driving while intoxicated. Welsh had taken over for Tom Pecora, who left for Fordham. Cassara was to be an assistant under Welsh. "He wasn't fake about anything," sophomore forward David Imes said. "He didn't sit there and tell us everything is going to be all fine and dandy. He told us we were going to have our ups and downs, this is going to be a rough ride, but we're going to take it together. That blew everybody away. He was for real."

Hofstra will lose three seniors from the 2010-11 team, including NBA prospect Charles Jenkins, who set a school record for career points with 2,513. Greg Washington and Brad Kelleher also will leave. Next season's core will include Imes, swingman Nathaniel Lester, who missed this season with an injury, and point guard Stevie Mejia, a transfer from Rhode Island.

"We put together a really good team. Now we have to build a really good program," Cassara said. "This new contract speaks volumes to the commitment of this university to get there. We have to build it the way I envision and I know we can get to the top part of this conference and ultimately the NCAA Tournament. That's our goal."

Hofstra has not been to the NCAA Tournament since it joined the CAA in the 2001-02 season. Hayes believes Cassara can help Hofstra reach that goal. "We've all learned the hard way you can't control some of those things," Hayes said. "[But] I think that's where we all want to be."