New Jersey Institute of Technology Men's Basketball

?Jenesis Alverio joined the NJIT women’s basketball staff as Assistant Coach/Director of Basketball Operations in October 2025. Prior to Alverio’s arrival at NJIT, she was the Varsity Assistant Coach for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Girls Basketball Team (June 2024), leading individual and position drills, assisting with game strategy development in addition to evaluation of opposing teams game strategies. “I am thrilled to add Jenesis to our staff and program,” said head coach Mike Lane. “She will help us in so many ways on and off the court. She will make sure as a program that we are operating smoothly as well as adding her expertise to train, prepare, counsel and coach our student-athletes. Welcome to NJIT Jen!” Alverio is expected to earn her MBA with a Concentration in International Business from Saint Peter’s in June 2026 and a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management in December 2020 from Saint Peter’s. She was an Administrative Secretary for the Passaic Board of Education, beginning in August 2022, and assisted with preparation of reports and documents, gathering and organizing data and creating graphics and displays. As an undergrad at Saint Peter’s, Alverio was the women’s basketball manager from September 2019 to January 2021, organizing individual and small group practices and maintaining and distributing equipment and supplies. Alverio was the Academic Athletic Coordinator at Saint Peter’s from May 2021 to January 2022, monitoring study halls for the student-athletes and providing study strategies to help students prepare for exams. Updated October 2, 2025

RaShawn Stores was added to the NJIT men's basketball coaching staff as an Assistant Coach in April, 2023. Stores came to NJIT after spending six seasons on the staff at Manhattan College, where he most recently served as the Jaspers' Interim Head Coach for the 2022-23 season. Prior to serving on the staff at Manhattan, Stores was a student-athlete for five seasons, redshirting his first year and playing an important role on the team for the next four seasons. Stores was a two-time captain for the Jaspers and helped lead Manhattan to 71 wins and a pair of MAAC Tournament titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances. His name is etched throughout Manhattan's record books as he graduated ninth in program history in assists (314) and converted on 39.3 percent (143-of-364) from three-point range. In 2012-13, Stores was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team after starting 14 games and playing in 32 contests. As a junior, Stores led the MAAC in assist to turnover ratio (2.9) and during his senior season he was named a Lefty Driesell Defensive All-American. Following his playing career, Stores remained at Manhattan as an Assistant Coach before being promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2018-19 season. Days before the 2022-23 campaign, Stores was announced as the Interim Head Coach at Manhattan and he led the team to 12 wins, including 10 in MAAC play. Stores earned his undergraduate degree in business management at Manhattan in 2015 and in 2017 he received a master's degree in organizational leadership. Stores is a native of The Bronx and he and his wife Callan are the proud parents of one daughter, Raylan.

Pete Lappas was added to the NJIT men's basketball coaching staff as an Assistant Coach in April, 2023. Lappas came to NJIT after spending the 2022-23 season at Wagner and the eight previous seasons at FDU. At Wagner he served as an Assistant Coach and at FDU Lappas was the Director of Basketball Operations for three seasons before being promoted to Assistant Coach for his final five. At FDU, Lappas helped coach the Knights to a pair of NEC Championships and NCAA Tournament berths. The 2019 team won the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament game. Lappas also helped recruit and develop five NEC All-Rookie selections and the 2022 NEC Rookie fo the Year, Anquan Hill. Lappas' first coaching job was as a Graduate Assistant Manager at Temple, where he helped the Owls win 24 games and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.  A native of Pennsylvania, Lappas earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Boston College and a Master's Degree in Sport and Recreation Management from Temple.  Lappas' father, Steve, was a Division I Head Coach for 17 seasons, making stops at Manhattan (1988-92), Villanova (1992-2001), and UMass (2001-04). Steve Lappas currently serves as a a college basketball analyst at CBS Sports.  Lappas and his wife, Emily, were married in May 2024. 

Thomas Messinger was added to the NJIT men's basketball coaching staff as an Assistant Coach in June, 2023. Messinger arrived in Newark after nearly a decade on the coaching staff for the Postgraduate Team at Hargrave Military Academy, including the past three as Head Coach. In three seasons leading the program, Messinger's teams went 114-8 overall and finished #2, #4, and #1 in the final national polls. In 2022-23, Messinger brought the Hargrave Postgraduate team to new heights, as it finsished 44-2 and closed out the final eight weeks of the season as the #1 team in the national polls. Messinger was honored as the Next Up Recruits National Postgraduate Coach of the Year and the Elite Prep League (EPL) Coach of the Year as Hargrave also won the EPL Regular Season and Tournament Championships.  Messinger played collegiately at Emerson College in Boston and helped lead his team to a program-record 24 wins in 2007-08. He finished his career second in Great Northeast Athletic Conference history in both three-pointers made (252) and three-point field goal percentage (44.0). Messinger graduated from Emerson in 2011 with a degree in Marketing Communication. He went on to earn his Master's Degree in teaching from Smith College in 2012. A native of Northampton, MA, Messinger was a top player at Northampton High School before wrapping up his high school career with a postgraduate season at Deerfield Academy. At Deerfield, Messinger was named Team MVP, All-NEPSAC, and All-Region. Messinger is married to his wife Katie and they have two daughters, Annie and Millie.

Vincent Tamburro was named Director of Basketball Operations for the NJIT men's basketball team, Head Coach Grant Billmeier announced on July 1, 2023. Tamburro is no stranger working with Billmeier as the pair spent three years together on staff at Seton Hall, where Billmeier served as Associate Head Coach and Tamburro was a student manager. As a student manager, Tamburro had many duties including practice set-up, working out student-athletes before and after practice, laundry, and travel to away games. In his final two seasons in South Orange, Tamburro served as the Head Student Manager. During his time with the Pirates, Seton Hall had a winning season each year and qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The Pirates also won a BIG EAST Regular Season Championship in 2020 before the postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  In addition to his work specifically with the men's basketball program, Tamburro also worked in the equipment room at Seton Hall one summer and most recently was on staff at Shaheen Holloway's Basketball Camp until he was officially hired at NJIT.  A native of Dumont, NJ, Tamburro graduated from Seton Hall in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sport Management and Marketing and a Certificate in Marketing Research.