With more than 500 wins, 27 seasons and four NCAA berths, Fairfield’s women’s basketball Head Coach Dianne Nolan has made herself quite a home here at Fairfield. However, the continuing rumors of this being Nolan’s last season are a constant cloud over the Stags.

“Any time a program has lost; this surfaces disappointment,” said Athletic Director Eugene Doris. “There are always going to be questions raised, especially from Alumni.”

However, Doris did continue to say that these decisions are made on a year-to-year basis, and “no decision is made beforehand.”

The standards are set high for Nolan, who is starting her 28th season, but with a new coaching staff behind her and a plethora of returning players and rookies, she is excited about the upcoming season.

“You take it season by season and I’m enjoying coaching now more than ever,” Nolan said. “I feel we have the team, staff and backing of administration where it needs to be.”

Nolan also said one of her goals for the year is to win a game in the NCAA tournament, because it has yet to be done.

Looking to head up the season for the Stags is junior point-guard Sabra Wrice and sophomore Baendu Lowenthal, who were both named to preseason All-MAAC teams.

Wrice was honored with second team All-MAAC last season, while Lowenthal was part of the All-MAAC rookie team.

Like Nolan, the team seems to be looking in the same direction for the upcoming season.

“MAAC champs and NCAA post-season is always a goal,” said Wrice. “We have a different attitude [this year], more positive and better practices.”

Teammate Megan Caskin ’09 agreed with Wrice that things are different from the previous year.

“We are much more focused,” she said of her team and practices.

Wrice and Caskin attribute this to the new coaching staff which has helped bring new ideas. These new ideas have been funneled by Destiney Avent and Craig Madzinski, the newest additions to the coaching staff behind Nolan and Associate Head Coach John Paladino.

Avent, who was brought on in June, comes from three years of experience from her alma mater, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she served as assistant coach.

Madzinski, who signed on in May, was the assistant coach at Army for one season.

However, will these new additions be enough to keep Nolan at Fairfield?

According to Doris, there is a broad standard for these types of situations that takes into consideration recruiting and academics, wins and loses and how the team behaves on and off the floor.

“Every program and coach stands on their own,” Doris said of evaluations and progress. “The level of expectation is a part of an evaluation from the year before and varies from year to year.”

Doris continued by saying that evaluating a coach goes farther than just looking at the previous season.

“You can be on one day and off another. You have to look at where the program is overall,” Doris said. “Basketball is the emotional sport for the Alumni. Fairfield built its Division 1 heritage on it.”

However, it seems that a losing season can also be dangerous to the fate of a coach, as Fairfield saw last season with the loss of men’s basketball Head Coach Tim O’Toole.

Regardless of O’Toole’s departure, Nolan has yet to feel the pressure.

“The world of athletics is a world of pressure,” Nolan said. “You want to win every game and keep focused on your team.”

Going to the NCAA is more than just a good season according to Doris, “going to the NCAA is having a good weekend.”

The Stags’ commanding 65-39 win over Bridgeport shows that they have weapons to fire and are right on track for the season. So coming or going?

As for now it seems Nolan is here to stay.

About The Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.