Men's Basketball Coaches

Enrico Mastroianni begins his second season as Centenary’s head men’s basketball coach. His first year was very successful, as Mastroianni guided the young Cyclones to a 13-13 overall record and an 8-8 mark in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC). The team picked up more victories in 2008-09 than it had the last five seasons combined, and received the program’s first conference tournament berth in five years. Two student-athletes received All-CSAC accolades, as Andrew Baker was named to the Second Team and Ryan Kearney earned Honorable Mention honors. For his efforts, Mastroianni was named Centenary’s Coach of the Year.

Mastroianni came to Hackettstown after spending four seasons as the associate head coach at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa. During his time with the Cougars, Mastroianni was also the head junior varsity basketball coach, the Academic Coordinator for the men’s basketball team, top recruiter and major contributor to all strategic game-day and practice planning. 

Mastroianni is a 1999 graduate of Penn State University where he completed his undergraduate degree in Marketing and International Business. Most recently he completed his Master’s Degree in Education at Misericordia University.

Mastroianni brings extensive basketball knowledge to Centenary beyond that which comes from his time at Misericordia. He has attended and worked at several Division I, II and III basketball and coaching camps and has had an opportunity to work with some of the best coaches in the country and continuously expand on his philosophies.  
He has guided 11 student-athletes to All-Conference honors, including two First Team, three Second Team and three Honorable Mention awards. He has coached a 1,000 point scorer, served on the staff of a conference Coach of the Year and earned a Coach of the Year award himself, last year from Centenary.

In just one season, Mastroianni has transformed the culture of the Centenary men’s basketball program and the future looks bright. 

“We are very fortunate with the type of student-athletes we have on our team,” he said. “Our guys understand that they cannot be successful on the court if they are not achieving success in the classroom and around the community. We have great character guys that have an unrelenting will to win – with a group like that, success is inevitable.”

Mastroianni resides in Hackettstown with his wife Jamie and their daughter, Angelina.

Ed Ryan begins his second season as the assistant men’s basketball coach at Centenary College. Ryan joined first-year head coach Enrico Mastrioanni last winter as they took over a Cyclone basketball program looking to make the next step toward a high level Division III program.

Ryan is a 2006 graduate of Misericordia University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History/Pre-Law, which includes a minor in Political Science. While at Misericordia, he was a four-year member the University’s Dean’s List, a four-year Scholar Athlete and was named the Misericordia/ECAC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 05-06. He was also a four-year member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference’s All-Academic Team, the recipient of the Misericordia Coaches Award in 05-06 and graduated with a 3.81 GPA. Since graduation, Ryan has been working as a Client Relations Coordinator with Ryan Financial in Rutherford, N.J., as well an assistant varsity basketball coach at Rutherford High School.

Ryan’s playing experience began at St. Mary’s High School from 1998-2002. He then continued his career as a four-year member of the Misericordia men’s basketball team. In addition to his on-the-court experience, Ryan has worked Camps and Clinics at Villanova University, Eagle Basketball Camp (Madison, N.J.), Bulldog Basketball Camp (Rutherford, N.J.) and the Hoop Group Skills Camp (Pocono Invitational).

Justin DeFeo begins his second season as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team.

DeFeo graduated from Centenary in May 2008, where he obtained a bachelor degree in Sports Management. He currently is working towards his MBA with a concentration in Marketing, while also serving as the athletic department’s Assistant Sports Information Director. The past two seasons DeFeo has been an assistant at Hawthorne High School, working primarily with the guards as well as handling advanced scouting and other game day preparations.

DeFeo played four years at Hawthorne High School from 2001-04 and was a two-year member of the Cyclones men’s basketball team. In addition to his basketball career, DeFeo also was a four-year member of the men’s soccer team at Centenary, and served as a captain for two years.

Brian Flexer is in his second season with the Cyclone basketball program, but his third as part of the Centenary College Athletic Department. In addition to his basketball responsibilities, Flexer has been an assistant coach for the Centenary golf program as well, since his graduation in December '07.  

During his two-plus seasons as a student-athlete for Centenary, Flexer led the Cyclone golf team in scoring average in both the fall and spring seasons. At the 2005 Skyline Conference Championships, he finished second-overall at the two-day event, shooting back-to-back 77’s in route to his 154 two-day total.

J.J. Cusick begins his first season as a men's basketball assistant coach. Prior to this season, Cusick was a two year assistant coach with the women's basketball team.

He also just spent his second season as the head men’s and women’s cross-country coach at Centenary College. His first year was impressive, as he guided Chelsea Gummerson to a seventh-place finish at the CSAC Championships, earning her First Team All-Conference accolades. She moved on to compete in the NCAA Regionals, finishing 146th out of 218 runners.

Cusick guided the Cyclones to success during the season as well, including a first-place finish for the women’s team at the Nick Russo Halloween Classic and a third-place finish for the men’s team.

Cusick took over as the interim cross-country coach in the fall of 2007 for the second half of the season. As the interim coach, Cusick handled the recruiting and managed the program in the off-season. 

Cusick is a graduate of Immaculata High School in Somerville, N.J., and Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In addition to his coaching duties he also serves as the Athletic Administrative Assistant in the Athletic Department. In his spare time Cusick competes in local races around the state of New Jersey.

Joe Amador is beginning his first season with the men’s basketball team as an assistant. Amador is a 1996 graduate of St. Lawrence University with a B.S in Physical Education.He also has his National Coaching Certification and is Rutgers S.A.F.E.T.Y certified.

As a member of the St. Lawrence University men’s basketball program, participating in the Liberty League, Amador helped the program develop into a National DIII powerhouse. During his program tenure, he flourished at the point-guard position, the team’s floor general. As a well-rounded leader, Amador dictated the flow of the game both on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. 

Prior to playing at St. Lawrence, Amador attended Centereach High School, where he completed a decorated scholastic career in 1991. A four-year varsity letterman and currently ranked fourth on the schools all-time leading scorers list, he was named to three All-League, two All-Conference and one All-Suffolk County Honorable Mention teams. In addition, Amador was selected to the Top Suffolk County 100 through 1989-1990 and in 1991 was a member of the Long Island Top 100. He was nationally scouted and recruited by DI, DII and DIII Colleges and Universities. 

Post graduation from college, Amador served as a physical education teacher and boy’s varsity basketball coach at Trinity School. During this time, he jointly instructed youth developmental clinics at Basketball City with a host of professional athletes. One of Amador’s main focuses was individual player assessment, breaking down the fundamentals, techniques, and tendencies. A majority of the athletes Joe developed were former DI and NBA players.  

In 1998 Joe decided to leave the teaching and coaching ranks to pursue a career in Corporate America.