Post by JoeStag on Jun 23, 2014 12:14:53 GMT -5
Sydney with a lot of confidence in Threatt, and also in Mike Kirkland.... "We’re excited to slide Mike right into the void left behind by Mo". I think that Degnan will have something to say about who gets the nod at PF. He has too many skills that we need from a frontcourt player. By Mid-season I think Degnan will start. The talented Coleman Johnson seems to have to win back a role on this team. Kirkland brings Physical play and High Energy something that we need, and something that Coleman has to improve upon.
Dear Stags Basketball Alumni and Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to check in with all of you and share a few thoughts before we all get wrapped up in the summer months. We have a lot to catch up on! Here goes:
Two great seniors graduated last month.
Mo Barrow '14 was the obvious one that you guys saw for the past four years. Mo was a pleasure to coach and I told him that just about every day in practice this year. We’re still trying to figure out why he wasn’t named to any of the MAAC all-conference teams. My guess is that the league coaches held our conference record against Mo! That’s the only thing I can come up with. Who knows? The good thing is that the coaches didn’t allow Mo’s brilliant senior season to go completely unrecognized: He earned the league’s Sixth Man Award for the second consecutive season. Most importantly, Mo graduated with a terrific degree from Fairfield University and finished his final two semesters on the Honor Roll. I’ll be excited to follow Mo’s progress as he plays professional basketball overseas and joins former Stags Rakim Sanders '12, Ryan Olander '12, and Derek Needham '13—who are all thriving with their respective teams overseas.
Behind the scenes, Brandon Bubba '14 was our student manager whose contribution to the program was immeasurable. Brandon hails from a terrific family in Allentown, Penn. Many of Brandon’s family members attended Villanova University, but Brandon wisely chose Fairfield! He was the most committed member of our managers, always arriving early and staying late to assist the team in preparing for practices, home games, and extended road trips. Quickly, Brandon became a friend of the players and coaches through his unyielding support of the program for four years. Brandon never asked for more than just being a part of the program, and his legacy will last well after he’s gone. Did I mention that Brandon was on the Dean’s List during every year he was at Fairfield, and already has a job lined up with RBS in Stamford? We know how to pick ‘em! You will be missed, Brandon.
Lesson Learned: Balance.
It’s crucial to have a balance of experience. It is very, very, very hard to win at the mid-major level with a team of underclassmen and only one senior. That said, overall I was happy with the effort of the players. For example, at Rider our guys competed well. They hustled, they dove for loose balls; they were locked into the scouting report. But at various points throughout the game, our inexperience was exposed. Turnovers killed us. The same thing happened at home versus Siena, on the road versus Siena, and so on.
I know for certain that young players can make great contributions to a team. As freshmen in 2012-13, Amadou Sidibe '16 and Marcus Gilbert '16 were valuable players for us. But don’t forget that Amadou and Marcus had three very experienced seniors leading the way: Derek Needham '13, Colin Nickerson '13, and Desmond Wade '13. KJ Rose '17, who was a really important player for us this season, did not share the advantage of playing with multiple veteran players like Amadou and Marcus did.
We’re going to be much better in the coming season. Much better.
The bumps and bruises we took during last season’s campaign will make us a better team. I am stronger because of it. KJ, Marcus, and Amadou are all stronger for it. We saw how much potential we have in gutsy wins versus Manhattan (the league champs), Northeastern, Marist, and Niagara (the latter two coming late in the year). The resiliency and commitment of our guys was really tested, and I witnessed improvement firsthand. We will build around the lessons learned and the core group of guys who kept fighting and improving all season long.
Recruiting never stops.
Coaches make a difference, but ultimately players make plays. I am committed to winning a MAAC Championship, and doing so demands that we have great players in the program. Those players need to be talented and very committed to getting better—on and off the court. We will win at Fairfield with a core group of guys like that. This is the sole reason that our staff continued to recruit near our season’s end. We felt like we needed to add key contributors to the core of KJ, Marcus, and Amadou.
