I believe Alvin Carter was promised a scholarship before attending Fairfield. But since we did not have one, he walked on and redshirted that 1st year. I think he was also rated high by Hoopscoop (top 300).
The interesting thing about him is that he kinda came in as a 3 player package with Kudjo Sogadzi and Dewitt Maxwell. All 3 played on a great NJ Roadrunner AAU team with Randy Foye (NBA) and 6-10 Fergusan, who both went to Villanova. I think Jerry Hobbie had strong connections with the Roadrunner coach, Sandy Pyonin. Probably was not a good 3 player deal..... One starter, one backup and one bench player
Dewitt became one of the better players in the MAAC. Kudjo, while never a star, certainly had a major role on a couple of very good teams. As the old song parable might say, "two out of three's not bad."
He must have done something really bad to be treated like this :-) but the fact is Paul Horton played for the Stags in 1986-87.
I remember Paul Horton. Yes, that is wrong. If he played for the Stags he should be on that list! Interesting though in looking at the stats from that team. How did they do what they did! One main big guy (Gromos) who obviously had a great year. TOT who was really a guard. had to play power forward. They beat Lionel Simmons and LaSalle plus a loaded Iona team in the tournament. Mitch could really work wonders at that time for sure.
I always wondered how that team finished 7th that year. They had 3 returning starters including Gromos, one of the best all around centers we have had, AJ Winder (the only Stag to ever play in an NBA regular season game-I think), and Ed Golden, a steady point guard. Also Troy Bradford coming off promising freshman year, and of course TOT, playing out of position, but coming back as a 5th year senior. Lots of experience and scoring. I didn't think Mitch did a very good job with that team during regular season, but obviously great tournament.
I believe Alvin Carter was promised a scholarship before attending Fairfield. But since we did not have one, he walked on and redshirted that 1st year. I think he was also rated high by Hoopscoop (top 300).
The interesting thing about him is that he kinda came in as a 3 player package with Kudjo Sogadzi and Dewitt Maxwell. All 3 played on a great NJ Roadrunner AAU team with Randy Foye (NBA) and 6-10 Fergusan, who both went to Villanova. I think Jerry Hobbie had strong connections with the Roadrunner coach, Sandy Pyonin. Probably was not a good 3 player deal..... One starter, one backup and one bench player
Kudjo Sogadzi was from originally from France and he wanted to play basketball in the US. When he came to America he lived with the Carter family. There was a strong desire for these three players to play together (carter, sogadzi, Maxwell) but TOT felt that Alvin was not quite ready to play at this level, and TOT did not have a scholarship to give. The solution was that Alvin would pay his way as a freshman and walkon. He would red shirt as a freshman in order to further develop. He was then offered 4 years of scholarships to play for Fairfield.
This whole matter was not openly discussed at Kudjo was considered a big east level recruit and many thought was Carter was given a scholarship so that we could get Kudjo. Sort of a package deal. The two wanted to play together, and Kudjo had great loyalty to the Carter family. Kudjo and Dewitt both had very good years at Farfield but both's play fell off significantly during their final seasons. Carter who never figured to be more than a support player, ended up playing significant minutes his final season because TOT was really unable to bring anyone in because of the NCAA investigation that was taking place. So we didn't have any players of size except an underskilled Geoff Middleton. Carter essentially ended up playing Center at 6'6", not really a winning formula. To his great credit Alvin Carter worked hard and developed his game. Physically he got much stronger and made the most of his abilities. So even though Carter was probably not the best natural athlete to come to Fairfield, I think his efforts were notable.
I always wondered how that team finished 7th that year. They had 3 returning starters including Gromos, one of the best all around centers we have had, AJ Winder (the only Stag to ever play in an NBA regular season game-I think), and Ed Golden, a steady point guard. Also Troy Bradford coming off promising freshman year, and of course TOT, playing out of position, but coming back as a 5th year senior. Lots of experience and scoring. I didn't think Mitch did a very good job with that team during regular season, but obviously great tournament.
The only legitimate big man that team had was Gromos. Gromos broke his wrist and I believe he missed 14 games following that injury.. Stags lost something like 10 of those 14 games.
We had a very good team that was not a 7th place team. A healthy Fairfield could beat anyone that year. The team was undersized and lacked depth though. Foul trouble or injury to any starter would result in a loss.
Pete Gillen ('68) was also a walk-on. In his freshman year, we had 6 scholarships (Art Kenney, Bill Jones, Larry Cirina, Sol Crenshaw, Ted Sotinsky, and Stan Koberiowski). Pete made the freshman team and moved up to varsity in his sophomore year. By that time, Koberiowski was no longer at Fairfield. At some point, Coach Bisacca awarded Pete one of his available scholarships.
