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Fairfield Stags basketball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fairfield Stags | |
 |
|
| University | Fairfield University |
|---|---|
| Conference | MAAC |
| Location | Fairfield, CT |
| Head Coach | Ed Cooley (1st year) |
| Arena | Arena at Harbor Yard (Capacity: 10,000) |
| Nickname | Stags |
| Colors | Cardinal and White
|
| Conference Tournament Champions | |
| 1986, 1987, 1997 | |
| Conference Regular Season Champions | |
| 1986 | |
The Fairfield Stags men's basketball team has experienced the thrill of post-season tournament action twelve times (1951 NAIB Tournament; 1960, 1961 and 1962 NCAA DII Tournament; 1973, 1974, 1978, 1995 and 2002 National Invitation Tournament (NIT); and 1986, 1987, and 1997 NCAA DI Tournament). In the 1997 NCAA Tournament, the Stags lost to top-seeded North Carolina, despite leading by seven points at halftime. Individually, Deng Gai '05 was the nation's top shot blocker in 2005 with 5.5 blocks per game which ranks #5 on the NCAA's all-time blocked shot average list. Thirteen Stags have been either drafted or signed to play in the National Basketball Association. The men play their home games in the 9,500 seat, state of the art Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT where Fairfield University hosted the Bridgeport regional of the 2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament and will host the upcoming 2007 MAAC Men's Basketball Championship and will co-host with Yale University the Division I NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Regional in 2009 and 2011. Record Book: Men's Basketball
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Through the efforts of Rev. Victor Leeber, S.J., Fairfield University introduced men's basketball in 1948 and has since played 57 continuous seasons of hoops through the 2005-06 season. Fairfield played its first-ever game against Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, NY, losing 46-78, and won its first-ever game that season against Hillyer College (now the University of Hartford), 47-37, in Bridgeport, CT at the Bridgeport Armory, Fairfield's original home court. During the 1950-1951 season, under new Head Coach James Hanrahan, the still fledgling program experienced its first winning season with a 16-11 overall record and received the school's first ever postseason berth in the 1951 NAIA National Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.
During the 1958-1959 season Head Coach George Bisacca took over the program and proceeded to elevate the Stags to a higher level experiencing only 1 losing season in 10 years. The Stags received three straight postseason berths to the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship Tournament between 1960 and 1962 and advanced to the 2nd round in 1960 and 1961. On the heals of this postseason success, Fairfield upgraded the program up to Division 1 hoops during the 1964-1965 season.
The most successful stretch of Fairfield basketball occurred under Head Coach Fred Barakat when the Stags received three berths in the post-season NIT in six years and was chronicled in the book, 25 Years Plus One: Recounting the Meteoric Rise of Fairfield Basketball, by Connecticut sportswriter, Don Harrison. During the 1972-73 season the Stags finished with a 18-9 overall record and were invited to the post-season NIT for the first time in the programs history. In the 1st round, Captain George Groom led the Stags to a 80-76 victory over Marshall University playing before 13,904 fans at Madison Square Garden. In the 2nd round, the Stags fell 76-77 to the eventual National Champion Virginia Tech Gooblers before more than 17,000 fans. The Stags followed up this success with a 17-9 overall record and a second invitation to the post-season NIT during the 1973-74 season. In the 1st round, Captain Richie O'Connor led the Stags to a 37-32 halftime lead before falling 65-66 to the University of Hawaii before 17,739 fans. The Stags returned to the post-season NIT for the third time during the 1977-78 season following the program's first 20 win season (22-5 overall) and a record point setting 123-108 victory over the then 14th ranked Holy Cross Crusaders. In the 1st round of the tournament, Junior Mark Young led the Stags with a 32 performance in a 93-108 losing effort to the Dayton Flyers.
During the 1995-96 season Head Coach Paul Cormier led the Stags to a 20-10 overall record, an appearance in the MAAC championship game and the program's fourth berth in the NIT. In the opening round of the NIT, the Stags played the Providence College Friars before 6,368 fans at the New Haven Coliseum. Led by Shannon Bowman the Stags held a 46-43 half time lead before eventually falling 78-69 to the Friars.
Picked to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 1996-97, Fairfield suffered through an injury-plagued regular season and finished in last place. But the Stags made a Cinderella run in the MAAC tournament, defeating top seed Iona, St. Peter's and Canisius to capture the league's automatic berth in the 1997 NCAA Tournament despite an 11-18 record. Fairfield then gave top seeded North Carolina all it could handle in the first round of the East Region in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Stags opened a 37-28 lead early in the second half before their bid to become the first 16 seed to win a NCAA Tournament game fell short, 82-74.
