As Drexel students, we are all hurtling uncomfortably quickly towards graduation. At that time, we will all be thrust out into the real world to see what half a decade of experiential learning and a Drexel diploma are worth. Now, imagine ten years after you graduate someone asks you whether or not they should go to Drexel. Would you tell them to follow in your footsteps through University City?
For Drexel Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Frantz Massenat, not only is he recommending prospective student-athletes to come to Drexel, he has opened a new chapter of his life partially dedicated to recruiting athletes to his alma mater.
And, why wouldn’t he? For him, a Drexel degree earned him a decade-long career at the top flight of European Professional basketball, spending six years in Germany and one season a piece in France, Spain and Italy. However, when Coach Zach Spiker extended him the opportunity to join his coaching staff, Massenat decided to cut his playing career off a few seasons early and transition to the next chapter of his life: coaching.
Having just completed his first season as a Coach, Massenat is learning what it takes to be a coach at the highest level of college ball.
Reflecting on his first year, Coach Massenat said, “There was a lot for me to learn. The basketball was the easy part, but you learn that it’s way more than just basketball. Off the court, it’s really a 24 hour job, every single day. If it’s something you love, it’s something you can do with your eyes closed though. Coach Spiker did a great job giving me the time to learn at my own pace, I’m thankful for that because if I just got thrown in without knowing what to do, that would’ve been really stressful and make it hard to grow as a coach.”
Now, as he prepares to enter the preseason, Massenat feels better equipped to make a difference for the program.
“Now that I wasn’t just focused on completing tasks, I had the opportunity to learn our players better, learn our systems and styles, how I can be impactful during games and practices. Last year was a really good year to find my voice as a coach.”
As an alumnus of the program, Massenat has grown into an impactful on the recruitment trail for Coach Spiker.
Additionally, Massenat had to understand what realistic expectations may look like for the Drexel program, and how he could use his unique perspective to create a competitive advantage for himself.
“I have a really good eye for identifying talent, I have seen so much basketball and seen so many players, I can look at players and tell within a matter of seconds. Everybody probably thinks like that, but I think being fresh off a decade of playing professionally might give me a bit of an advantage, to see more of a potential side. Another thing I learned is the guys who look really good and have all the coaches at their games, we might not be getting them, so to find players that you can see really good potential in, that was good for me to learn and see a lot of on the circuits this summer.”
Once a player catches Massenat’s eye, the real work begins.
“Coach Spiker makes sure we do our homework on a player. First, we look at the academics. If they don’t have that, they can’t get into our school so don’t waste our time. Second is basketball. We look for what do we need, and then we look at how they might be able to play in our system. Third, it’s not something that we really work with, but we know if players are looking for $100,000+ that’s just something we aren’t going to be looking for. If those things work out then we start talking to people around them, like trainers, coaches and teammates. Sometimes even Janitors, Lunch Ladies and a teacher or two can really give you insight into players’ character behind the scenes.”
While Massenat specialized in High School recruitment, the proliferation of the transfer portal is not something that he could ignore. Nowadays, student-athletes can transfer from program to program with very few restrictions. While this has granted student-athletes the same freedom of movement that any other college student has, it is a headache for college coaches.
“It is like you’re recruiting all year long. You may have a guy that you don’t play for a game or two and all of the sudden his head is a little messed up and the next thing you know he is in the portal. You can’t really prepare for it, but you can’t ignore it…we just focus on the guys who we know are leaving because they are graduating. We know that if we do a good job, players are not really going to want to go anywhere. But also, if we notice that a player is having a really good season and we see a possibility that he may leave, which we can understand, we may have to start looking in other places as well…you just always have to be ready and have someone else next in line.”
This offseason Drexel lost their two best players, Amari Williams and Justin Moore to the transfer portal. For many High-Major college programs, the Mid-Major level has become a farm system of sorts, where they can let players work out their rookie mistakes before they move up. Ideally, the Mid-Majors would like to see some sort of reciprocity where disillusioned High-Major players seek larger roles at smaller schools. While this has happened elsewhere, even within their own conference, Drexel has not seen this come to fruition for them. Instead, they have brought in the majority of their transfers from the Junior College level.
“We really just look for guys who fit our system, but for example this year we know we have no guys that started last year, so what would help us a little bit more? Having guys who are experienced in college…we love that we have a core of freshmen from High School, but we also want a mixture of JuCo because they already have experience. The way that the game is going, people are just swapping out players who are leaving for other guys who are ready fit for college. For our situation, where it’s hard to pay for players, the JuCo route helps us a lot as well as getting in freshman from High School,” explained Massenat.
With his first full offseason under his belt, Massenat appears to be a crucial part of the Drexel program moving forward, using his expertise to navigate the tumultuous college athletic landscape that keeps growing exponentially more complicated.