Five highly distinguished inductees will be added to the Drew University Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 22. The induction ceremony will take place in Drew University’s Dorothy Young Center for the Arts Concert Hall, beginning at 6 p.m. A reception will be held in Mead Hall at the conclusion of the ceremony. The event was originally scheduled to be held in the fall of 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University’s 30th Hall of Fame class will honor Vincent Masco (administrator/coach – baseball, men’s basketball), Kevin Diverio ’90 (men’s basketball, baseball), Melissa Morgan-Hostetler ’92 (women’s soccer, women’s basketball, softball), Joseph Keiser ’00 (baseball, men’s basketball) and Gerry McGrath ’76 (men’s soccer).
Masco completed a 42-year career at Drew before retiring in May 2020. He served in multiple capacities throughout his time at the Forest and for a nine-year stretch was the head coach of both the baseball and men’s basketball teams. Masco was head baseball coach for 28 years (1984-2011), and finished as the longest-tenured and with the best coach-record in the program’s history. He accumulated 387 wins while leading the Rangers to four MAC Freedom Conference playoff appearances and five ECAC Tournament berths. He was named the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Coach of the Year in 1998 and followed up with the Freedom Conference Coach of the Year Award in 1999. For his career, Masco coached 49 All-MAC selections, 16 NJCBA All-State players, 10 ECAC All-Stars and three All-Region performers. After his retirement as baseball coach, Masco had his No.19 jersey retired at Doc Young Field in 2014.
Masco was initially hired at Drew as assistant men’s basketball coach and assistant to the athletic director. He was elevated to head basketball coach from 1986-95 and led the Rangers to 77 wins while coaching six 1,000-point scorers. Masco also served as associate AD for his last nine years at the Forest.
Diverio made his mark as an outstanding playmaker for the Ranger men’s basketball team. A three-year starting point guard, he dished out 431 assists for his career – a school record that held up for 29 years until it was broken in 2020. He also set Drew’s single-season assists record in 1988-89 with a mark (137) that lasted 11 seasons and currently ranks fourth. Throughout his career, he played alongside three different 1,000-point scorers who would all become Drew Hall of Famers. Diverio also played baseball for three seasons as an outfielder and tied the school record for runs in a game (five).
Post-collegiately, Diverio has made a name for himself as a highly-successful boys basketball coach at his alma mater, Don Bosco Prep, winning over 500 games and capturing a pair of state championships. He is a member of both the Don Bosco Prep and New Jersey State Coaches Association Halls of Fame.
Morgan-Hostetler established herself as a three-sport athlete and was honored as Drew’s Senior Female Athlete of the Year. In soccer, she was a three-time CSANJ All-Star and a two-time team MVP who scored 18 goals for her career. She also passed out 17 assists, which ranks seventh in school history. In basketball, Morgan-Hostetler played in 58 games and made 38 starts, finishing among the school’s all-time leaders in both assists per game (3.4) and steals per game (2.7). She was off to an impressive start during her sophomore campaign, leading Division III in free-throw shooting through seven games at 96.4% (27-28) before suffering a season-ending injury. In addition, she helped pioneer the softball team in just its second year of existence during her senior campaign, playing in all 18 games while batting .302.
Following graduation, Morgan-Hostetler was a successful head girls’ soccer coach at both South Windsor and Ellington High Schools in Connecticut, winning over 200 matches and capturing nine conference championships. She was inducted into the South Windsor High School Hall of Fame in 2019.
Keiser turned in a tremendous career as a two-sport athlete and was especially impressive on the diamond, where he was one of the top pitchers in program history. He was a three-time All-MAC Freedom Conference selection and was named the Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Year as a senior, when he posted a 1.23 ERA. For his career, Keiser compiled a 22-10 record to go with a 3.19 ERA while striking out 153 batters over 40 games, 30 starts, and 214 2/3 innings pitched. He holds the school record for career wins and is also fourth in strikeouts and fifth in ERA. He helped lead the Rangers to a highly-successful four-year run, which included three 20-win seasons, a Freedom Conference regular-season title (1999) and an appearance in the ECAC final (2000).
In basketball, Keiser was a 1,000-point scorer as a shooting guard, leading the Rangers in scoring in each of his last three seasons and netting a career-high of 15.0 points per game as a senior. His 1,026 points rank seventeenth in school history, and he is also 12th all-time at Drew in 3-pointers made (152). In addition, he shared the previous school record for 3-pointers in a game when he knocked down eight versus Moravian. Keiser has served as the principal of Franklin Avenue Middle School in Franklin Lakes, N.J. since 2011.
McGrath arrived at Drew as a 28-year-old sophomore from Belfast, Ireland. With an advanced skill set and precise passing ability, he joined a talented squad that included five future Drew Hall of Famers and helped lead the Rangers to an incredible three-year run that resulted in a combined record of 32-9-5 and the 1973 MAC title. He became just the second 100-point scorer in program history, finishing with 107 points on 39 goals and 29 assists. McGrath continues to rank among Drew’s all-time leaders and is second in assists, fifth in points, and tied for ninth in goals. He was a two-time All-MAC Northern Division selection and the team MVP during his senior campaign.
Post-collegiately, McGrath embarked on a career as a high school teacher and soccer coach at the collegiate, high school, and semi-professional levels. During his tenure as head coach at Randolph (N.J.) High School, he was named Coach of the Year by the Daily Record, the Star-Ledger and twice by the Morris County Coaches Association while guiding the team to conference, county and state championships.
To purchase tickets to the ceremony, visit https://www.drew.edu/advancement/our-events/hall-of-fame-21/.
