By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com Editor

Mike Masto is returning to the bench where his high school coaching career started.

The 37-year-old has been hired as the new Franklin boys basketball coach, replacing CJ Neely who stepped down last month after a decade at the helm that culminated in the program’s first ever state championship in March.

Masto has been a physical education teacher in the Franklin Public Schools for nearly 20 years, and spent three years as the program’s freshman coach under Dean O’Connor, and then three years as the JV coach under Neely.

“Obviously I’m really excited for the opportunity,” Masto told HockomockSports.com. “It’s an incredible opportunity to build on the relationships I already have with the kids I teach and to be part of such a strong program. It just felt like the right fit for me and my family. Leaving Natick wasn’t easy — I loved the players and people there, and it was definitely a tough decision.

“I’ve been really fortunate to work under two amazing head coaches, and I want to carry on that tradition. I’m looking forward to continuing what’s been built here.”

Masto spent two years as the head coach at Walpole after his time at Franklin and has been the head coach at Natick since 2019. He guided the Redhawks to a Bay State Conference Carey Division title in his first year at the helm, and reached the Division 1 Central quarterfinals before falling to the Panthers. He currently lives in Franklin.

“There’s a standard for excellence at Franklin,” Masto said. “We want to hold our athletes to a high standard — hard work yields results. The athletes here are incredibly hardworking; they all want to be the best. You can’t help but admire the grit, the toughness, the discipline, the will to win that this program has. You look at guys like Caden Sullivan and Paul Mahon — those are the types of players you admire as a coach. Those are the kinds of kids you want to go to bat for.”

Franklin has reached the state championship in back-to-back seasons, falling to Worcester North in 2024 but came back this past season and beat Newton North. The Panthers also have gone undefeated at 16-0 against league opponents over the last two years, which is the first time a team has done that in 50 years (Oliver Ames in 1975 and 1976).

“I’ll bring my own version of things — some new energy, maybe a different way of doing certain things,” Masto said. “There are a million ways to play the game — zone, man, press — there are so many variations, so mine will naturally look a little different. My goal is to expand on what they already know. Being the state champions last year, I’d be crazy to change too much. But we’re going to bring what we believe is the best way to win basketball games, and we’re going to keep pushing to make the program even stronger.”