After 10-win jump, Jaspers basketball is hungry for more in 2025

Intensity. 

That’s the first word that comes to mind when describing Manhattan University men’s basketball head coach John Gallagher as he enters his third year with the program. 

“We have a saying in our program. You raise the bar; you lose the losers,” Gallagher told The Press. “You lower the bar; you lose the winners.”

His program has done a good job of keeping the winners. 

After winning just seven games in his first season at the helm in 2023, Gallagher’s Jaspers saw a 10-win jump in 2024. Among the main catalysts were sophomore guard Will Sydnor and redshirt-junior transfer Devin Dinkins. Sydnor won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, MAAC’s, Rookie of the year award for his efforts during the 2024 campaign. 

Both Sydnor and Dinkins were easy first-team all-preseason selections in the MAAC on media day. 

But for as good of a pair of stars as the guards are, the Jaspers have a secret weapon they believe will take them over the hump in the conference. 

“Versatility. We can play big, we can play small, we can play four guards can play two guards and three bigs,” Gallagher said when discussing the depth of the roster. “The versatility on the team is that we can play seven, six different lineups, and it gives us great depth and versatility.”

Heading into the 2025 campaign, Gallagher’s squad was picked to finish fourth behind Siena University, Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart. While the three schools above Manhattan pose legitimate threats in a competitive mid-major conference, they don’t carry the same kind of pressure that the Jaspers feel every day. 

As a collegiate basketball school in New York City, Manhattan University is sometimes overshadowed by the prestige of other top programs like St. John’s University with a Hall-of-Famer in Rick Pitino at the helm. Even Long Island University, with a former NBA player in Rod Strickland, offers a path for stardom out in Brooklyn. 

But the Jaspers offer their own unique brand of history, funding and excellence. Gallagher credits the continued success of the university’s basketball program to the strong alumni base that supports the team. 

“We have great infrastructure,” he said. “It’s the Christian Brothers. It’s the institution. We have very successful alumni that have graduated from here. This is a special place. And I’ve said it when I got here, this is one of the better mid major jobs because of the people, not the buildings.”

In a highly competitive mid-major conference, the Jaspers need all the help they can get. For a team that won 17 games the previous year, another seismic jump could be expected from the young program. 

But Gallagher knows that success isn’t always linear. And growth can come in several ways. 

“The next step is for the culture to continue to get stronger,” he said. “That this standard keeps improving and the wins become a byproduct of it. Instead of me sitting here saying, let’s go win 20-25, games and get into the tournament, let’s continue to make sure that we’re doing all the right things on and off the floor, and then the process will take care of itself.”

Under John Gallagher, Manhattan University enjoyed one of its biggest year-to-year improvements since the NCAA tournament team in 2013. 

Matching that success won’t be easy, but with a deep roster, two stars and a strong base behind him, Gallagher’s intensity has his team ready to make noise this season.