In a new era of college basketball, where the transfer portal and COVID-impacted players put traditional recruiting on the back burner, programs across the country have had difficulty acquiring ready-to-play freshmen.
That has not been the case with Marist men’s basketball and freshman guard Josh Pascarelli. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard out of Cambria Heights, New York, has quickly become a key player for the program by averaging 10.9 points per game, good for second highest on the team.
Pascarelli first touched a basketball at the age of four and truly fell in love with the game in middle school. His greatest trait is his smooth shooting stroke, where he hits 37 percent of his 5.4 attempts from deep per game.
“My dad can shoot too; that’s where I got my jump shot from. We just drill a lot of catch-and-shoot,” said Pascarelli.
Last season, Marist struggled to shoot from the perimeter, placing ninth in the MAAC conference in three-point shooting percentage. This season, the Red Foxes sit at 36 percent from behind the arc and 3rd in the MAAC, with Pascarelli being a main factor in the year-to-year improvement.
Pascarelli attended St. Francis Prep in Queens, where sophomore forward Jaden Daughtry also played his high school ball.
“When we went down to see [Daughtry], we saw Josh live, and [he] impressed us as a junior right out of the gate,” said Marist head coach John Dunne. “He could really shoot it and plays in a program [St. Francis Prep] that values IQ and thinking the game offensively.”
Pascarelli became close with Daughtry as they navigated COVID-19 and trained together during the time off. The pandemic prevented Pascarelli from playing in front of collegiate coaches until his junior season at St. Francis.
As a junior, Pascarelli earned All-CHSAA second-team honors. He then was named MVP of the conference and first-team All-State his senior year, averaging 19.8 points per game.
Pascarelli received his first college offers during his junior year from Division II school Saint Rose and Division I program UAlbany, but Marist stood out from the rest.
“I liked the coaches. It felt like a family vibe right away,” said Pascarelli. “They were always supporting me; they came to a lot of my games.”
Josh committed in August of his senior year, and due to the growing uncertainty of college rosters year-to-year, a plan to redshirt him was in plan. His talent ultimately superseded that possibility.
“We struggled to shoot the ball last year. We knew there wasn’t going to be any more redshirt talk as the year went on,” said Dunne. “We wanted him to bring shooting to the table, and he has brought more than that.”
Assistant coach Drew Metz was the primary contact for recruiting and developing a relationship with Pascarelli and his family.
“A lot of recruiting starts with relationships; we try to have our whole staff build a relationship with every kid we recruit,” said Metz. “We’re building a family atmosphere at Marist, and Josh comes from an awesome family. They have been great cheerleaders not just for him but also for the entire team.”
While Metz watched Josh play, he observed Pascarelli’s positive body language with his teammates, ability to play his role on the team and high basketball IQ.
“Josh was a plus in all those areas,” said Metz.
Pascarelli has displayed his offensive abilities with a team-high four 20-point games this season and 11 games with three or more three-point makes. That included a season-high 26 points and six three-pointers in a win over Dartmouth on Dec. 9.
“That was pretty cool because I was shooting well in warmups, but sometimes I feel like I made too many in a row,” said Pascarelli. “But I made my first few in the game and kept rolling.”
The career performance earned him MAAC Rookie of the Week, the only weekly award given to a Red Fox this season. Marist is 8-2 this season when Pascarelli scores at least 11 points and 7-1 when he leads the Red Foxes in scoring.
Pascarelli attributes his quick acclimation to the college game to his role at St. Francis, where he guarded bigger players due to his team’s lack of size. After adding 10 pounds of muscle over the summer, his high school experience paid off, allowing him to start all but two games so far this season.
“He checks all the boxes; he shoots it, he’s athletic, he’s a willing passer, he’s a better ball handler than I thought, a pretty good defensive rebounder, and he is extremely coachable,” said Dunne. “We’re lucky to have him in the program.”
Pascarelli looks up to Stephen Curry, the future hall-of-fame shooter, and even met the Golden State Warriors star when he was in sixth grade. Overall, Pascarelli lives by two things: effort and attitude. They apply to all parts of life, especially basketball.
“My dad always tells me the two things you can control are [those two things],” said Pascarelli. “If you mess up a play, okay, next play, next play. Just play hard; that’s all you can really do.”
Keeping the right attitude is something Pascarelli focuses on with his family because of how much they support him and want him to succeed.
“Josh is humble and is very quiet; he keeps calm and keeps to himself,” said Dunne. “His personality lets him get along with anyone, which is a good strength of his.”
The Red Foxes sit in the top half of the MAAC standings with a 10-6 conference record, good for fourth in the conference. This season’s team has achieved several program milestones, such as the most wins in a season since 2007 and the most road wins in a season since 2008.
“I believed that they were building the program into something because it hasn’t been as good as it could be,” said Pascarelli. “And we’re getting on the right track.”
Edited by Jimmy Tsiantoulas, Sam Murphy and Luke Sassa
Graphic by Cara Lacey; Photos from Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.
