The Fairfield athletic department announced Wednesday what had been reported more than a week ago in a CBSSportsline column: that ChampSearch, a leading head-hunting firm, has been hired to kick off the search process as the university looks for its next men’s basketball coach.
The CBS report about the hiring was what cemented speculation that former Head Coach Tim O’Toole would not be back for the 2006-07 season.
O’Toole announced after the Stags’ 84-77 MAAC tournament loss to Niagara on March 3 that he and his staff would not return for another year.
Athletic Director Gene Doris told The Mirror on March 7 that the work done by the firm would be the first of a three-part process.
It will be responsible for generating a list of candidates who it feels will be a good fit for the university, and for doing background checks on all potential candidates.
The search will then be passed on to a committee of alumni and others with connections to the university, which will choose a list of finalists to present to Doris.
The final stage will be an evaluation process by Doris and his staff, and will include input from a player representative.
“We are extremely pleased to have engaged the services of ChampSearch,” Doris said in a statement. “Their expertise in presenting candidates for the right fit is one of the main reasons for choosing the firm to assist us in selecting our next men’s basketball coach.”
Most of the speculation early on has been about Pete Gillen, the former coach at Xavier, Providence and Virginia who played basketball and baseball at Fairfield in the 1960s.
But Doris told The Mirror earlier this week that he will listen to the recommendations of the firm and the committee before making a final decision.
Leave a Reply