For the first time in over 15 years, 2,300 members of the “Red Sea” will don red and white shirts and file into Alumni Hall on November 9 to kick off the basketball season with a fervent sense of hope.
It’s safe to say it will be a night to remember.
The Stags start their season with a renewed sense of pride, optimism and dedication that we haven’t seen in years for one main reason: they’ll be led to the court by a new head coach.
Not just any coach, a coach that demands excellence; a coach that promises to intensely recruit all year long; a coach that brings with him the promise of a hopeful future, one that will potentially bring Fairfield back to the glory of the bygone years Alumni Hall has seen.
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Ed Cooley, the man who is here to save Fairfield basketball.
On April 11, 2006 Cooley was announced as the 11th head coach in Fairfield Men’s basketball history. He replaces Tim O’Toole, who led Fairfield to a 112-120 record and only one appearance in the MAAC championship in nine seasons. Needless to say, it was obvious that a change was needed. Luckily for Fairfield, the Boston College assistant coach just happened to be available.
Ed Cooley began his coaching career at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He later went on to coach for one season at Stonehill College, his alma mater. He then moved to University of Rhode Island, where he was a part of Coach Al Skinner’s staff for the Rams. A year later Skinner and his workforce moved on to Chestnut Ridge to take over the reigns at Boston College.
Cooley spent nine seasons as an assistant coach under Al Skinner at BC. During his coaching tenure the Eagles had five 20-win seasons and qualified for the NCAA tournament five times. Last season the Eagles advanced to the ACC championship game against Duke, and in March made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, losing to top-ranked Villanova by one point.
Any follower of BC basketball knows that Cooley, aside from being a dedicated recruiter behind the scenes, was a visible sight on the bench because of his enthusiasm and desire to win. At the April press conference introducing Coach Cooley, Fairfield athletic director Eugene P. Doris cited “enthusiasm” and “success as a top-notch recruiter” as the main reason for bringing in the talented coach.
A large part of the recruiting battle in the years to come will be convincing potential players that Fairfield’s basketball future is bright. He took over the recruiting portion of the job at BC in 2001 when Tim O’Brien left to become the head coach at Ohio State.
However, it is one thing to accumulate the nation’s best talent at BC, a renowned school with a prestigious athletic program, but it is another to do so here.
That is the task given to Coach Cooley. Fairfield is his opportunity to build his own program. For his first head coaching job he not only has to prepare a team for the upcoming season, but also restore a wounded basketball program that is coming off of a 9-19 season in which they finished 8th in the MAAC conference.
Thus far he has done all that right things toward taking Fairfield in the direction of a flourishing program with a winning legacy. The incoming freshman class is full of promise, as the students’ height addresses Fairfield’s Achilles’ heel, size. That is in addition to a very talented sophomore class (Jonathan Han and Herbie Allen), as well as some hope next year from Iowa State transfer Michael Evanovich, who retains eligibility for another three years.
Aside from the recruiting battle, one of the toughest schedules in school history ensures that the Stags will be playing premier competitions every week. In addition to the normal MAAC rivalries, Fairfield also has scheduled games against basketball powerhouse UConn, Cooley’s former employer Boston College and other elite programs, such as Georgetown and St. Joseph’s.
Students hope to see the desired result right away, but it is apparent that Coach Cooley’s grand plan of a return to glory has already begun.
It all starts on a Saturday night in early November when the dilapidated doors and basketball-starved wooden court of Alumni Hall finally gets what it has longed deserved: another basketball game. It is the ultimate irony: the school’s past glory and tradition comes face-to-face with its future in the form of new coach Ed Cooley and the 2006-2007 Stags.
It will certainly be a night to remember.
And if Ed Cooley has anything to do about it, it will be one of many unforgettable nights to come.
Leave a Reply