Fairfield University announced on Monday, Oct. 16 that men’s basketball head coach Jay Young is stepping down from his position, according to a report from fairfieldstags.com that announced a leadership transition for the men’s team.
Taking the reins in the interim is Chris Casey, who has served as an assistant coach on Young’s staff the previous four seasons. He will assume duties effective immediately, as he and the Stags will continue preparing for their season tip-off, which takes place at 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 6 against Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Brought on board in 2019, Young leaves the Stags after four seasons behind the bench, guiding the program to a 50-73 record in his tenure as the Stags head man. The major highlight of his coaching tenure was guiding the Stags to a Cinderella-story run in the 2021 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament, falling to coach Rick Pitino’s Iona University Gaels in the finals, 60-51 as the tenth seed.
Prior to joining the herd, Young served as an assistant under Steve Pickell at Rutgers University for the first three seasons of Pickell’s head coaching tenure in New Brunswick, N.J. Prior to that, he served under Pikiell at Stony Brook University for the entirety of his tenure from 2005-2016, punching a ticket to March Madness in his final season. Before that, he had served as a coach in different capacities for 18 seasons, including a four-year head coaching stint at the University of New Haven and a four-year stint as the head boss at Newbury College.
Casey will take the reins with some previous head coaching experience. He has previously served as the head coach at fellow MAAC foe Niagara University from 2013-2019, going 64-129 with one CollegeInsider.com (CIT) tournament appearance in 2018. Prior to that, he led the Long Island University Post Pioneers for three seasons, and had some Big East exposure as an assistant on the Saint John’s University coaching staff before obtaining that gig from 2006-2010. He also served at Rutgers University-Newark from 1998-2001 as the bench boss for the Scarlet Raiders.
This is also the second consecutive preseason that a MAAC men’s basketball team sees coaching staff changes, as former Manhattan College head coach Steve Masiello was relieved of his duties last October just prior to their season opener as Manhattan started preparations for a “rebuilding from the top down.” The Jaspers eventually hired John Gallagher as their new head coach for this season.
For more news regarding the Fairfield University men’s basketball team, please visit www.fairfieldstags.com.
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