In addition to the three freshmen who are joining our program (Jerome Segura ’18 from Houston, Kevin Degnan ’18 from Pearl River, N.Y., and Tyler Nelson ’18 from the Boston area), we are excited to add DeMarcus Threatt from Sam Snead State in Alabama and Mike Kirkland, Jr. from Eastern Florida State College. DeMarcus is a 5’10” guard who can both score and help run a team at the point guard spot. He was one of the leading scorers in all of junior college basketball with a 20 ppg average. With his stature, charm, and versatility at both guard spots, Demarcus may remind some of you of Derek Needham. Hopefully, Demarcus can have a similar impact to Derek.
Mike reminds our coaching staff of a former Stag as well—Mo Barrow. Like Mo, Mike is a well-built kid at 6’6” and roughly 215 pounds. Mike can make mid-range shots, drive left and right, post up and score with his back to the basket. Mike also has great energy on defense and will be able to guard multiple positions. We will work on extending Mike’s range to the three point line, just like we did with Mo (40 threes for Mo in his senior year after only making 3 threes in his career prior). We’re excited to slide Mike right into the void left behind by Mo.
Scheduling.
Our schedule for 2014-15 is starting to come together. We’re finalizing plans, and are very close to getting a game versus Duke University. Obviously, the draw of playing Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on national TV is just too attractive to pass up. The game is part of a Coaches vs. Cancer multi-team event which allows us to host three games versus mid-major opponents at Webster Bank Arena. We are working on pinning down those dates, and will get the word out to you when we do.
We will return games versus Northeastern and Albany (the second part of the Bracket Buster game from two seasons ago) and will host Belmont, Bucknell, and Loyola at home. The Connecticut 6 will kick off our season, and our final game could be versus Sacred Heart. Just as I see a healthy rivalry between us and Iona, Manhattan, and Quinnipiac, I certainly hope we’ll continue to play our in-town rival, Sacred Heart, in 2014-15. An annual game versus Sacred Heart is good for both student bodies, and the environment in WBA for that game last year was “electric.” Keep your fingers crossed.
I hope you are enjoying the summer. I’ve enjoyed watching the NBA Play-Offs, the French Open and a bit of the Stanley Cup play-offs. I am a huge soccer fan, so I’ve been catching every World Cup game that I can. All that being said, I can’t get enough of college basketball and our Fairfield Stags!
If you’ve read this far, you truly are a Stags fan! Thank you for your support, encouragement, and dedication to Men’s Basketball at Fairfield. Next season can’t get here fast enough…
Go Stags!
Sydney Johnson
Head Coach, Men's Basketball
Fairfield University
Dear Stags Basketball Alumni and Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to check in with all of you and share a few thoughts before we all get wrapped up in the summer months. We have a lot to catch up on! Here goes:
Two great seniors graduated last month.
Mo Barrow '14 was the obvious one that you guys saw for the past four years. Mo was a pleasure to coach and I told him that just about every day in practice this year. We’re still trying to figure out why he wasn’t named to any of the MAAC all-conference teams. My guess is that the league coaches held our conference record against Mo! That’s the only thing I can come up with. Who knows? The good thing is that the coaches didn’t allow Mo’s brilliant senior season to go completely unrecognized: He earned the league’s Sixth Man Award for the second consecutive season. Most importantly, Mo graduated with a terrific degree from Fairfield University and finished his final two semesters on the Honor Roll. I’ll be excited to follow Mo’s progress as he plays professional basketball overseas and joins former Stags Rakim Sanders '12, Ryan Olander '12, and Derek Needham '13—who are all thriving with their respective teams overseas.
Behind the scenes, Brandon Bubba '14 was our student manager whose contribution to the program was immeasurable. Brandon hails from a terrific family in Allentown, Penn. Many of Brandon’s family members attended Villanova University, but Brandon wisely chose Fairfield! He was the most committed member of our managers, always arriving early and staying late to assist the team in preparing for practices, home games, and extended road trips. Quickly, Brandon became a friend of the players and coaches through his unyielding support of the program for four years. Brandon never asked for more than just being a part of the program, and his legacy will last well after he’s gone. Did I mention that Brandon was on the Dean’s List during every year he was at Fairfield, and already has a job lined up with RBS in Stamford? We know how to pick ‘em! You will be missed, Brandon.
Lesson Learned: Balance.