Two others that haven't been mentioned are Gary Martin and Sean Grzeck. They played for Ed Cooley.
I remember the George Mason CIT game where the Stags were stinking up the joint. Cooley put Martin into the game in the first half, essentially sending a message to his starters. I remember wondering if I should head home at that point.
At first Cooley's strategy didn't work and the GMU lead increased to 27 with about 15 minutes to play.
Post by reindeerfan on Feb 13, 2014 12:51:35 GMT -5
Notable Walk-on’s in Fairfield history - UPDATED Now includes Gary Martin, Sean Grzeck, Charles Bentley, Alex Forbes and Pete Gillen Here's some data I threw together on some of the more notable walk-on's in Fairfield history. If I am missing some significant walk on's by all means respond to my post and I research their statistics. These are the players I could think of......
Points Years Played Player Name - Comments 388, 1990-1993 Tim Swartz – probably the all time points leader for a walk on Tim played for 3 seasons and appeared in 72 games. 187, 2001-2006 Alvin Carter – Alvin Redshirted his freshman year and became a scholarship player. His status as a “walk-on” is a little unusual as he redshirted as a freshman and I believe received 4 years of basketball scholarships from Fairfield. Alvin appeared in 96 games, 143 rebounds and 187 career points 72, 1987-1992 Mike Plansky is probably among the all time leaders in games played as a walkon. He appeared in 63 games and scored 72 points. 34, 1994-1997 Brandon Jubrey – hit a three point shot versus Iona in Maac tournament in Albany that I believe led to overtime, appeared in 28 games 22, 2007-2010 Sean Grzeck – Sean appeared in 42 games, 4 steals, 6 assists, 20 rebounds and 22 career points. 21, 2000-2002 Keith Urgo – Keith appeared in 27 games and scored 21 points. 18, 2009-2012 Gary Martin – Gary appeared in 39 games, 4 steals, 5 assists, 6 rebounds, 18 career points. 17, 2002-2006 Charles Bentley - appeared in 34 games, 7 boards, 4 steals, 4 assists and 17 Career points 8, 1965-1968 Pete Gillen – appeared in 6 games as a senior in 1968, 3 for 5 from floor 2-3 from line. Did not appear as a freshman or junior, and if he played any games as a sophomore those statistics are not available. 4, 1987-1989 Alex Forbes - may have appeared in a game during the 1987-1988 season but did not score. Appeared in 3 games in the 88-89 season scoring 4 points all from the line. He was a 100% free throw shooter for his career. He also had 1 block and 1 rebound. 2, 2006-2008 Bajda, Joe – Joe had 2 career points 1, 1969? James Fitzpatrick – I believe he walked on in the late 60’s or appeared in a game while managing the team. He scored 1 or 2 points. Unfortunately during that era stats were only kept on the top 11 scorers per year, so points on walk-on’s are not available. Two points were scored in 1969 by non scholarship players, and 16 points were scored in 1968 by walk-ons. 0, 1988 Pat Murphy – a walk-on in 1988 who appeared in 4 games and did not score.
According to Statsheet Steve Johnston has appeared in 25 games and scored 71 points
Last Edit: Feb 13, 2014 18:11:11 GMT -5 by reindeerfan
I think the Grzeck situation was that he was a walk-on as a frosh, but was promised a scholarship if one was available, and I think he got one his soph year. After that, he left the team. But stayed at Fairfield to graduate. He was a very impressive student, and I had the pleasure dealing with him to try to get him a summer internship at my company...... and also dealt with him as he was a Fundraiser for Lyons-Lademann. He played some important minutes and was 6-8.
Joe Bajda (Kolbe HS) was another walk-on with Cooley. He did not play much, but he did end up working at the same company as me.
I always wondered how that team finished 7th that year. They had 3 returning starters including Gromos, one of the best all around centers we have had, AJ Winder (the only Stag to ever play in an NBA regular season game-I think), and Ed Golden, a steady point guard. Also Troy Bradford coming off promising freshman year, and of course TOT, playing out of position, but coming back as a 5th year senior. Lots of experience and scoring. I didn't think Mitch did a very good job with that team during regular season, but obviously great tournament.
The only legitimate big man that team had was Gromos. Gromos broke his wrist and I believe he missed 14 games following that injury.. Stags lost something like 10 of those 14 games.
We had a very good team that was not a 7th place team. A healthy Fairfield could beat anyone that year. The team was undersized and lacked depth though. Foul trouble or injury to any starter would result in a loss.
