USF Deal With Steve Masiello Falls Through

South Florida was set to hire Manhattan College coach Steve Masiello, but the deal fell through late Tuesday night after the school learned of a previously undetected discrepancy in his background check. USF was forced to kill the deal with Masiello due to the red flag, though the Tampa Tribune doesn't disclose what that red flag was which, kinda annoying, right?

The discrepancy was identified by a search firm paid to find candidates to replace Stan Heath.

Earlier Tuesday, Masiello had agreed to a five-year contract with USF reportedly worth more than $1 million per year. No official word ever came from either USF or Manhattan regarding the deal. The former Pitino assistant is considered one of the nation's top recruiters. It's unclear exactly where that leaves Masiello and Manhattan.

According to the Tampa Tribune, other candidates for the USF opening include Florida assistant John Pelphrey and Louisiana Tech coach Mike White.

South Florida is one of a handful of Division I men's basketball programs still looking for a head coach this offseason. In addition to USF, there are current openings at Appalachian State, Boston College, Delaware State, Florida Atlantic, Houston, IUPUI, Jacksonville, Marquette, Marshall, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Montana State, Southeastern Louisiana, Tennessee State, UNC-Wilmington, Wake Forest and Washington State.