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Rutgers women's basketball has Hope. Masonius comes home for new beginning | Exclusive
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- Rutgers women's basketball has Hope. Masonius comes home for new beginning | Exclusive
PISCATAWAY -- The last time Hope Masonius played an official basketball game inside the Jersey Mike's Arena was when she won a girls basketball state championship for Manasquan High School -- now, a little over two years later, she'll be wearing a Rutgers jersey as a transfer.
Hope spent two years at Bucknell - a knee injury forced her to redshirt as a freshman but the 5-9 guard began her comeback by seeing action in 23 games last season, despite not being fully healthy.
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Now she's getting a fresh start back in her native Garden State. When asked to sum up her first two collegiate seasons, Masonius said it was all about "resilience."
"I was injured all two years I was at Bucknell and then just kept fighting to get back and everything," Masonius said. "So I would say I'm just ready to finally be able to play again. Just work hard and come back from those injuries."
Rutgers Hope Masonius runs back on defense
Rutgers opens the season Monday, Nov. 2 at home against Long Island University.
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Hope close to family while at Rutgers
Her older sister Faith also transferred back to New Jersey to play her graduate year with Seton Hall. Faith won three state titles and scored over 2,000 career points at Manasquan.
It's not only a fresh new start for Hope, but for first-year head coach Gary Redus II as well.
"Hope is great," Redus said. "Hope comes from a really storied family around here, that's what I learned. I kind of knew that before bringing Hope in. Hope wanted to come to Rutgers. Hope wanted to be a part of what Jersey is and I think that she kind of had an understanding of what I was trying to build and she wanted to be a part of it."
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Now that family members are only a trip on Route 18 away, they're able to come to more of her games. Masonius has nine other siblings that played sports. Her brothers TJ and Christian both played lacrosse in college, brother Joseph played hockey at UConn, plus sisters Ellen and Addie also played Division I basketball. Her mom Ellen was an assistant coach at UConn.
Hope Masonius goes up for layup at Rutgers practice
Hope dropped 18 in that high school state title game two years ago and finished her high school career with over 1,000 points, but her role is a bit different now in Piscataway. Coming from the legendary head coach Lisa Kukoda's program, Hope comes from a high-energy and defensive-minded program, traits that Redus wants to see in his team.
."We're very defensive-minded team," Hope said. "Attacking the offense and just being really aggressive, grabbing all of those rebounds so I'm definitely trying to be the best defender I can be becuase I feel like with my aggressiveness I can really help the team with that."
Rutgers 2026-27 women's basketball team in huddle
"Hope is great for energy and she's great for practice," Redus said. "Hope told me from the very beginning - me and Hope have a very good understanding of her role. We need her to come in, we need her to be positive, we need her to bring energy and we need her to practice really hard every single day and that's what she's been able to do."
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She's not the only Jersey player to transfer back home. Former Tennessee guards Mia and Mya Pauldo are also now Scarlet Knights. The twin sisters were nationally ranked guards out of Morris Catholic and won three state titles. Though Masonius never played against the twins in high school, they still knew each other on the AAU circuit. "Now they're my best friends," Hope says.
Team-wise, Rutgers aims to make it to the NCAA Tournament this year for the first time since 2021.
Coming back home gave Faith a boost and Hope envisions having an experience similar to her sister's. "We're very close with our family so there was no question about coming home being exciting," Hope said. "That was kind of in my mind with transferring as well, so it was fun that I was able to come home just like Faith did."
"As a family we're so excited to see Hope in a place that truly feels like home to her, She's flourishing - everything she's wanted in a school - basketball, great teammates, great coaches, a social life, academics, location and family close," Faith said. "We're all so excited to go to all of her games this year"
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers women's basketball has Hope. Masonius comes home for new beginning | Exclusive