It’s crucial to have a balance of experience. It is very, very, very hard to win at the mid-major level with a team of underclassmen and only one senior. That said, overall I was happy with the effort of the players. For example, at Rider our guys competed well. They hustled, they dove for loose balls; they were locked into the scouting report. But at various points throughout the game, our inexperience was exposed. Turnovers killed us. The same thing happened at home versus Siena, on the road versus Siena, and so on.
I know for certain that young players can make great contributions to a team. As freshmen in 2012-13, Amadou Sidibe '16 and Marcus Gilbert '16 were valuable players for us. But don’t forget that Amadou and Marcus had three very experienced seniors leading the way: Derek Needham '13, Colin Nickerson '13, and Desmond Wade '13. KJ Rose '17, who was a really important player for us this season, did not share the advantage of playing with multiple veteran players like Amadou and Marcus did.
We’re going to be much better in the coming season. Much better.
The bumps and bruises we took during last season’s campaign will make us a better team. I am stronger because of it. KJ, Marcus, and Amadou are all stronger for it. We saw how much potential we have in gutsy wins versus Manhattan (the league champs), Northeastern, Marist, and Niagara (the latter two coming late in the year). The resiliency and commitment of our guys was really tested, and I witnessed improvement firsthand. We will build around the lessons learned and the core group of guys who kept fighting and improving all season long.
Recruiting never stops.
Coaches make a difference, but ultimately players make plays. I am committed to winning a MAAC Championship, and doing so demands that we have great players in the program. Those players need to be talented and very committed to getting better—on and off the court. We will win at Fairfield with a core group of guys like that. This is the sole reason that our staff continued to recruit near our season’s end. We felt like we needed to add key contributors to the core of KJ, Marcus, and Amadou.
In addition to the three freshmen who are joining our program (Jerome Segura ’18 from Houston, Kevin Degnan ’18 from Pearl River, N.Y., and Tyler Nelson ’18 from the Boston area), we are excited to add DeMarcus Threatt from Sam Snead State in Alabama and Mike Kirkland, Jr. from Eastern Florida State College. DeMarcus is a 5’10” guard who can both score and help run a team at the point guard spot. He was one of the leading scorers in all of junior college basketball with a 20 ppg average. With his stature, charm, and versatility at both guard spots, Demarcus may remind some of you of Derek Needham. Hopefully, Demarcus can have a similar impact to Derek.
Mike reminds our coaching staff of a former Stag as well—Mo Barrow. Like Mo, Mike is a well-built kid at 6’6” and roughly 215 pounds. Mike can make mid-range shots, drive left and right, post up and score with his back to the basket. Mike also has great energy on defense and will be able to guard multiple positions. We will work on extending Mike’s range to the three point line, just like we did with Mo (40 threes for Mo in his senior year after only making 3 threes in his career prior). We’re excited to slide Mike right into the void left behind by Mo.
Scheduling.
Our schedule for 2014-15 is starting to come together. We’re finalizing plans, and are very close to getting a game versus Duke University. Obviously, the draw of playing Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on national TV is just too attractive to pass up. The game is part of a Coaches vs. Cancer multi-team event which allows us to host three games versus mid-major opponents at Webster Bank Arena. We are working on pinning down those dates, and will get the word out to you when we do.
We will return games versus Northeastern and Albany (the second part of the Bracket Buster game from two seasons ago) and will host Belmont, Bucknell, and Loyola at home. The Connecticut 6 will kick off our season, and our final game could be versus Sacred Heart. Just as I see a healthy rivalry between us and Iona, Manhattan, and Quinnipiac, I certainly hope we’ll continue to play our in-town rival, Sacred Heart, in 2014-15. An annual game versus Sacred Heart is good for both student bodies, and the environment in WBA for that game last year was “electric.” Keep your fingers crossed.
I hope you are enjoying the summer. I’ve enjoyed watching the NBA Play-Offs, the French Open and a bit of the Stanley Cup play-offs. I am a huge soccer fan, so I’ve been catching every World Cup game that I can. All that being said, I can’t get enough of college basketball and our Fairfield Stags!
If you’ve read this far, you truly are a Stags fan! Thank you for your support, encouragement, and dedication to Men’s Basketball at Fairfield. Next season can’t get here fast enough…
Go Stags!
Sydney Johnson
Head Coach, Men's Basketball
Fairfield University
