On Campus

The Hearst CT Local College Sports Blog
with William S. Paxton

Archive for August, 2012

Davis to prep school, Van Nes on mend at Fairfield

Thursday, August 30, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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DAVIS GOES TO PREP SCHOOL: Freshman guard Lincoln Davis will not be attending Fairfield University this season due to academic reasons.
Davis, who was supposed to be part of a seven-player freshmen class, will instead attend New Hampton prep school in New Hampshire and play basketball there.
Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said Davis remains in the Stags’ future plans, still has a scholarship waiting for him and is expected to be with the program next season.

VVN ON THE MEND: Seven-foot sophomore Vincent Van Nes had successful minor surgery on his foot recently and is expected to be with the Stags in October when they began practice. It is the second surgery for the center from Dorchester, England native this season.
Johnson said he was still expects Van Nes, who missed all of last season, to be an active part of this year’s team.

SCHEDULE ISSUES: The Stags still do not know their opponents for the preseason NIT, but they are expected to be in the Virginia pod of the tournament.
In a related scheduling note for this season the starting times for the Connecticut 6 are expected to be released on Friday. Fairfield will open the season with Central Connecticut State while Sacred Heart will play Yale. Quinnipiac and Hartford are the third game in the one-day event, which will be hosted on Nov. 9 by Hartford.

FUTURE OF MAAC?: Johnson was as curious as anyone else about what the MAAC plans to do after losing Loyola to the Patriot League on Wednesday.

The league will have one more season with 10 teams before the defending champion Greyhounds leave for the Patriot, leaving the MAAC with only nine teams. Johnson said he did not know if the MAAC would add more teams or not.

Quinnipiac to the MAAC?

Thursday, August 30, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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With Loyola, Md. announcing on Wednesday it was leaving for the Patriot League next season, a quick name that surfaced as a potential replacement in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was Quinnipiac University.
I exchanged emails with QU athletics director Jack McDonald on Thursday morning about whether his school would be looking to join the MAAC.
“These are interesting times in intercollegiate athletics and I am sure all Presidents and Athletic Directors are watching how these changes will impacts their institutions, athletic programs and conferences,” McDonald wrote. “Quinnipiac is very pleased with our membership in the Northeast Conference and we are planning on another successful 2012-13 season in the NEC.”
Translation: QU is content for now in the NEC, but who knows what might happen in the future.
On Wednesday, Fairfield AD Gene Doris said he was not sure if, or how quickly, the MAAC would even fill the void left by Loyola heading to the Patriot League.
The addition of Quinnipiac to the MAAC would certainly be an easy travel adjustment for the other schools since the Hamden-based university would be within an hour or two of seven of the conference schools. Canisius and Niagara would be the exceptions.
Also, the $52 million TD Bank Sports Center that opened in 2007 would be an attractive place to play for the other schools. Retired Boston Globe writer Bob Ryan called it “showcase facility of New England” for college basketball.
And locally, a QU-Fairfield rivalry would be a new twist to the collegiate landscape in our state – and one that couldn’t be avoided like the now defunct Sacred Heart-Fairfield basketball series has become.

Loyola to leave MAAC

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Loyola lacrosse players Eric Lusby (12), T.J. Harris, left, and Michael Bonitatibus (1) celebrate their 9-3 victory over Maryland in the Division I NCAA men's lacrosse championship game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Monday, May 28, 2012.

Loyola, Md. announced Tuesday morning that it will be leaving the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and joining the Patriot League prior to the start of the 2013-14 school year.

The move means the MAAC, which includes Fairfield University, will be down to nine teams. Fairfield athletics director Gene Doris was not available for comment on the Loyola move on Tuesday morning.

The move seems to be as much for academic reasons as athletics. The Patriot League tops all NCAA Division I conferences in graduation rates, according to an NCAA report. Loyola had 11 teams with perfect graduation rates in the most recent reports, according to the Baltimore Sun.

MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor said the MAAC’s presidents will discuss Loyola’s departure at a previously scheduled conference call next Tuesday.

Ensor told Hearst Connecticut Media Group it wasn’t the first time the Patriot League had approached Loyola, and that the move was mainly for academic reasons.

Ensor said he had been aware of the possibility of the Greyhounds’ departure for about six weeks. Loyola President Brian Linnane called Ensor Wednesday morning to tell him the move was official.