In 2002, Stags basketball moved from the comfy confines of the on-campus Alumni Hall to the new state-of-the-art 10,000 seat Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT. During that same season, Head Coach Tim O'Toole '87 led the Stags to an 19-12 overall record, an appearance to the MAAC tournament championship game, and the program's fifth berth in the NIT. In the opening round of the NIT, Nick Delfico led the Stags with 14 points in a 90-78 losing effort to the Boston College Eagles before 6,500 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard. During 2004-2005 season, Deng Gai '05 led the nation in shots blocked with 5.5 blocks per game and graduated as number eight on the NCAA's all-time blocked shots list.
On April 11, 2006, Ed Cooley (former Boston College Eagles assistant coach) was announced as the program's 11th Head Coach ushering in a new era of Stags basketball. With a renewed commitment to reestablishing the winning basketball tradition at Fairfield, Coach Cooley quickly signed a talented recruiting class to join veteran leaders Michael van Schiack, Danny Ogelsby, Marty O'Sullivan, All-MAAC Rookie Herbie Allen and Jon Han (of MTV Nike Battlegrounds fame). The new Stags include 6'7" Roi Bookbinder (Tel Aviv, Israel), 6'8" Iowa State transfer Mike Evanovich (Storrs, CT), 6'8" Anthony Johnson (Lake Wales, FL), 6'4" Devin Johnson (Richmond, VA), 6'7" Richard Fleming (Chester, PA) and 6'6" Greg Nero (Red Hook, NY). Nero was the only one of these recruits to be signed by O'Toole, and he also led his high school squad to a berth in the New York State regional final and was the Most Valuable Player of the Mid-Hudson Athletic League. Devin Johnson was the Richmond Metro Player of the Year. And with a renewed excitement surrounding the program, Stags fans are looking forward to the upcoming 2006-2007 season with an out of conference slate featuring the Boston College Eagles of the ACC; the UConn Huskies, Georgetown Hoyas and Providence Friars of the Big East; the St. Joseph's Hawks and Fordham Rams of the Atlantic 10, the Ole Miss Rebels of the SEC; and the Holy Cross Crusaders and Loyola Ramblers.
| Years | Head Coach | Record | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948-1949 | Joe Dunn | 9-14 | - |
| 1949-1950 | Bob Noonan | 5-16 | - |
| 1950-1958 | James Hanrahan | 82-79 | 1951 NAIB |
| 1958-1968 | George Bisacca | 151-85 | 1960 NCAA, 1961 NCAA, 1962 NCAA |
| 1968-1970 | Jim Lynam | 23-29 | - |
| 1970-1981 | Fred Barakat | 160-128 | 1972 NIT, 1973 NIT, 1978 NIT |
| 1981-1985 | Terry O'Conner | 45-68 | - |
| 1985-1991 | Mitch Buonoguoro | 80-103 | 1985 NCAA, 1986 NCAA |
| 1991-1998 | Paul Cormier | 86-111 | 1996 NIT, 1997 NCAA |
| 1998-2006 | Tim O'Toole | 112-120 | 2003 NIT |
| 2006- | Ed Cooley | 13-19 | - |
| - | Total | 753-753 | - |
| Player | Year | Round | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Rafferty | 1965 | 16th | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Bill Jones | 1968 | 7th | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Art Kenny | 1968 | 18th | Baltimore Bullets |
| Rich O'Connor | 1974 | 8th | Kansas City-Omaha |
| Phil Rogers | 1974 | 10th | Buffalo Braves |
| Danny Odums | 1976 | 6th | Buffalo Braves |
| Steve Balkun | 1978 | 7th | Boston Celtics |
| Kim Fisher | 1978 | 8th | Boston Celtics |
| Joe DeSantis | 1979 | 2nd | Washington Bullets |
| Mark Young | 1979 | 2nd | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Pete DeBisschop | 1983 | 4th | Seattle Sonics |
| A.J. Wynder | 1987 | Free Agent | Boston Celtics |
| Deng Gai | 2005 | Free Agent | Philadelphia 76ers |
- Official team site
- Fairfield Stags Video Streaming
- The Unofficial Fairfield Stags Message Board
- Mirror Sports Blog: Covering Fairfield Athletics
- Mirror Sports Forums