You're right Reindeer, the injury factor played an important part in the regular season record. But when Jeff came back the team had the missing piece of a talented big man who could really score. That season became the example of how sticking together through adversity can help rescue a team's legacy through the opportunity of the season ending tournament, and of course this same situation would play itself out in similar fashion a decade later. BTW I am NOT suggesting that that is the way THIS year is going to end. Townie you are right when you say there was experience returning (BTW, Den Gai also made the NBA for a couple regular season games), but don't forget the team had lost from the previous year a couple of very important players in Tony George and Pat Yerina. That certainly hurt the record during the major part of the season as Mitch tried to replace their production.
Post by ctghostman on Feb 13, 2014 16:53:12 GMT -5
Alex played two years as a walk-on. I'm pretty sure he did score a few points on free throws. His highlight was a game vs. Manhattan in 88-89. We had a depleted roster due to guys being banged up/sick. Alex got a few minutes and immediately blocked a shot. Manhattan assistant Tom Blake, who was an assistant with us the year before buried his head in a towel in disbelief.
Another on to add to the list was John Phelan. John transferred in from Colby and had to sit during the 86-87 season. His claim to fame was in what was supposed to be the last game at BCs old arena. John got fouled with a few seconds to go and had a chance to be the last person to score in that arena. He missed both free throws.
In my sophomore year, Pat Murphy looked like he was going to earn some time. He was inserted into an exhibition game during crunch time vs. a foreign team. Pat was guarding their point guard who when coming off a screen elbowed Pat in the nose, breaking it (no foul was called). Pat was stunned but was able to muster what looked like a crappy defense against the guy who then buried a three that clinched the game. Mitch only noticed the crappy defense (not the blood pouring from his nose) and buried Pat to the bench. A few weeks later, Pat was able to practice without a mask.
Notable Walk-on’s in Fairfield history - UPDATED Now includes Gary Martin, Sean Grzeck, Charles Bentley, Alex Forbes and Pete Gillen Here's some data I threw together on some of the more notable walk-on's in Fairfield history. If I am missing some significant walk on's by all means respond to my post and I research their statistics. These are the players I could think of......
Points Years Played Player Name - Comments 388, 1990-1993 Tim Swartz – probably the all time points leader for a walk on Tim played for 3 seasons and appeared in 72 games. 187, 2001-2006 Alvin Carter – Alvin Redshirted his freshman year and became a scholarship player. His status as a “walk-on” is a little unusual as he redshirted as a freshman and I believe received 4 years of basketball scholarships from Fairfield. Alvin appeared in 96 games, 143 rebounds and 187 career points 72, 1987-1992 Mike Plansky is probably among the all time leaders in games played as a walkon. He appeared in 63 games and scored 72 points. 34, 1994-1997 Brandon Jubrey – hit a three point shot versus Iona in Maac tournament in Albany that I believe led to overtime, appeared in 28 games 22, 2007-2010 Sean Grzeck – Sean appeared in 42 games, 4 steals, 6 assists, 20 rebounds and 22 career points. 21, 2000-2002 Keith Urgo – Keith appeared in 27 games and scored 21 points. 18, 2009-2012 Gary Martin – Gary appeared in 39 games, 4 steals, 5 assists, 6 rebounds, 18 career points. 17, 2002-2006 Charles Bentley - appeared in 34 games, 7 boards, 4 steals, 4 assists and 17 Career points 8, 1965-1968 Pete Gillen – appeared in 6 games as a senior in 1968, 3 for 5 from floor 2-3 from line. Did not appear as a freshman or junior, and if he played any games as a sophomore those statistics are not available. 4, 1987-1989 Alex Forbes - may have appeared in a game during the 1987-1988 season but did not score. Appeared in 3 games in the 88-89 season scoring 4 points all from the line. He was a 100% free throw shooter for his career. He also had 1 block and 1 rebound. 2, 2006-2008 Bajda, Joe – Joe had 2 career points 1, 1969? James Fitzpatrick – I believe he walked on in the late 60’s or appeared in a game while managing the team. He scored 1 or 2 points. Unfortunately during that era stats were only kept on the top 11 scorers per year, so points on walk-on’s are not available. Two points were scored in 1969 by non scholarship players, and 16 points were scored in 1968 by walk-ons. 0, 1988 Pat Murphy – a walk-on in 1988 who appeared in 4 games and did not score. According to Statsheet Steve Johnston has appeared in 25 games and scored 71 points
It appears as if John Phelan appeared in a game in 1989 but did not score. Since he did not score his name is not included in the NCAA records, but two "name-less players" appeared in 3 games producing 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and zero points in 1989. Some of those numbers probably belong to Phelan. I updated this again to include some of the other players mentioned. Does anyone know if Rich Barry or Paul Horton were walk-on's? They had walkon like numbers during their careers.
Last Edit: Feb 13, 2014 18:22:35 GMT -5 by reindeerfan