“Loyola was a good member and they made a business decision not reflective on the MAAC, but consistent with decisions made by many schools that have changed conferences in recent months,” Ensor said in a statement. “Over the past two years the league has discussed in detail how league realignment has impacted Division I conferences and unfortunately it now has extended to the MAAC.”

Pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if the MAAC would look at Quinnipiac as a potential replacement. The past few years there have been rumors that Quinnipiac was looking at other conferences, specifically the Atlantic 10.

Carril, Gillen to attend Fairfield coaching clinc Oct. 28.

Monday, August 27, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Former Princeton coach Pete Carril and former Fairfield coach Pete Gillen will be featured speakers at the upcoming Fairfield University Coaches Clinic on Oct. 28 at Alumni Hall.  The clinic, which starts with a 9 .m. registration, will be hosted by Fairfield men’s basketball coach Sydney Johnson, who played for Carril at Princeton.

Johnson will begin the clinic at 9:45 am, followed by Carril who sill will speak about skills development. Following lunch, Gillen will speak on zone offense, while Williams College coach Mike Maker will conclude the clinic with a session on man offense. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentations.

Individuals can register by contacting Kyle Koncz at (203) 254-4000, ext. 2791 or through email at kkoncz@fairfield.edu. The registration fee is $60 before Oct. 21, or $75 during the week of the clinic. Coaching staffs with three or more members may register at rate of $50 per coach.

Sanders signs with 3-yr deal with Israeli team

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Fairfield graduate Rakim Sanders has signed a three-year deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of the top teams in Israel and one of the premier overseas teams the past three decades.

Sanders averaged 16.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in his first and only season with the Stags. He was named first-team All-MAAC and helped the Stags reach the conference finals for the second time in three years.

Since Maccabi has a full roster, it will loan Sanders out to a competing team until a roster spot becomes available. Maccabi scouted Sanders at the Portsmouth Invitational and had been pursuing him for several months. Sanders spent the summer playing for the Golden State Warrioors in the NBA summer league in Las Vegas.

He is expected to leave for training camp before the end of the month.

Fairfield volleyball picked 1st; Milford’s Stapleton on 1st team

Thursday, August 16, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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The Fairfield University volleyball team was picked to finish first in the  Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason poll. Sophomore Caitlin Stapleton (Milford) and junior Rachel Romansky (Denver, Colo.) were named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.

Fairfield topped the poll with 97 points while three-time defending champion Niagara University received 80 points to finish second. Manhattan College finished third with 73 points. The Stags returns 10 members of a squad that went 20-10 overall and 16-2 in the league last season and finished as the runners-up at the 2011 MAAC Championship.

Fairfield’s Van Nes to have 2nd surgery

Monday, August 13, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Fairfield sophomore Vincent Van Nes will have a second surgery on his foot this month and hopes to join the Stags on the basketball court for practices this fall, according to a team source.

The 7-foot Van Nes’ foot issues date back to his high school career . …

Fairfield women’s hoops releases non-league schedule

Thursday, August 9, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Fairfield opens the season on Nov. 13 at Alumni Hall with Brown University. Last season, the Stags topped the Bears, 63-55, on their home court. Fairfield will travel to Butler University on Nov. 17 for the first meeting between the two programs.

The Stags return home for three straight non-league games to close out November and open December. Defending A-10 Champion St. Bonaventure will visit on Nov. 20 followed by the University of Vermont on Nov. 27. The Bonnies have faced Fairfield just once in program history, dropping an 86-70 decision to the Stags during the 1993-94 campaign. Fairfield traveled to Burlington, Vt. last season and was nipped by the Catamounts, 65-48. Fairfield will welcome St. Francis (NY) on Dec. 1 at Alumni Hall. The Stags dominated the Terriers one year ago, posting a 53-30 victory.

Fairfield ventures to Lehigh University on December 6 and three days later will find itself at Iowa State University. The Stags last faced Lehigh at the Christmas City Classic in 2005 and previously traveled to Iowa State in 2009. After breaking for finals, the Stags will host LaSalle University on Dec. 22, a squad in which they defeated 55-52 last season in Philadelphia, Pa. Fairfield closes out non-league play Dec. 28-29 at the Saint Joseph’s Tournament in Philadelphia. The Stags will face the host Hawks, a 2012 Postseason WNIT qualifier and either Wagner or UMBC.

Fairfield went 24-9 overall and 17-3 in the MAAC during the 2011-12 campaign, earning an automatic berth in the WNIT. The Stags hosted their first-ever WNIT game, falling to Drexel University in the first round.

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