Cooley and Stags Start Season with Split of Exhibition Games

Ed Cooley

Little seems to have changed since last season for the Stags and head coach Ed Cooley. The injuries are already piling up.

Three starters from the beginning of last season, Warren Edney, Yorel Hawkins, Greg Nero, all missed parts or all of the exhibition games that started the season. Young players have been thrust into the spotlight and forced into a starting role.

It was a bit of an auspicious start for Fairfield as a result. A loss to the Division II foe University of Bridgeport in an exhibition game on Friday night. But the Stags were able to bounce back with a victory against Cooley’s alma mater, Stonehill on Monday.
Freshman point guard Derek Needham averaged 16 points in the two games, including a team-high 23 against Stonehill.

Cooley said that with Needham, fellow freshman Colin Nickerson and red-shirt freshman Shimeek Johnson thrust into key roles, it will take time for the Stags to mesh.

“Young team’s grow. It is definitely going to take some time,” Cooley said following the loss to Bridgeport. “You talk about execution and game-planning, these guys haven’t been through that, at least not to the extent they are now. Knowing the other personnel, knowing your personnel, that is a lot to learn.

“But at the same time I like what I see. I like what I have. I think it is just a matter of time for us to hit our stride,” Cooley added.
Nickerson, who scored 14 points and had four steals against Stonehill, agreed that the move to the college level has been tough.
“It’s a big transition from high school basketball,” Nickerson said. “Tonight was a learning experience and we can’t wait for the next game.”

[poll id=”5″]

Fairfield saw limited production from its front line, mainly veterans Anthony Johnson and Mike Evanovich, as well as sophomore Ryan Olander, in the two exhibition games. Johnson missed most of last season after he was hospitalized with a blood clot and just started playing basketball again in the fall.

The Stags season starts quickly with three games in five days, including a trip to play ACC-opponent Maryland, in College Park.
But before that trip the Stags play in the first annual Connecticut Six tournament against Central Connecticut State, at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Friday night. They also face Fordham in Alumni Hall on Sunday night.

The Stags were picked first in the CT Six coaches poll, over Central Connecticut, Sacred Heart, Hartford and Yale. Anthony Johnson was named to the preseason CT Six team.